Cheese used to be one of comedian Diane Morgan’s great loves – but just four weeks after going vegan, she thinks it actually "smells like socks".
Morgan, 50, who lives in central London and is starring in the current season of Last One Laughing on Prime Video, says she was "never a big milk drinker anyway", as she usually has oat milk, but she found cheese particularly "difficult to give up" at first.
"I couldn’t find a decent vegan cheese that I liked – it all tasted like glue sticks – so I just went cold turkey on it," she says.
"Then, after four weeks, my brain just went, ‘Oh, I don’t like cheese anymore, it smells like socks’.
"So now I don’t crave it at all."
Morgan made the switch last January and suggests everyone should "go vegan".
She says: "I just love animals, and I do a lot of work for animal charities, and consequently, you see videos of the way animals are treated.
"A lot of factory farming is horrific, and I was already vegetarian, but when I saw all of that and how they’re treated, I thought, ‘I just can’t do this anymore’."
Morgan, who has appeared in other shows such as Mandy and After Life with Ricky Gervais, says the switch was "easier than (she) thought" and it has forced her to eat more vegetables – something she struggled with previously.
Morgan says having four or five vegan recipes that are tasty and easy to make has made the switch easier – and although she does not enjoy cooking, there are two dishes she particularly loves.
One "cracker" recipe involves baking sweet potatoes with grated extra-firm tofu, chipotle and paprika, and then blending vegan yoghurt, sliced jalapenos and lime for the dressing on top.
Speaking about another recipe, she says: "I’m forced to cook because I can’t have Deliveroo every night.
"My partner Ben [Caudell, a TV producer], he cooks – we share it between us – but I think he enjoys cooking more than I do.
"But I’ve discovered these huge butter beans… You put them in a tray with olive oil and salt, chop up some Tenderstem broccoli, throw that in, and then roast it for around 25 minutes.
"The butter beans come out and they’re like roast potatoes – they go golden and fluffy – and you squirt a bit of lemon juice over the top.
"It’s so easy and it’s healthy and it’s delicious."
Morgan also believes the "extra vegetables" in her diet, along with eating no dairy products, has helped to improve her skin.
She continues: "If you’re not eating meat or cheese, you’ve really got to make friends with the vegetable.
"And I tell you what, my skin’s got much better since I went vegan. It’s definitely clearer."
Outside of cooking, Morgan enjoys going on dog walks and says she will purposefully not check her phone while she is outside so she can "be in the present".
She says fitness is something she would like to incorporate into her lifestyle more, but her busy schedule often prevents her from doing so.
"I went through a phase last year of running, but then when it got really dark and cold, I stopped," she says.
"I’ve joined a local hotel to use their pool, but again, I just don’t go. I’m so busy throughout the day that it’s difficult to find a time where you can go.
"But I really need to start doing something. Maybe I’ll start doing yoga at home or something, or lifting weights – that’s meant to be good, isn’t it?"
If she has time, Morgan says she will run a bath to relax, and she particularly enjoys watching archive documentaries from the Seventies about ghosts. Watching archive documentaries, while eating some vegan chocolate with her rescue dog Bobby next to her, is her dream self-care day.
"The Uncanny, With Danny Robins, I’m obsessed with that programme – and that’s the only show at the moment where I think, ‘I absolutely love that’," she says.
"It harks back a little bit to those documentaries from the Seventies that did it so well – I love it so much.
"I think I’m starting to get to an age where I just hate anything modern as well, this is why I’m delving into archives, looking for old stuff."
Morgan explains that she has not yet "cracked" finding a good work-life balance, as she enjoys working and taking on new projects.
Currently, she is starring in Govia Thameslink Railway’s first-ever train safety video, as new research has revealed two people are injured every day at train stations.
With comedy forming a large part of her work, she says she has enjoyed incorporating her signature humour into the safety film, which is called Travel Safe with Diane Morgan.
"At first I thought it was a mad idea, asking me, because I thought, am I the right person for this?" she says. "And then I thought it would be an interesting challenge to do something like this.
"Two people every single day are getting injured… I had no idea it was that high.
"So, don’t run down a platform, whatever you do, or try and throw yourself between the doors."
Looking ahead, Morgan, who is best known for playing Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker’s Wipe series and the spin-off Cunk mockumentaries, is excited for the release of the new comedy series, Ann Droid.
This tells the story of an unlikely friendship between Sue (Sue Johnston) and Linda (Diane Morgan), a social humanoid robot.
While Morgan says life is even "busier of late" and she should probably "have a holiday at some point", she feels it is important to switch off and disconnect from technology and social media.
She finds people are constantly chasing "what’s next", rather than "enjoying what they’ve got", and she likes to be in the moment where she can.
She says: "I wish I had some great advice for everyone… but get out in the garden, plant a flower, watch it grow.
"Or switch your phone off, that’s my advice… And go vegan."
