The big Interview
‘Exercise & tidiness are the keys to my happiness’
Kirstie Allsopp talks to Nathalie Whittle about moving forward from grief, getting fit in her 50s, the importance of good underwear and her plans for a secret wedding
When Kirstie Allsopp did a screen test for a pilot of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location, she assumed she was auditioning for a short segment. Little did she know that more than two decades later, the show would be a worldwide hit – and she’d be one of the faces of it. ‘It’s astonishing,’ she laughs, at the GH cover shoot.
Now 51, Kirstie has her hands full, filming new episodes for the show’s upcoming 39th series, as well as Kirstie And Phil’s Love It Or List It. But she’s also making time for her passions outside of work – a new fitness regime and quality time with her partner, Ben Andersen, their sons, Oscar, 14, and Bay, 16, and her stepsons, Hal, 20, and Orion, 23.
‘I don’t have big ambitions to jump out of a plane or anything like that,’ she says. ‘My ambition is to live for as long as I can, and enjoy more time with Ben and the kids.’
Here, Kirstie shares how she’s putting health and happiness first…
You’ve been a regular presence on our screens for more than two decades – do you still enjoy being busy?
Yes. When I was younger, I remember going to my dad and saying that I felt a bit blue, and that if he could lend me some money to buy some new clothes, I’d feel better. And he said, ‘No, what would make you feel better is if you went out, got a job and earned the money to buy yourself the new clothes.’ That was a very important lesson.
It worked, then?
It did. The truth is, I didn’t enjoy my early 20s at all. I wasn’t particularly happy, at times I was quite lonely and I wasn’t all that confident about myself or the future. But I got a job at Country Living magazine, selling advertising space, and just the brisk walk to the Tube station in the morning was good for me. I really fear for young people working from home now, because I think having to get up and go to work can actually keep you sane.
How does it feel to be known as a property guru?
It’s strange because it doesn’t come naturally to me to say, ‘Oh, the thing I’m brilliant at is X.’ But after 25 years in the business, and 51 on the planet, I do now feel I have the life experience to stop people from making huge mistakes. I know what it’s like to have stepchildren, to lose a parent, and to try to be in 101 different places at once – and I hope I’ve helped people make
