Hello! & Me: Tamara Beckwith

I've had all my houses done over the years by Hello!, normally when I'm about to sell them. Often, if not always, it helps with the sale. I know it is a cynical approach, but that's the way it is. But I won't do a shoot when I've just moved into a new house. Then, I like to retain a degree of privacy. Even when I'm selling a house, I decide in advance which rooms I'm happy to have photographed. I never give them access to everything.

I always make sure I style all the rooms myself and have a quick look down the lens to see what the photographer is taking and what he or she is looking for. From there, it's easy to add flowers or rearrange furniture to make the room appear exactly as you want.

If you are lucky enough to get a photographer like Tim Street-Porter, you don't even have to think about it; you can just let him get on with it. But sometimes you can get stuck with a bunch of awful photographs.

Hello! isn't known for its probing interviews, so they're usually fairly easy. They try to look on the bright side and make the whole package nice and sweet. Anyway, at this point in my life I don't really have anything I want to hide. When they arrange the interviews, I know what I will be prepared to discuss and if they try to rake up stuff from the past I'm old enough and wise enough not to be drawn in.

If, like me, you live with your partner, you have to remember it is their house, too. Of course, it depends on the piece and what you are being paid; after all, if you are being paid you can't hold back too much. But I have a fantastic relationship with Hello!. I've never found them intrusive.

My husband, Giorgio, hates it but realises it is part of my career. He doesn't want to be in the pictures and doesn't want to hear about them. He makes sure he is out of the house as soon as the photographers arrive.