The vegetarian Splash star has been a keen environmentalist for years, running her green home on solar power and driving a car that runs on biodiesel.

And the 49 year old is convinced the day her outlook changed was when she had a chance encounter with a little calf in the U.S.

She says, "I was 11 and on a road trip with my family. I saw a truck with some baby calves on it and for about an hour I petted and kissed this one calf and he was kissing me.

"This man came up and I said, 'Excuse me Sir, what's this calf's name?' and he just said, 'Veal, tomorrow morning at seven.'

"That was it. I could no longer disassociate the meal on the plate from the creature it had been."