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Arlene Phillips at 70: "I've got more energy than my daughters!"


Arlene Phillips at 70: "I've got more energy than my daughters!"


It’s clear the former Strictly judge is more comfortable in her skin than ever – and her face lights up as she talks about her impending milestone birthday.



Arlene Phillips
Jonny Storey


It’s hard to believe Arlene Phillips turns 70 next month.

Her toned legs, enviable curves and ­practically wrinkle-free complexion make her look at least 10 years younger.

Full of verve and energy, it’s clear the former Strictly judge is more comfortable in her skin than ever – and her face lights up as she talks about her impending milestone birthday.

“Inside I don’t feel my age,” she says. “But what does 70 feel like? If I look at that number, I can’t imagine that it’s me.

“I’m very energetic and always on the run. The other day I was up at 5.30am to go on Daybreak.

"I had a day of rehearsals and an evening meeting after that. I’m Miss Non-Stop. If I think to myself ‘slow down’, I couldn’t.”

Cheeky Arlene even reckons she’s on the go loads more than her two girls, Alana, 33, and 22-year-old Abi.

“I laugh and say to my two daughters, whose combined age doesn’t even add up to mine, that I have more energy than the pair of them put together!” she giggles.

“But it’s hard to say what old age really feels like unless you get the telling signs and ­something slows you down.

“I do have a problem with my right knee. I was tap dancing on concrete all day a few Saturdays ago and when I got home my knee was so painful. But on the Sunday, ?I was dancing at a gala at the London ?Palladium and there was no pain.”

To celebrate her birthday on May 22, the choreographer is planning a huge party with family and friends, ­including Strictly judges and co-stars in central London.

“I’m having a big do and am inviting all the people who have touched my life and career personally,” she reveals.

“The list at my age is growing, but it will be a great night. I’ve stayed close to Bruno, Len and Craig and dancers like Camilla Dallerup. They’re definitely on the list.

“I stopped drinking for good when I was ­pregnant with Abi. Even the smell of alcohol would make my morning sickness worse. But I think I’ll have a couple of glasses of bubbly or a cocktail or two at the party.

“I’ll be really wild and cheeky on the ?night itself and they’ll probably have to pull me down from the ceiling!”


Arlene Phillips with daughters Abi and Alana
Getty

Arlene had an exciting start to her eighth decade when she was awarded a CBE at ­Buckingham Palace in February.

“Receiving it from the Queen was a very emotional ­moment. I was trying to hold it ­together and not cry,” she says.

“My daughter Alana, who is a make-up artist, had made me look so good I didn’t want to start ­blubbing as I would have had black mascara running down my face.

“I’m a hard-working girl from up North and the last thing I ever expected was to get an honour like that.

"I sometimes wonder if I was given it because I’ve managed to keep going until the age that I am!”

Arlene lost her mum to leukaemia when she was 15 and her dad, who had dementia, died 12 years ago aged 89.

But other than a sore knee, she’s been blessed with good health.

“I’ve never had anything major wrong with me. Even up until just a few years ago, I had the most amazing eyesight. I didn’t even have to wear glasses, but now I do because I have become short-sighted.”

Arlene is currently working with the Royal National Institute for the Blind fronting their Spot the Signs campaign about the eye condition age-related macular degeneration, from which Judi Dench suffers.

“If you’re over 50, you’re most at risk of AMD,” she explains. “It causes problems with your ­central ­vision, making it blurry or ­distorted, and it leads to sight loss. But it can be cured with an injection to the eye.

“We all rely so heavily on our sight – I wouldn’t have had the career I’ve had without it.”

Despite looking slim and incredibly fit, Arlene has ­struggled with her weight since giving birth to second daughter Abi when she was 47. “With her I put on nearly two stone and I went up to 10st 4lb, the heaviest I’ve ever been,” she says.

By the time she made her judging debut on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, Arlene, who founded the Hot Gossip dance troupe in 1974, was still heavier than 10st.

