Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
The DEFINITE ARTICLE
We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions – and only accept THE definitive answer. This week it’s former model Jodie Kidd’s turn
The prized possession you value above all others… A diamond and platinum necklace that converts into a tiara that my grandmother Lady Beaverbrook left to me when she died in 1988. The unqualified regret you wish you could amend… During my first modelling job when I was 15 in Milan for the fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré, I called him Karl – as in Karl Lagerfeld, his greatest competitor. I never worked for him again! The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions… I’d wake up on the west coast of Barbados and have a huge fresh fruit breakfast. I would be with Andrea [her boyfriend, Argentine polo player Andrea Vianini] and our baby son Indio, who is nine months old. Andrea and I would then go for a swim in the Arroyo de Jose Ignacio river in southern Uruguay, followed by lunch at the Lucifer restaurant in Pueblo Garzon. I would then go scuba diving in the Seychelles. For the evening, I’d come back to our home in West Sussex, put the baby to bed and go to my favourite local pub – The Three Crowns, in Wisborough Green – and drink local ales until last orders. The temptation you wish you could resist… A glass of cold beer. It’s too easy to have one and keep going. The book that holds an everlasting resonance… The Wind In The Willows. My mother read it to me when I was little and I can’t wait to read it to Indi. The priority activity if you were the Invisible Woman for a day… I’d go to Area 51 [the US air force base in Nevada used for secret testing] and find out if a real UFO ever landed. The pet hate that makes your hackles rise... Dishonesty. I hate liars. I have come across a lot of it in the modelling world and have a good radar for lies. The film you can watch time and time again… The Shawshank Redemption with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. I love the moral of the story and how Robbins’ character gets justice. The person who has influenced you most… My dad [ businessman and former show-jumper John Kidd]. He has been a great role model and taught me how to be a good person. The figure from history for whom you’d most like to buy a pie and a pint… Jules Verne [the 19th- century French author who pioneered science fiction writing]. I’d like to know how he foresaw submarines and space travel.
‘Everyone thinks I’m posh and anorexic. I’m actually very normal – and since giving birth I’m a size 12-14’
The piece of wisdom you would pass on to a child… Work hard and play hard. Enjoy spending every penny you earn on living your life. The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity… AI, artificial insemination in horses! Andrea and I breed polo ponies and it’s amazing. The treasured item you lost and wish
you could have again… I lost an Omega watch two years ago when I was riding. It wasn’t valuable, but I loved it. The unending quest that drives you on… Winning! I have a very competitive streak, especially in sport.
The poem that touches your soul... If by Rudyard Kipling because my godfather [the late Douglas Bunn, who founded showjumping’s home, Hickstead] said he would give me £10 if I learnt it when I was little. I couldn’t do it, but I fell in love with the poem because it’s all about courage – and it reminds me of him. The your event life and that character… altered the The course birth of of Indi him has [on made 5 September me calmer, 2011]. softer Having and more humble towards people. The misapprehension about yourself you wish you could erase… That I’m posh and anorexic. I had a wonderful upbringing, but I’m normal. And since giving birth I am a size 12-14. The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with it… I would steal the gold from Fort Knox to buy loads of beautiful land.
The song that means most to you… Money For Nothing by Dire Straits reminds me of singing it with my dad in the car when I was about eight. The happiest moment you will cherish forever… Scoring an eagle [two under par] in 2004 at The Road Hole at St Andrews, which is meant to be one of the hardest holes in golf. The saddest time that shook your
world… Seeing the Twin Towers come down in 2001. I was in New York for fashion week and saw it from the balcony of an apartment about 30 blocks away. I could even see people jumping. It shook me – and the world. The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you… To ride the Hickstead Derby course. You need to be a gutsy rider and I don’t think I could even try, especially now I’m a mummy. The philosophy that underpins your life… He who has the gold makes the rules! That was written at the foot of the stairs in my godfather’s house.
The order of service at your funeral… I will leave it all to my family because I will neither know nor care what happens. I’d like to be buried in Sussex. Above all, I want everyone to have a big knees-up and celebrate life.
The way you want to be remembered… As a connoisseur of fine red wine who brought some good to the world.
The Plug… Jodie Kidd has designed a limited edition Formula 1-inspired SKY+HD 1TB box. Visit www.sky.com/designerboxes