The Britain's Got Talent judge gets candid about confidence
Amanda Holden is fabulously frank about a lot of things, whether she's admitting that she sleeps in her strip lashes or speaking openly about her genuine joy at being a glamorous woman in her fifties.
Her age, she says, is a secret – and in fact, looking great 'for her age' is a compliment she loves to hear.
Reeling off a list of fellow women in their fifties who she admires, she says: "I look up to people like J.Lo, Jennifer Aniston and Kylie Minogue. I'm not 'woke' so I don't really care about expressions like 'for her age', but I suppose it's because actually, I want people to say, 'God, she's 52!'"
She adds: "I mean, I say how old I am. I want people in their forties to not be frightened of being in their fifties. I want people to go, well, if they look like that, then I'm, I'm not frightened. I want to keep going forward. I think the language will change around it."
Since the star is often told she's "ageing backwards", you might expect Amanda to have launched a typically anti-ageing beauty range as her next project – though as she tells HELLO! about her new skincare collection with Revolution Pro, she reveals her inspiration was much more about nourishing, hard-working products that are inspired by her backstage makeup artists.
She shares that her 'Wonderplump' cream - a two-in-one face and neck cream – is ideal as a base for makeup, and that she religiously uses her lash and brow serum every night.
DON'T MISS
"I think beauty and makeup is so much to do with your self esteem and confidence," she says, adding that she wanted to make sure the range was accessible to everyone. "The price point was massively important to me because I don't want anything to be sacrificed when everyone's so worried about cash and bills at this moment in time."
Of course, the Revolution Pro range is touted for its 'plumping' and 'smoothing' abilities – this is Amanda, of course, who makes no secret of wanting that sculpted look. Of her eye serum, she declares: "It's really tightening... it's got Myoxinal in it, which like nature's Botox."
SHOP AMANDA'S SKINCARE COLLECTION
Amanda is dedicated to her glamorous image, granted, but is all about beauty efficiency, too. Her eyelashes, she says, are non-negotiable – despite her early call times for her Heart Radio breakfast show.
"There's something about an eyelash that just makes you feel that tiny bit more glam, a bit more confident," she says. "I wear mine more than I should. I sleep in them to save time getting up in the morning."
READ MORE: 9 of Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden's most show-stopping dresses
Of course, the star has become synonymous with her daring outfits on Britain's Got Talent, where she's been known to wear necklines close to her belly button and thigh-split gowns that give Angelina Jolie a major run for her money – something which she says adds to the "theatre" of the show.
"I'm all about the theatre of Britain's Got Talent. For me it's just about making an entrance and being your super-glam best... and then when I get home, leaving it in a pile on the floor and getting into bed," she says.
Of her husband Chris Hughes' reactions to her on-screen outfits, she adds: "He always goes, 'Why can't you come in and keep it all on? Why do I get the worst end of the deal?' I get it all off, put my stripy jammies on, or one of his T-shirts, and get into bed."
As for the response she gets as a 52-year-old woman that proudly embraces being sexy, she says: "I don't see it as a bad thing. I think it's an incredulous thing. I think that people can't believe it. Not necessarily me, but people can't believe that there is this whole new generation of trailblazing women who really don't give a f**k, who are setting the standards for literally everyone behind them.
MORE: 14 beauty products Jennifer Aniston can't live without
"Because it's never happened before. I mean, my grandmother looked great at 50 but felt she had to dress in a certain way and then stop dying her hair around the age of 56 or 57, because she didn't want to be seen as 'mutton dressed as lamb'."
She adds that her mum, Judith, sometimes responds in the same way to her glamorous ways - and hopes things will be different for her own daughters. "You know, when she comes to an event with me I'll say 'Mum, pop a strip lash on!' And she thinks she can't. I think it's a generational thing. So I'm hoping that by having no rules, then for our kids there'll be no rules."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qbHLpaammZeWx6q6xGeaqKVfnbKiuNOhmKeckpqutsDYaGtyaGdlfnCtzJqlnZldnbytsMSnqmaskaG4tHnBnqCnn12osrnFjJymp56ZmbKvwIyaq2ZtYmKyua%2FLrqqirpVk