A CANINE CELEBRITY

There was always a chance that, overnight, my actor-boyfriend would hit the big time and I would find myself co-habiting with a celebrity. Strangely enough, Fame has indeed visited our home, but the stardust has fallen not on the boyfriend - who is currently "between parts" - but on the dog, Onion.

When the boyfriend secured a role as "Jogger with Dog" in a Ewan McGregor movie, it seemed natural that he jog with his own dog. Better the devil you know. As the filming date approached, however, the message came that the "Jogger" was surplus to requirements. But could they still have "Dog"? We had entertained no celluloid aspirations for Onion, a miniature bull terrier with characteristic Roman nose but, drawn by the prospect of a summer's day on Hampstead Heath as dog wranglers, we accepted, the boyfriend's ego only mildly bruised by his change in role.

Onion performed her part - sniffing round sexy half-naked actor Tom Hardy (Elizabeth I's lust interest in TV's The Virgin Queen, see image) - with aplomb and was seconded for a further scene, which graces the credits of Scenes of a Sexual Nature, due in cinemas on 3 November.

Inspired by Onion’s silver-screen success, the boyfriend recruited an animal agent. Within weeks, Onion was a "pop bitch", appearing in the video for "Cosy Prisons" by eighties pop band A-ha, sung to her by chisel-cheekboned lead singer and one-time heartthrob Morten Harket.

So it's official, we are living with a minor canine star. Onion's diary is filling up: she has sat for a sculptor, has a website, a modelling contract, and is invited to the movie's premiere on Sunday 8th October... So after years at drama school and surviving the penurious existence of an actor, the boyfriend is finally living the celebrity life - as a plus-one to his dog!

NEXT BLOG: Read about how Onion is kitted out for the premiere, Oscars-style.