So Linda, how DID you get such a perfect tum at 51? You don't need diets or surgery, says TV's Linda Barker. Just willpower and a tight pair of jeans...
- TV presenter and mother-of-one, 51, is still a svelte size 10
- Was never confident enough in her 20s to bare her midriff
- Worries about the social pressures on her daughter Jessica to stay trim
By AMANDA CABLE
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At 51 years old, Linda Barker is still a svelte size 10
A sporty blonde giggles as Barbie-like extensions are woven into her hair. After just an hour in make-up - most models require at least double that to be 'camera ready' - she dons a terrifyingly small crop top to reveal her piece de resistance; that washboard stomach.
The woman in question is no teenage starlet, however. It's Splash! star Linda Barker, and those extraordinary abs are 51 years old.
'I'd never have had the confidence to show off my midriff in my 20s,' says mother-of-one Linda, patting her stomach proudly. 'I had the body - but I didn't have that confidence and go-get-it attitude that comes with age.'
The TV presenter's figure (she's 5ft 7in and a size 10) became the talking point of the nation when she appeared on ITV's prime-time Saturday night show last month, plunging head-first from the high diving board with a host of other celebrities, under the tutelage of Olympic athlete Tom Daley.
But she hadn't originally planned to wear the itsy-bitsy bikinis that caused so much public consternation.
Instead, she'd brought along a black running vest and bikini bottoms, only to have the look vetoed by a member of the wardrobe department.
'One of the girls came over and said: "You've got to wear a bikini!" I said: "Really? Do you think it'll look all right?" And she said: "I think it will be fabulous!" So I thought I'd go for it.'
Incredibly, her body - clad in those skimpy rhinestone bikinis - held its own next to Daley's athletic 18-year-old frame.
'Wearing a bikini on national TV at the age of 51 is the last thing I thought I'd be doing,' she laughs.
But then fiftysomething mums no longer feel they have to hide their bodies away in shapeless frumpy clothes.
Last week, a survey revealed that 50 is the age most women said they felt happiest, attributing it to having more sex, enjoying better relationships and being more physically active than their younger counterparts. All reasons why Linda calls herself and her contemporaries 'the ageless generation'.
'Turning 50 has been a liberation,' says Linda.
'I stood in front of the mirror on the morning of my birthday and took a long, hard look at my reflection. I'd done the same thing a decade earlier - but, as a 50-year-old, I felt so much better about myself.
'Of course, there were more lines and wrinkles than when I turned 40, but they felt less important. At 50, you lose those worries and fears about growing older. My generation refuse to be defined by their date of birth.
'Even 20 years ago, women turning 50 almost felt ashamed. That's why everyone lied so desperately about their ages - particularly celebrities. You had stars who were clearly well into their late 40s still pretending to be frivolous thirtysomethings.
'There was a real taboo about ageing then, a feeling that the only thing you could do was shop in the nylon trouser and baggy sweater section of M&S and wear comfortable Velcro-fastening shoes.
'Now, the way women think and dress has been revolutionised. I mean, Helen Mirren dyed her hair pink recently! I can't think of a better person who illustrates this new "bring it on" attitude.'
Born in Yorkshire, Linda is a farmer's daughter and one of five children. She studied fine art in Surrey, where she met and dated Chris, a photographer.
After graduating, Linda moved back to the countryside and worked as an air hostess before meeting Chris again, aged 26.
Three years later, in 1992, the couple married and Linda's television career began 18 months afterwards.
Linda with her husband Chris Short, left, and proudly showing off her flat stomach and size 10 frame, right
Programmes such as Home Front and Changing Rooms cemented her reputation as an interior design expert, but it wasn't until her bikini-clad appearance on reality show I'm A Celebrity . . . in 2003 that Linda was truly propelled into the public eye.
TUMMY TROUBLE
In a Mintel survey, three-quarters of women said they felt most insecure about wobbly stomachs
She was castigated for appearing 'fame hungry' after posing naked for glossy magazines - her modesty barely spared by strategically folded arms.
Former colleagues came out of the woodwork and accused her of having such grasping ambition she underwent a complete makeover in a bid for fame.
'Back then she was quite chunky - a good few stone heavier than she is now,' a former colleague said at the time.
'She always used to wear baggy tops and T-shirts. Her hair was cut into a plain bob, and she hardly ever wore make-up.'
Linda vehemently dismisses the claims and says she always took care of her appearance.
