So how DO you look as classy as Katie at 45?
SHE topped the Strictly leaderboard on Saturday night, with a Viennese waltz that had the judges raving. Craig Revel Horwood said that she was ‘fantastic’ and Len Goodman commented: ‘You were effortlessly elegant and bring a truly timeless quality to the dance floor.’
With her endless legs and lithe physique, how does 45- year- old Katie Derham manages to hold back the years?
We can reveal that despite her wholesome, country wife image (she lives in West Sussex with her husband John Vincent, a co-founder of the restaurant chain Leon, and their two daughters Natasha, 15, and Eleanor, ten, plus a dog and chickens) her beauty, diet and exercise regime is strictly that of a body-obsessed A-lister.
She submits to the attentions of Gwyneth Paltrow’s favourite facialist and for some time has followed the strictures of the French diet guru who is given credit for the natural wonder of Kylie Minogue’s bottom. She is also a fan of yoga and complementary therapies.
‘Dancing for Strictly is by far the most exercise I’ve ever done in my life,’ she says. So, if not exercise, what is the secret of her youthful looks?
NORA BATTY’S ROLLERS
KATIE commutes to see her regular hairdresser in trendy Fitzrovia, central London. She goes to The King’s Canary in Great Titchfield Street for regular cuts by Luigi Inglese and to have her naturally light brown hair coloured by Mel Lewin. She favours non-permanent rinses in a warmer shade.
When she can’t get to the salon, she favours Babyliss Thermo Ceramic rollers — and has even been pictured wearing them out and about, like Nora Batty in Last of The Summer Wine.
She says: ‘This is the fastest way I know of looking as though you’ve had a blowdry when, in fact, you’ve been doing the school run.’
£250 DESIGNER FACIAL
GIVEN her expressive forehead and habit of wrinkling her nose when amused, it is obvious that Katie is not a member of the Botox brigade.
The secret to her skin is that she has taken care of it, expensively, ever since she was young. She loves Vaishaly Night Nourisher, a treatment oil that costs £75, and Vaishaly Night Cream, costing £ 65, to decongest, rebalance and rejuvenate skin overnight.
She says: ‘ This is l i ke giving yourself a mini-facial every evening in about ten seconds flat. It smells luxurious and is a good repair kit for the ravages of studio make-up.’
The product’s creator, Vaishaly Patel, looks after celebrities from Elle Macpherson to Gwyneth Paltrow at her studio in Marylebone, central London.
Katie also treats herself to a monthly facial — and sees Vaishaly personally, which costs £ 250 per session.
Vaishaly says: ‘Katie has amazing skin for her age as she has always looked after it well.’
Day to day she favours Guinot and Dermalogica products.
Would she go further than posh cream and facials? Asked about cosmetic surgery, she once said: ‘I can’t understand why people put themselves through so much pain.’
LASER SHARP EYES
KATIE’S newsreader straight white teeth are the result of expensive orthodontistry in her teens. (She was raised in Wilmslow, Cheshire, by her French teacher mother and chemist father.)
She says: ‘I wore thick spectacles and braces and was called “Girder Gob” by my brother, which didn’t do much for my confidence.’
She ditched the glasses and had laser treatment a couple of years ago by Professor Dan Reinstein at London Vision Clinic. She says: ‘I couldn’t recommend him more, and he plays a mean jazz sax.’
SHARES KYLIE’S DIET
JUST after the birth of her first child, Katie and her husband embarked on the Montignac diet.
Devised by Frenchman Michel Montignac, it is a low GI, or glycaemic index diet, in which sugar is the enemy, particularly i n refined carbohydrates. White bread, pasta and rice are banned.
His book — Eat Yourself Slim And Stay Slim — was a huge hit and there was a Montignac shop in South Kensington selling low GI pasta, cheesecake and other treats, which was famously frequented by the singer Kylie Minogue as well as by Katie.
The diet was credited with helping Kylie to maintain her iconic peachy rear. Katie seems to have stuck to the plan on and off ever since. She is a size ten, and at 5ft 8in weighs a mere 9st.
She says: ‘It’s a very liveable-with diet. Unfortunately, you have to avoid potatoes, which I find hard. So I do like to have them occasionally.’
She still enjoys a glass of wine, but only three or four times a week. ‘Weight has never been a problem,’ she says. ‘I’ve never had to diet and I don’t have scales at home.
‘I tend to lose weight when I start a new job or am under stress, but I neither consciously try to put it on nor lose it.’
That said, what she eats is probably not everyone’s idea of fun: she kept a food diary for a newspaper a few years ago, which revealed that after a lunch of cold beef salad she dined on tuna steak, stir- fried cabbage and salad.
She told me that her secret is: ‘Mostly moderation in all things, cook from scratch as much as possible, try to be gluten-free as much as possible and eat loads of greens. But I love a bit of cake and a glass of vino!’
CHOCOLATE FIX
GIVEN that her husband has become a millionaire thanks to his clean eating organic food chain, it will be no surprise that Katie eats very well indeed. Everything is organic, even chocolate, and she makes her own jam.
She swears by chocolate to protect and soothe a tired voice — and a touch of warm water to cure a froggy throat. She is a fan of taking vitamin supplements, especially when she is busy.
She says: ‘I use quite a few homeopathic remedies, such as echinacea, to boost my immune system when I feel I need it.’
YOGA GURU
So HoW does she keep her pins so toned? Well, daily walks with the family golden retriever Sunny have helped, as has her determination to ‘walk everywhere’ if possible when she is in London for work.
Before she moved to Sussex she used to swim and work out in the gym up to twice a week, but now she does yoga once a week.
She also swims, but doesn’t play any sport. Katie says: ‘I’ve always been reasonably lucky with my weight because I’m not a great fan of the gym. I can pretty much eat what I want, which annoys my colleagues, who say: “How come you don’t put on any weight?” I reply that it might be adrenaline or the rare moments of terror.’
HAPPY FEET
KATIE is a fan of complementary health remedies, and enjoyed reflexology on her feet while pregnant — she had been recommended it to help her slow down and to stimulate the baby’s growth during her first pregnancy.
She says: ‘I also love full body massages with aromatherapy oils.’
SNAZZY HIGH HEELS
SHE dances in high heels with ease because she is a fan of elegant shoes, and stores her collection in see-through boxes. She has around 50 pairs.
of the heels, she says: ‘They put me in performance mode.’