But that changed when her manager died in 2009. Later she was axed from Strictly in favour of the younger Alesha Dixon – a move that saw the BBC accused of ageism. Struggling with grief and stress, Arlene shed the pounds.

“I’d decided that I needed to lose some weight and I managed to keep it off by eating sensibly and cutting out bread, pasta, crisps, cakes, sweets and biscuits,” she recalls.

“But it was when my long-term manager, who I was very close to, died and I was grieving that I went down to about eight-and-a-half stone and between a size eight and 10. It was the ­slimmest I’d been in about 20 years.

“But in the last year I’ve gone back up to nine-and-a-half stone and between a size 12 and a size 14, which is quite a lot for 5ft 3in.

“I used to be religious about what I ate, but the first time in four years I’m relaxed and have started eating the things I love, such as cheese, chocolate, roast potatoes and pasta.

“I’ve tried to work out what has changed my mindset. I think it’s about letting go. Have I got a middle-age spread? Well, like the Queen song, I’d call myself a Fat Bottomed Girl!”

Arlene on the Strictly panel
BBC

Arlene’s face might look a little plumper these days, but she denies having plastic surgery in the recent past.

“I haven’t had implants or ­anything done to them, but I ?have had Botox and fillers in the past, which I found really painful,” she confesses.

“I’m not very good with needles, yet I’m not averse to surgery or a face-lift. But then I think ‘Do I really want to go through that?’ There is always the fear something terrible could happen.

“It’s a constant debate in my head and I do nothing about it. I think I would start at the ankles and go upwards, though!

“There are some days when I look in the mirror and there’s nice lighting and I’ve no make-up on and I think ‘You’re all right’.

“And then there will be other days when I look at the bags under my eyes and I think ‘Oh my gosh, run and hide’.

For the past 23 years Arlene has been with her partner Angus Ion, who is 11 years ­younger and also Abi’s father. But the divorcee, who has never named Alana’s dad, has no plans to walk down the aisle again.

“I’ve always been a free spirit,” she reflects. “I was married once before in my 20s and it didn’t work out. I definitely wouldn’t get ­married now. And I’m not really sure how my daughters would feel about it either. ­Commitment is ­commitment with or without a ring. And as far as my girls are concerned, it will be their choice in life.”

So, as her 70th birthday ­approaches, is there anything else she’d like to achieve?

“I don’t want to do anything mad like jumping out of a plane,” Arlene jokes. “But I’d love to ?able to cook really well. ­Angus is a fantastic cook, but I’m ?lousy at it.

“I’ve always wanted to go ?skiing, but because of the job I do, I’m terrified of ­breaking any bones. It’s my worst nightmare. I’d also love to visit The Seven Wonders of the World.”

There’s one other very ­important thing on Arlene’s list – some grandchildren.

“I’d love it if either of my daughters were to have a baby and make me a gran,” she smiles. “But it’s up to them when they have kids – it’s their lives.

“I’ve never pushed them because I want them to have some ­freedom of choice.

“Having children is one of the very greatest achievements and the fact that you are able to nurture them and see ?them grow up is the most important thing to me.”

Beyond that, even though she could draw a pension at her age, Arlene is enjoying working life and has no plans to retire just yet.

She spent months in Toronto last year judging Andrew Lloyd ­Webber’s talent show Over the Rainbow and her show Midnight Tango is touring the UK.

“They say showbiz retires you, but this year I’ve turned down things because I can’t keep going on and on,” she says.

So, looking back on her rich and varied experiences, is there anything she wishes that she had done differently or any mistakes that she would like to put right?

“I had Abi at the age of 47 and it was a gift – I felt it was meant to be,” she says. “I do wish that I hadn’t been quite so strict with my older daughter and not quite as ­leisurely with my younger one.”

But one thing’s for sure – she can’t see herself sitting at home doing nothing.

“I can’t think of what retirement is ?or what people do. I certainly don’t see ­myself in an old folks’ home,” ?Arlene laughs.

“I don’t really make any plans or think ?about the ifs and buts and whens. I just carry on as if nothing has changed in the last 20 odd years!”

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