I don’t have any regrets. My past has made me who I am
SADIE FROST TALKS TO GABRIELLE FAGAN ABOUT MOTHERHOOD, RELATIONSHIPS AND AGEING GRACEFULLY
Life is about being happy with what I have and enjoying it Sadie Frost says she is more grounded and content than she was in her 20s
SADIE FROST found fame in the Nineties as one of the party-loving ‘Primrose Hill Set’ along with best friend Kate Moss, and also had two turbulent high-profile marriages, to Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp and actor Jude Law.
But today, she reveals, she’s enjoying new-found peace and contentment.
Two divorces and four children later, those wild years are long behind her and Sadie describes her lifestyle, grounded by yoga and meditation, as “grown up”.
Her wellbeing book, Nourish: Mind, Body & Soul, has been so successful it’s just been republished in paperback – and she’s enriched by a fulfilling relationship.
To prove the point, instead of an evening bash to celebrate her 52nd birthday in June, Sadie opted for a traditional tea-party surrounded by family and friends, including Law, her partner of two years Darren Strowger and Kate.
“I’m more grounded and content than I was in my 20s, I’m enjoying more time on my own,” Sadie revealed happily, shortly before the celebration.
“The things that are important to me now are the things that matter – my family, my mum, my sisters and my close friends, and not looking over my shoulder so much and not wanting something else. Its about really being happy with what I have and enjoying it.”
A loving partnership is also at the heart of the actress, film producer and fashioner designer’s joy in middle age. She’s been dating multi-millionaire businessman, Darren, 49, for two years.
“To meet someone now, being an adult and a grown-up and experiencing life with them, is great. Darren’s lovely and it’s nice to have a companion. We do exciting things together,” Sadie confides.
“We travel, have date nights, go to the movies – it’s not a onedimensional relationship. We met through a teenage cancer trust that we’re both involved with and we do a lot of charity stuff together. He’s quite entrepreneurial and so am I.
“It’s lovely he’s a parent as well, which is a great bond, and he’s a good dad. I’d describe myself as quite spontaneous, driven, homely, loving and creative, and Darren is very confident, very extrovert, very generous and romantic.”
In the past, domestic bliss had often seemed elusive. Sadie met Spandau Ballet rocker, Gary Kemp, when she was 16; they married after six years and had son, Finlay, now 26, in 1990.
The marriage ended five years later when she left him for the then-struggling actor, Jude Law.
They married in 1997 and had three children – Rafferty, 20, Iris, 16, and Rudy, 14 – and divorced in 2003.
“I had an amazing relationship with Gary and I have a beautiful son with him. And my love for Jude was so intense and we had an amazing love for each other. It was sad that relationship didn’t last, but I wouldn’t say I was unlucky in love,” Sadie reasons.
“Personally, I don’t have any regrets because everything I’ve done has made me who I am today.”
While her partying in North London’s trendy Primrose Hill - with Kate Moss, Noel and Liam Gallagher and their then partners Meg Mathews and Patsy Kensit - hit the headlines, behind the scenes Sadie was struggling. She’d suffered with anxiety and panic attacks from childhood and experienced post-natal depression after Rafferty was born.
“Wanting to be a survivor and being strong got me through those difficult times,” she explains. “I was determined to make things right and not be a victim. It can all be a bit too much and you have to spend time putting the pieces back together and surround yourself with the right people.
“The best piece of advice I was given was to be true to yourself. Stick to who you are. I’ve always been quite a worrier, but I’ve tried to stop that, have faith in myself and my own judgements.”
Her priority – as well as her career (she has a production company, Blonde To Black Pictures, and fashion label Frost French) – is her children.
“It’s been pretty much me and the kids at home, which has been nice, and to have a mum who’s available is important for them. I never disappeared, I was always there,” she says proudly.
“Motherhood has brought me the most joy. Bringing them up, I’ve tried to keep things as honest and real as possible, to be consistent and non-judgemental, and not bring them up in any grandiose type of way. On occasions, I’m probably more immature than my children!”
She recently posed in a bikini, all aglow and enviably trim, which she attributes to conscientiously following a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.
“I feel in a very good place. There are no worries, no problems and an acceptance that I’m pretty lucky and I want to make the most of my life and make every day count.
“I think because I feel good most of the time, there’s no point in scrutinising myself in the mirror,” says Sadie. “I exercise, do yoga and meditate. All those things contribute so much that I’m not really bothered about getting older.”
She’s open as to what the future holds. “I don’t think about getting married again. I’m just too involved in raising my kids right now. And with them getting older and having relationships, it would be weird if mum was getting married! “But being married before hasn’t put me off, so never say never. But I’ve got everything – a lovely family and great people who I work with, so I’m content.”