Tess Daly revealed if Vernon Kay would do Strictly before her shock exit

Every time a sequin-smothered, spray-tanned celebrity glides down the staircase on Strictly Come Dancing, I imagine, with an evil glint in my eye, how marvellously mortifying it would be if one of them were to trip and tumble. So, it is somewhat karmic when I almost go flying at the feet of Tess Daly.

Upon arrival at the chic central London location for our interview, I lose my footing on the steps towards the cosy snug area where Tess, wearing a fab-u-lous Barbie-pink power suit, awaits. Thankfully avoiding a full-blown stack, I assure the presenter that I am absolutely fine as she leads me to the sofa.

‘I’ve been talking for three hours. I am now chewing my words,’ Tess begins, nibbling on a biscuit. She’s here to discuss her ongoing partnership with Vitabiotics Wellwoman, the country’s number-one women’s supplement brand, and the importance of caring for yourself from the inside out.

As a working mother of two and co-host of the nation’s biggest prime-time show, the TV favourite prioritises her wellbeing.

‘It is an act of self-care to look after your health. It helps me stay strong and show up for all the demands that my life has,’ she says. ‘If I’m getting my basic supplements then I know that is one step in the right direction.’

While Tess is keen to stress she doesn’t diet, she says she eats healthily, with a fridge full of eggs, avocados, tomatoes and pineapple.

‘I’m interested in the nutritional properties of food. Quite geeky about it. I was into gut health before it was even a thing… the whole gut/brain connection, how if your gut is not happy, you are not happy, because your happy hormones are produced there.’ Tess pauses and adds:  ‘I’m not pretending to be saintly here. After every meal I crave something sweet, a treat. Sugar is my vice. I was brought up with a mum who had an excellent cake cupboard and we always got rewarded with pudding.

‘I have got a sweet tooth and I’m not going to beat myself up for that. It’s all about moderation.’

She makes the most of her gym membership, too. ‘I put myself through it a little bit at the gym… light weights to keep up the muscle and bone strength,’ she says. ‘I do that at least twice a week, then stretching yoga pretty much every day, only for 15 minutes. It’s great for flexibility, which is vital for any age.’

And surely Tess enjoys building up a sweat with hubby Vernon Kay?

‘We both work out,’ she says, cackling. ‘Not at the same time. We tend to work long hours into the evenings and weekends.

‘But we do have kitchen discos where we work up a sweat. He DJs,
I dance. The whole family [daughters Phoebe, 21, and Amber, 16] get involved, or visiting friends.’

It’d be remiss not to ask if she thinks Vern might consider shaking his stuff on Strictly.

‘It would mean both of us being out of the house, which would be a bit inconvenient when you are parents,’ she says. ‘Being away from September to Christmas would be a lot. But still, never say never. He probably would be good. He’s a pretty decent dancer.’

As well as getting her woo-woo on with some wellness practices – ‘I enjoy mindfulness moments, five minutes over a cup of tea looking over the garden first thing’ – Tess says there is no medicine quite like laughter.

‘It’s healing,’ she says. ‘Claudia [Winkleman] makes me belly laugh. Sometimes she makes me laugh till my mascara is running down my face. It’s good for the soul. I think it adds at least a year on your life.’

Oh, and if you’re curious, her Strictly co-presenter didn’t attempt to recruit her for Celebrity Traitors.

‘She knows I’d be able to read her mind at this point,’ says Tess. ‘And also, I’d be terrible at doing poker face and being a traitor.’

Beginning her career as a model, Tess, from Stockport in Cheshire, has always been comfortable in her skin – at odds with an industry you’d think would make her feel anything but.

‘I realised lots of different people were projecting their idea of what you were upon you,’ she says. ‘Despite the fact that wasn’t necessarily based in reality. I could be told I had either gained or lost weight when my measurements hadn’t changed at all.

‘It made me take that body-shaming criticism with a pinch of salt. I felt the same, looked the same, was the same. It was just their idea of me. You know, I am northern, so I’m very pragmatic anyway.’

Similarly, she refuses to give in to the pressure to appear a certain way.

‘I’m lucky with Strictly, for example, that I work on a show where the lighting director is an absolute genius,’ she says.

‘I owe everything to him. It does miraculous things for me. I always think, God, when people see me in daylight, in the flesh, it must be a real disappointment. But I’m grateful for a healthy mind and body that has seen me this far. I can’t start complaining about the small stuff.’

Indeed, the only thing that comes close to getting on Tess’s nerves is an  obsession with women’s age.

‘I don’t mentally define myself by my age, because what’s the point?’ she says. ‘I feel the same as I always did. Physically, I’m still doing the same stuff. Maybe that goes a long way to putting off the inevitable decline. It is a shame women tend to be more defined by their age than men.

‘You’d be hard-pressed to find a man’s age in an interview – with a woman it usually comes after their name. It’s a strange thing.

‘Why does that happen? Should she not be defined by the content of her character, or the achievements of her career? I guess it’s just the ways of the world.’

After making a mental note not to include her age in this piece, I say my goodbyes and Tess, kindly, reminds me to watch my step as I exit slip-free. Phew.

Tess Daly is an ambassador for Wellwoman, the UK’s No.1 women’s supplement brand. Tess takes Wellwoman Max RRP £20.65 available at Vitabiotics® | UK’s No.1 Vitamin Company

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