A fixture on Saturday night TV for an impressive 16 years, the Strictly Come Dancing presenter is still as in love with the show as she was all those years ago. Now a mother to Phoebe, 15, and Amber, 10, with husband and fellow presenter Vernon Kay, Tess lives what she refers to as a ‘low-key life’ with her family when she’s not lighting up our TV screens. H&W caught up with Tess Daly to discuss her beauty secrets, how she de-stresses and her favourite type of exercise.
On her beauty routine
“I cleanse, tone and moisturise religiously morning and night. I’m not particularly loyal to any brand – I’m lucky because I get sent lots of new brands to try. I’m a big believer in using SPF to protect the skin – don’t expose your skin to the sun’s rays, because that damage is pretty much irreversible! I’m a fan of hydration to keep skin looking dewy and glowing. Hydrated, luminous, glowing skin always looks healthy and fresh. Dehydrated skin is the enemy as far as I’m concerned because it never looks good – it looks dull and it’s ageing, so I plump up my skin with lots of moisturisers.”
On de-stressing
“I do meditation. I met Deepak Chopra last year and went to one of his retreats recently, which was great fun because he’s all about mindfulness, being in the moment and self-care, as well as Ayurveda, which I’m very interested in and studying at the moment. In these busy hectic lives that we all lead, I think it’s great, if you can, to take out 20 minutes at the start of the day just for yourself to meditate and sit quietly, because the day definitely flows better afterwards. I’ve started setting my alarm 20 minutes earlier, which was difficult at the beginning because it’s still dark when your alarm’s going off, but I’ll get up at 6.20am and have half an hour to myself before everyone else gets up. That time for me is great – I can go over the day, sit with myself quietly, meditate for 20 minutes, and it really helps calm your entire outlook for the day – it works for me.”
On her favourite exercise
“I don’t like sweating much, so it would probably be yoga because that’s gentle. I do really enjoy swimming, and I like skipping and trampolining. We’ve got a little trampoline at home outside, and that’s great for getting your lymphatic system moving and for your circulation. Sometimes I’ll do five minutes of skipping at the start of the day – one minute on and one minute off, and it’s great, it really wakes up the system. If you’re feeling a bit sluggish in the morning, it’s a brilliant way to wake up – better than a cup of coffee I’d say! And it’s cheap and cheerful – just buy a skipping rope from Amazon, it’s there the next day for a couple of quid. You can skip inside if the weather is bad, it’s an all-weather exercise that really gets your circulation going, it wakes you up, and it keeps you trim. I like skipping, it’s a joyful exercise that puts a smile on your face. I recommend it to everyone I know because it’s easy and it reminds you of being a child again. It gets part of the body moving that you haven’t moved for a while. Everything is moving at the same time, it feels good, it boosts the endorphins and it’s quick.”
To read the full interview, pick up the April issue of Health & Wellbeing with Tess Daly, on sale on the 5th March.
