Damaging vanity is when you look in the mirror all day long
As 10 Years Younger In 10 Days returns, host Cherry Healey tells GEORGIA HUMPHREYS why the show is about more than just looks
THERE’S one woman who sticks in Cherry Healey’s mind after filming the new series of 10 Years Younger In 10 Days.
The makeover show sees Cherry and her team transform the looks and confidence of those who feel older than their years, thanks to non-invasive cosmetic procedures, hair, make-up, and fashion overhauls.
In the case of devoted mum Alison, who has three children who all have special needs, she was at the end of her tether.
Thanks to the experts, we see her ditch her usual uniform of a fleece and workout leggings. But what the show also did was give her the tools to change her life for the better.
“I felt excited because Alison seemed to get some strength,” recalls Cherry, who has two kids of her own, Coco and Edward, with her former husband Roly Allen.
“And I think there’s going to be a shift in dynamic at home. I think she’s going to be able to ask for a lot more help because she realises that, by driving herself into the ground and being a martyr, she’s actually not helping anyone. It’s OK to kind of release a bit and say, ‘I’m not coping’.
The 40-year-old continues: “I get really stressed; I’m a working mum. I’m not anywhere in her (Alison’s) sphere of challenging experiences, and even I want to get in a car sometimes and just sit there and eat Mcdonald’s, with no noise.”
When it comes to how we view our appearance, it’s impossible to ignore the impact of social media.
And Cherry admits the pandemic has led to some bad habits of her own, including “drinking too much in the evening” and scrolling social media “in a bit of a mad way”.
“I only recently stopped it. I promised myself in this lockdown that I would try and break it,” she said.
“There’s so much to be grateful for and I am actually naturally a very grateful person, but I just felt that drained from me.”
Asked how making 10 Years Younger In 10 Days has made her think about her own appearance more, she says she’s realised there shouldn’t be guilt when it comes to spending money on ourselves.
“I mean, obviously don’t put yourself in debt, but I realised that it’s really beneficial to everyone if I look after myself. I’m no good to anyone if I feel sad and unloved and uncared for and actually, the best person to look after me is me,” she says.
During lockdown she’s been looking after herself by spending more money on having delicious food at home, and she’s bought herself a “really lovely sunscreen”.
“Damaging vanity”, she follows candidly, “is when it takes over your life.
“It’s when you can’t go to a party because you don’t look perfect. It’s when you can’t go to the school run because you haven’t done full make-up. It’s when you look in the mirror all day long.
“It’s when you think about how you look and how others look is their value. It’s how important they are as a person and, ‘I only want to hang out with pretty people because I want pretty people in my gang’. Bleurgh! I know quite a few people like that, and it’s gross and it’s horrible and it’s toxic and weird.”
The show is not about vanity, she adds, but about people who need to remember who they are, and helping them get some pride back in themselves.
It’s OK to kind of release a bit and say, ‘I’m not coping...’
10 Years Younger In 10 Days starts on Channel 5 on Thursday, March 18, at 9pm