EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
THE SISTERS ON MENDING THEIR SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
If anyone knows the benefits of putting the past behind them and embracing the here and now, it’s sisters Anthea Turner and Wendy Turner Webster.
The laughter when HELLO! joins them for this exclusive photoshoot is infectious – and heartwarming, as such a moment would once have been unthinkable.
The sisters had not spoken or seen one another for several years after falling out. But now, in their first interview together to celebrate the launch of their new book, they tell us how they are finding joy in their relationship once more.
“We’re at that time in our lives when we’re at our closest,” says 63-year-old Anthea. “I believe in taking pleasure in the present and not dissecting the past.
“There is a little phrase that I love: ‘Least said, best mended.’ What happens nowadays is that everyone says: ‘We’ve got to unpack it; let’s discuss it.’ There is a lot of unpacking that goes on, but I don’t think for every situation it’s the right thing to do.”
MOVING ON
The way forward has been to draw a line under past grievances, which were largely the result of finances lent to Wendy – who shares sons Jack, 24, and Freddie, 20, with her husband, actor Gary Webster – amid problematic business projects.
“We’ve naturally just moved on,” Wendy, 56, says. “Neither of us has felt the need to discuss the circumstances and arguments that caused our years apart.
“What we realised is that we were having fun together and that we have a lot to offer as a duo. You can’t do that if you keep going over the past.”
The depth of their affection for one another is touching, as Wendy tells us: “I’d say that now I consider Anthea to be my best friend, and sometimes I feel she is such a part of me that we are like a double act. I do rely on the contact we have now and the fact that we speak on the phone every day.”
