Story: Ivan Waterman

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, Sky One

Wednesdays 6.00PM, final episode 30th August

Nothing was more daunting for actress Lucy Lawless - better known to her legion of adoring fans as battling Xena: warrior princess - than becoming a mother again. Lucy was just 19 when she brought her daughter, Daisy, into the world. But now the 32-year-old, dark-haired beauty is holding a little boy, Julius, born last October, in her arms.

'Trust me,' says Lucy, who is married to her hit TV show's executive producer, Rob Tapert, 'nothing is more frightening and awesome than giving birth to a child.

'You wait and wonder whether everything is going to be okay. You scan the result of every test. You tell yourself you are as fit as an ox. But you always have those niggling doubts, those fears, no matter how confident you are as a person - and I am pretty confident by nature!

'I am a terribly happy bunny though, and my daughter, Daisy, is just overjoyed to have a kid brother. It's all too good to be true.'

Parenthood is now Lucy's number one priority, even though she was back hard at work within five weeks of Julius's birth. She quips, 'I owe that to the wretched, slave-driving producer who just happens to be my husband. Men! Don't they make you sick?'

The subject of motherhood has been to the fore in this last series, as well as being the title of the final cliffhanging episode, which sees Xena facing the gods in a climactic battle. Earlier episodes also saw her become pregnant by a force which may or may not have been human, and setting out on a quest to acquire new powers to protect her baby from danger.

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The amazing success of mythical, sword-wielding siren Xena has turned Lucy into an international star with a huge following. The creators of the adventure have watched it grow from being a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys to a smash hit in its own right - complete with Xena merchandising, comics and web sites - making the series one of TV's biggest money-spinners.

Lucy lives a short drive from Auckland, New Zealand, with her family, in a five-bedroom ranch-style property. But even when she's not working, she's never far from her more obsessive fans. 'All people have to do is put "Xena, New Zealand" on an envelope and the mail gets to me. But we're aware of what's happening out there and the Jill Dando situation scared us all. I am very happy to be a role model - you could do far worse than Xena - but I am just very cautious these days about fans.'

The statuesque beauty's marriage to her teen sweetheart Garth Lawless ended in 1995 and she later fell for American mogul Rob, 45, a long-time collaborator of movie director Sam (The Evil Dead) Raimi, while working on the Hercules series. They married in March 1998, throwing a huge party in Los Angeles to celebrate the happy event. The girl once voted by People Magazine as one of the world's 50 most beautiful people was recently offered a reported £200,000 by Playboy to take off her clothes and run through hot springs on New Zealand's North Island.

'I turned it down without batting an eyelid!' she giggles. 'They saw me as this kind of Joan of Arc figure - get real! I suppose one day when I'm 50 I will say okay, if they still want me. Maybe when I am granny Xena.

'I think Daisy will be able to deal with it by then!'

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