Sarah Jane Morris has remembered Sir Patrick Stewart as a "loving" and "working" parent.

The 67-year-old singer was a babysitter for the late legend and his first wife Sheila Falconer's children Daniel and Sophie in the 1970s, after her mother befriended him at their local park, and she has reflected on her experiences in their family home.

She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "He was a loving father, a working father. They were both working parents, but they really loved their children. They ran a very nice home.

"The children ate very... It was all, all the food had been prepared very thoughtfully, very healthily.

"So anything that I was to give the children had been made by either Patrick or Sheila before they were going to go off to work.

"Everything was straightforward. It was a lovely house to live in."

As Sir Patrick's career continued, he later spoke about becoming estranged from his children as he focused on his work.

Sarah noted that she took her own son on tour "everywhere until he was at school age", and she is "fortunate" that they still have a "fantastic relationship" even after she split from his father.

She continued: "He lives the other side of the world and is happily remarried. We both carried on being hands-on parents.

"But it's so hard because often the children end up living with the mother and then have visits with the father.

"And I can't imagine how much work is involved in a long-running series like Star Trek. I mean, you have married the part. So yes, there are always casualties. And unfortunately, often it is the children."

Sarah recalled how her own father went to prison for "fraud, corruption, theft, typical middle-class crimes" around that period, and Sir Patrick helped by showing her a pathway into acting and entertainment.

She explained: "That's when I went to drama college and realised that I could go to drama school. And that's when Patrick started to give me tips about my audition pieces.

"And then if he got back late and I'd still got time before having to go off to college the next day, he would go over stuff with me. And it really helped me. And I got into Central School of Speech and Drama."

As a teenager, she remembered being "aware of older men that have other intentions", but made it clear "that was never the case with Patrick". She added: "Never once did you feel that he was remotely inappropriate. He was so totally into his relationship with Sheila and a devoted father."

Meanwhile, she credited him with instilling her with "the confidence" to chase her dreams, and she applied to drama school without her parents knowing.

She said: "It was not something that I think my family would have encouraged because it wasn't considered a safe job.

"But because of what he did and how kind he was to me, and he seemed to be interested in the fact that I thought I wanted to have a career in acting, he took the time aside.

"And yeah, it would have made a huge difference. It would have given me the confidence I had. It was my babysitting money that allowed me to apply."

Late last week, Sarah revealed her connection to Sir Patrick in the comments section of a clip from ITV's Lorraine discussing the late actor, who died last week aged 86.

She commented on Instagram: "I had the good fortune to be the babysitter for Patrick and Sheila's children in the 70s and Patrick kindly helped me with my audition pieces for drama school and actively encouraged me at a difficult time in my teens. A beautiful man and a wonderful actor with a big heart and a gorgeous baritone voice. Thank you dear man and RIP xx