'Being a mum is the best thing': Single parent Emilia Fox on how she juggles her career with parenthood

PUBLISHED: 16:01 EST, 12 September 2012 | UPDATED: 19:51 EST, 12 September 2012

Many working single mothers struggle to make enough time for their children.

But actress Emilia Fox has insisted she is able to juggle her full-time filming commitments with parenthood.

The 38-year-old was left to look after her daughter Rose – now 21-months-old – by herself after splitting with the child’s father Jeremy Gilley last year.

'Being a mum is the best thing': Emilia Fox, pictured here in May, says she is able to combine family life with her career

But she said: 'Being a mum is the best thing that has ever been given to me in my life.’

Speaking at the launch of the Disaronno Film Series in London yesterday (Tuesday), the Silent Witness star said she is able to combine her work and family life.

She is currently filming series 16 of the popular BBC crime thriller, in which she plays pathologist Dr Nikki Alexander.

But Miss Fox admitted she now enjoys periods when she is not working because it means she can spend more time with her daughter.

The Silent Witness star admitted that motherhood makes not working 'so enjoyable'

She said: ‘Motherhood makes not working so enjoyable, because I get to be with Rose.

'But having said that, Silent Witness have been amazing.

‘Throughout my pregnancy, and having Rose, they have been very considerate in helping me balance my work life and home life.

'I never had to consider cutting down on work, because they made sure it would work.

'It has worked out okay. I get to go home and see her a lot.

'I live very near where the studio is, in Acton, which makes juggling home life and work life very easy.'

Single parent: Fox was left to look after Rose on her own when her marriage with Jeremy Gilley collapsed

Miss Fox is thought to be dating celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, who still married to his third wife Mati Conjero, five years after she started divorce proceedings.

The pair were spotted holding hands and kissing last month, although she refused to talk about their relationship.

The actress has had a tumultuous love life and once admitted having an ‘unusual taste in men.’

She had a short-lived engagement to comedian Vic Reeves in her 20s and was once spotted kissing actor Charles Dance – more than 30 years her senior – although they insisted their relationship was platonic.