I’m proud to be 60, says covered-up Linda Lusardi
LINDA LUSARDI, the glamour model-turned actress, says that as she approaches 60 she has turned camera shy and refuses to go topless on the beach in case someone recognises her and takes a picture. But the former star of Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and The Bill, insists she is “proud” to be entering a new decade and no longer tries to hide her age.
“Up until I turned 50, I was wary of the fact I had cellulite and flabby bits here and there. I’d hide it all away,” she said.
“Now I’m turning 60, I think, ‘I know I’ve got those things but I still look all right for 60’, so I don’t care any more.”
The former model, who became a star by taking off her clothes for tabloid newspapers, says a bikini in the garden and on holiday is now as undressed as she is prepared to appear in public. She said: “I’m really proud to be turning 60 next month and I get lots of nice comments. I don’t try to hide my age.”
Ms Lusardi was discovered at a bus stop at the age of 18 and went on to be one of the UK’s bestknown models.
She enjoyed a successful acting career and in 2008 appeared on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
She was also on the panel of Loose Women, on the same channel.
She credits her youthful looks to her Italian father’s genes. Nello Lusardi died aged 87 in October last year.
She has been married to her second husband, the actor Sam Kane, 49, for nearly 20 years and they have two children. Their daughter, Lucy, 21, appeared on the TV talent show, The Voice, while son Jack, 16, is an actor.