Carol: The Sixties child turns 60!
As she approaches her 60th (ssh!), Carol McGiffin is as vibrant and irreverent as ever – just don’t ask her if she’s having a big party to celebrate…
On 18 February, best columnist and LooseWomen star Carol McGiffin turns 60. It’s a milestone birthday which, during her gruelling battle with breast cancer, she might have wondered if she’d ever reach. But today, looking groovy with her handsome hubby, Mark, 38, in our fun Sixties shoot to celebrate her 60th (see what we did there?!) – she’s happy, healthy and buzzing about the adventures ahead…
You pair of groovy hipsters! How do you like your makeover? Carol:
I’m loving it! And Mark looks like he was made for this look! I feel like the two of us could be walking down King’s Road in the Swinging Sixties right now.
Mark: I quite suit the Beatles-style hair, don’t I? I could get used to this look.
Carol: I don’t remember that much about the Sixties, but I would have absolutely adored to have been socialising and drinking in all those iconic clubs. The music was exciting and new, too. It was a revolutionary era in so many ways. No one batted an eyelid at anything. I’d have fitted right in.
What else do you love about the era? Carol:
The style – and that look has come back around a few times. Those short, pixie cuts for women were so gorgeous.
Mark: I love Sixties music, especially The Beatles and The Monkees.
Carol: Ah, The Monkees! They’re still on my Desert Island Discs list. It’s funny, London was most likely filthy back then, having just come out of a heavily industrial time, but boy, was it swinging!
On to another kind of Sixties – Carol, how do you feel about your impending birthday?! Carol:
I don’t love talking about that ‘number’ – but I feel that there’s a lot of pressure to think it is a big deal. Everyone goes on about it and I feel like I have to grin
and say, ‘Oh God, I’ve never felt better!’ – but, really, I feel the same.
But do you ‘feel’ like you’re 60? Carol:
No, I still feel like I’m in my 40s! I hope I’m young at heart, but you can’t help changing and ageing. When I was young, being 60 was like being dead! It’s just not like that any more. If you were 60 in the Sixties, you’d have just been for a blue rinse and a perm!
Does being with a younger man make a difference?! Carol:
Who knows? I could have ended up at 60 just happily hanging out in my tracky bottoms every day. But I want to make sure I look after myself, as it makes me feel good.
Are you more health-conscious, as you get older? Carol:
I’ve always been pretty good. I eat healthily, generally. We’ve both over-indulged a lot over the years, but then we make up for it. It’s all about the balance.
Mark: Yes, don’t get us wrong – we always enjoy ourselves and we never hold back when we do! But then we wake up the next day and know to eat healthily and do a bit of exercise.
Looking back, Carol, how has the past decade been for you?
Carol: Well... I’ve had both the worst and best times of my life. Mark and I met when I was 48. Two years later, we had my 50th in Bangkok. It was such a great year. Mark took some time off work and Loose Women was at its peak, so money wasn’t an issue. This was 2010 – and then 2013 was fantastic, too. I left Loose Women and went into the Celebrity Big Brother house, which was hilarious.
But then there were the bad times… Carol:
Yes… then in 2014,
I got sick. That knocked the stuffing out of us for a few years. But it’s just another thing that you can’t do a damn thing about. You have to get on with it, deal with the treatment, and hope everything’s going to be all right. I reached the five-year cancer-free mark last year, but I’m not celebrating because I think it’s… misleading. Of course, we hope that’s it now, but we just don’t know.
Are you going to have a big celeb-filled party on your birthday? Carol:
Christ, no. We’ll be in Australia and my friends will be putting on a nice BBQ. A couple of my really old friends from way back will be there, but it won’t be a ‘party’. I can’t actually follow my 50th in Thailand. Everything went to plan – the weather was perfect, the food was great, everybody turned up that was meant to! It was just the most idyllic setting. I’m not even going to try to top that.
Did your Loose Women pals not want to celebrate with you?! Carol:
I’m sure if I was around they would have done something nice for me, but I’m away so they can’t, which is good because I hate being the centre of attention! I do recall, for my 50th, the girls buying me an original bottle of wine from 1960, which was lovely.
So, what’s important to you these days? Carol:
It’s just to carry on doing exactly what we’re doing… having really nice holidays, living our lovely life – spending most of the summer in sunny France, and working as much as we can.
Mark, have you got Carol anything special? Mark:
I have started thinking about that… Maybe a really expensive pair of sunglasses? Carol: Oh well – it’s the thought that counts…! But I really don’t want anything. I’ve got everything I need.