I found Duff inspirational in 'Shameless': an urban hero(ine) with sass and tiredness in those soulful eyes. I loved the way the show avoided cliche (it's not so great for that now) and the women looked like - well - real women. The way in which James McAvoy's Steve courted her was truly sweet and uplifting: he loved her because of who she was. Since then, I've seen Duff avoid becoming 'the girlfriend/wife of' in some really interesting roles: her lack of vanity in portraying the older Elizabeth I being a case in point.

I'm really horrified, therefore, to read some of the vitriol spouting from these pages. I'll bet it's all from women as well (as ever, we're our own worst enemy). Instead of seeing Ann-Marie as a role model, a genuine talent and (hurrah) not just a quirky but pretty face; all some of you can do is bitch, bitch, bitch, protected by your pseudonoms. Shame on you. Some of you talk about beauty whilst clearly not realising how ugly you come across as being. Why not concentrate on becoming nicer people instead of slating someone just because you're jealous of her and who she is married to? We live in a superficial enough airbrushed image-obsessed world as it is, and a lot of people, blinded by the media, seem to be buying into that to a terrifying degree. Go out, do great things in your own life, be nicer people. If you want to compete with someone like Duff, get some talent. We all get older anyway - looks change - the things that really matter are inside. I've ended on a cliche there, but I'm not sorry: I feel that some of you need to be reminded.

Ann-Marie, if you ever read this, and I'm sure you have more sense than to do that: we love you!!