Joanna Scanlan once feared she had AIDS because she was so ill

Joanna Scanlan was once so ill she feared she had AIDS.

The 60-year-old actress - who plays Ma Larkin in 'The Darling Buds of May' reboot 'The Larkins' - has reflected on her health struggles, going back to her late 20s when she was battling chronic fatigue syndrome and dealing with a stressful job.

Speaking on the 'My Time Capsule' podcast, she said: "It was just a complete neurological issue, like, ‘I can’t carry on’.

"I had this collapse, and kind of stopped work for a year. I felt very very mentally unwell. I had fantasies almost that ... I thought I had AIDS.

"One part of me was certain I had AIDS, and the other part knew it was a manifestation of some kind of ... let’s call it sexual guilt.”

Joanna went onto land a breakthrough role as Terri Coverley in political comedy 'The Thick of It', and starred in all four series from 2005 to 2012.

She can now be seen as Ma in 'The Larkins', and she'll be reprising her role alongside Bradley Walsh (Pop Larkin) in a second series of the ITV comedy.

After just one series portraying Mariette Charlton - who was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in the original show - Sabrina Bartlett will be replaced by Joelle Rae as the eldest Larkin daughter.

A new family, the Jerebohms, are set to be introduced and soon come to blows with the Larkins.

'Taskmaster' star Morgana Robinson is set to play the mother, Pinkie, while 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' actor Hector Bateman-Harden will portray her son Gilbert and Lucy Allix is her daughter Blanche.

Just like the 2021 series, season two will also be a six-parter, and Andy De Emmony will direct once again with filming set to take place this summer.