Celebrating women
These celebs are all champions of healthy self-image – and who couldn’t use a bit of that? This new year, we’re taking a leaf out of their book
SERENA WILLIAMS
She may have hung up her tennis racket, but Serena Williams still remains a powerful role model. The 41-year-old has shared, ‘You can be whatever size you are and you can be beautiful inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful, and what’s not, and that’s not right… There was a time when I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong… [but] this body has enabled me to be the greatest player that I can be.’
CAROL VORDERMAN
She possesses both beauty and brains, so Carol Vorderman knows better than to base her self-worth on anything as trivial as her weight and shape. The 62-year-old former Countdown star has confessed, ‘I don’t actually know how much I weigh and I don’t care… The secret is being enough for you, not for anyone else. Set your standards for you… Don’t worry about who thinks what about you. They don’t matter. Truly don’t matter.’
FERN BRITTON
She famously dropped from a size 22 to a 12 and at one point had arguably the most talked-about gastric band in Britain, but Fern has insisted it wasn’t for aesthetic reasons: ‘I wasn’t unhappy; I was unhealthy.’ Fern, 65, added that it was ‘something I did for myself’. These days, Fern is feeling fab, and has said, ‘Yes, I’ve got wrinkles and saggy bits, but you know what? I accept it. I’m content. I don’t worry any more. When you’re young, you worry what people think about what you’re wearing, saying or doing, but the pleasure of age is that you just think: people must accept me.’
ADELE
Her weight-loss journey may have impressed fans, but singer Adele, 34, has said, ‘I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women, and I’m very proud of that.’
KATE WINSLET
As one of the most genuine women in Hollywood, Kate Winslet, 47, proudly admitted, ‘I don’t have perfect boobs, I don’t have zero cellulite… I don’t look in the mirror and go, “Oh, I look fantastic!” [because] Nobody is perfect. I don’t believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, “This is who I am and look at me not being perfect!” I’m proud of that.’
MOTSI MABUSE
Like many who have danced from a young age, Strictly’s Motsi Mabuse knows the challenges of body image all too well. But the star, 41, is determined not to let that define her. She shared, ‘I
