Cover story
‘I’m STRONGER & more RESILIENT in my fifties’
Susanna Reid, 53, on ageing with grace, positivity and power, her joy as a mum of three ever-growing boys, and how Piers helped her get off the fence
Before every Strictly Come Dancing show, Susanna Reid blasted out Eminem to psyche herself up for the live performance. And a decade on from her time on the hit BBC show, driving to her woman&home cover shoot from her home in south London, the Good Morning Britain host put the US rapper back to work.
‘I was listening to Eminem on the way over here,’ smiles Susanna, before explaining the reason for today’s morning boost of hip-hop energy. ‘I didn’t sleep very well last night. Did you hear the storm? The rain was apocalyptic!’
From our vantage point, there’s no hint of fatigue in fresh-faced Susanna, who is both fantastic company and full of beans, chatting enthusiastically to the team, contributing opinions on the styling and photography and, later, over a falafelsalad lunch, discussing her 21 years at the helm of breakfast television, first on BBC Breakfast beside the late Bill Turnbull then, via a stint on Strictly, hosting ITV’s Good Morning Britain, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.
But it’s Susanna’s role as devoted mum to sons Sam, 21, Finn, 19, and Jack, 18, who she shares and co-parents with Dominic Cotton, who she split from in 2014, that is her greatest triumph.
Susanna, who has previously dated Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish, is resolutely tight-lipped about her romantic life, but is delightfully open about all other personal and professional topics.
Currently backing Good Morning Britain’s 1 Million Minutes campaign to eradicate loneliness, here Susanna shares her heartbreak over a depleting nest, her feelings about Holly Willoughby’s departure from This Morning, the secret behind her recent weight loss and why being opinionated – a lesson she learnt from her former colleague of five years, Piers Morgan – is one of her greatest assets in her 50s.
Women, especially in television, are completely embracing ageing gracefully, which means we’re not fighting it.
We’re accepting it, welcoming it and enjoying it. All the women on Good Morning Britain are looking better and better than we did. We’ve got a brilliant styling team, but it is also an attitude thing. It’s like no one’s afraid of ageing, so you inhabit it, rather than resist it. I have literally no fear of getting older. I think every day is fabulous and now I’m in my 50s, I feel I’ve built up a thick skin while also being a very – hopefully – loving, sensitive person. People often talk about impostor syndrome, but when you’ve got to your 50s, you know what you’re doing, and that gives you more confidence.
