Claudia Winkleman claims she has never been to the gym
Claudia Winkleman has insisted she does not care what she looks like and has never even been to the gym.
The 50-year-old Strictly Come Dancing presenter credits her care-free attitude to her mother, journalist Eve Pollard, for bringing her up in a house with no mirrors, and emphasising that looks were not important.
Winkleman told the Postcards from Midlife podcast: "I've never been to the gym – I don't care. But I was brought up by a woman who had no mirrors in the house. I have no pretence about what I look like. Because what we looked like, she always said, was the least interesting thing about us.
Read more: Claudia Winkleman on turning 50: 'I look like Meat Loaf naked'
"So, it was, 'Don't worry about being interesting, but always be interested.' And, 'Keep your girlfriends close, your girlfriends are your scaffolding, your everything."
Speaking about turning 50 the TV presenter joked: "My face [is] actually physically falling off, and my body is, like, made of crepe all of a sudden. It's okay, it's fine."
Winkleman — who is the mother to daughter Matilda, 15, and sons Jake, 18, and Arthur, 10, with her husband of 21 years Kris Thykier — admitted she is embracing middle age and the lifestyle that comes with it.
She said: "I think I look after myself because I'm so dull. I'm in bed with a book by nine.
"I've felt 64 for the last 25 years. I like playing bridge, I like playing with my same eight girls.
"Bridge uses a part of your brain that we do not use in everyday life."
The former Great British Sewing Bee host — famous for her 'Panda eye' signature thick dark make-up — has previously compared herself to ageing rockers Meat Loaf, Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and glam rocker Alice Cooper.
She said: "My body is falling apart, I look like Meat Loaf naked and I'm alright with that!
Read more: Claudia Winkleman reveals the best piece of marriage advice she got from her mum
"I want to look like Gene Simmons or Alice Cooper, so it's not like I want to look young and bouncy and fresh."
Watch: Why Claudia Winkleman almost quit Strictly