'Looking back to my 20s, I wasn't frumpy or overweight, but I'm sure there were some real fashion disasters. I was never heavy when I was younger, but I used to yo-yo in weight by several pounds if I'd over-indulged. I've learned over the years to keep an eye on my exercise and diet.'
Her daughter Jessica, 20, has left home for university and Linda believes life is harder for her daughter's generation than it is for hers.
Linda Barker, aged 20, when she said she never felt confident enough to show her midriff, despite having a typically good body
She says: 'The pressure on Jessica and her contemporaries to look a certain way is horrendous. Whereas my peers are too old to be unduly influenced, teenagers and twentysomethings have an unprecedented amount of expectation to live up to some ideal body shape.
'The pressure on Jessica and her contemporaries to look a certain way is horrendous. Teenagers have an unprecedented amount of expectation to live up to some ideal body shape'
'They are being bombarded with the wrong images - size-zero models with figures you have to starve yourself to achieve, for example, and all these plastic-fantastic fake celebrity looks.
'TV programmes such as 10 Years Younger place a huge emphasis on looks, too. There's little about confidence, kindness or self-worth. The message is clear - be judged on your body shape and how you look.'
But it has to be said, Linda - who shops at Topshop, Zara and Mango ('the same places as my daughter') - is partly making a living by trading on her good looks. To these ends, the presenter will soon be seen in a campaign targeting older women for lingerie firm Playtex.
Linda hugs Phil Tufnell on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here
So just how does Linda manage to maintain those abs and stay a neat size ten?
'I don't actually weigh myself or diet,' she says. 'But I have a favourite pair of tight jeans and when they don't do up, I'll spend a few days drinking juices and eating more healthily.
'I don't actually weigh myself or diet,' she says. 'But I have a favourite pair of tight jeans and when they don't do up, I'll spend a few days drinking juices and eating more healthily'
'I'm lucky because my body pinged back into shape after having Jessica in my 30s. As the years have gone on, I've had to work harder to maintain my shape.
'I do yoga whenever I can - at least three times a week - which also helps me to relax, and I have a personal trainer who I see twice a week for an hour each time.' (Linda also cycles a ten-mile round-trip to and from training sessions.)
'I love the rush I get after exercising,' she says. 'I guess you could say I'm addicted. But there are worse things to be hooked on!'
The Changing Rooms team, from left, Llewelyn-Bowen, 'Handy' Andy Kane, Linda Barker, Carol Smillie, Graham Wynne and Anna Ryder Richardson
Although for anyone envying Linda's abs, she has some bad news. 'There's no hidden secret to getting my stomach,' she says. 'Just go to the gym and work hard.'
'Seeing my parents suffer from illness has been my main motivation for staying in shape. I don't want to get ill.'
Linda adds: 'I plan to still wear sexy, fashionable clothes when I'm 80. My mother died aged 76 from heart disease and my 86-year-old dad is wheelchair-bound and has a raft of health problems including dementia, so he lives in a care home.
'Seeing my parents suffer from illness has been my main motivation for staying in shape. I don't want to get ill.'
But Linda is adamant she'd never consider cosmetic surgery.
Linda showing her designs to some participants on Channel 4's Changing Rooms
'My husband Chris is, like me, horrified by older women who have had things "done".
'I've stood next to women who have had a lot of cosmetic work -there are a fair few of them in showbusiness - and it makes me recoil. I can't bear anything fake - even false nails - and so I'd rather have wrinkles than look frozen in time.
'For us, growing older is no longer a fear, it's a celebration.'
'Occasionally I do look in the mirror and see how flat-chested I am and think for a moment: "Oh, it would be nice to have a bit of a plump up."
'I have this fantasy of myself wearing a long, plunging dress and all eyes are on my cleavage. But the reality is breast enlargement is major surgery involving anaesthetic, stitches and drips.
'Also, I don't want to be walking around in my dotage with the ridiculous breasts of a 22-year-old. So in those moments of self-doubt, I simply stick on some nice underwear and pop in the chicken fillets for a bit of an extra lift.'
Linda's only real nod to her age is buying expensive anti-ageing moisturisers and having a facial every month. 'The fact I'm confident enough to be photographed in a crop top at my age shows how much women's attitudes have changed,' she explains.
'For us, growing older is no longer a fear, it's a celebration.'
Linda Barker is an ambassador for lovetolearn.co.uk
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