Marigold ..finger

Bassey’s lockdown housework shock

DAME Shirley Bassey has told how she had to roll up her sleeves and pull on her Marigolds to do her own chores for the first time in decades during lockdown.

The 83-year-old singer, who had hits with the theme tunes to Bond movies Goldfinger, Moonraker and Diamonds Are Forever, lives alone in a luxury apartment in Monaco.

When the pandemic struck, she had to spend weeks isolated, with no staff to help her and admits she was hopeless at housework.

She said: “I did not know how to use the washing machine. I kept c a l li n g my h o u s e ke e p er, saying, ‘What do I do now?’.

“It stre ssed me out completely. I was all alone. My assistant was putting food outside my door.”

Lockdown forced Dame Shirley to delay the release of her new album I Owe It All To You, with rehearsals and recording sessions cancelled. The album is viewed by many in the industry as her swan-song ahead of her retirement.

And while she will not confirm that this is the case, Dame Shirley admitted: “I’m hitting the seventh decade of my career and wanted to create an album as a final ‘thank you’.

“It’s a celebration of 70 years in showbusiness, 70 years of support from my fans and 70 years of music.”

Born and brought up in the Tiger Bay docklands area of Cardiff, Dame Shirley married and divorced twice and has three children, four grandsons and a great-granddaughter.

She said: “I’m at my happiest when I’m on stage but also with my family.” She is content to live alone. She said: “I’m not lonely. I don’t miss cuddles. I’m not a tactile person. I never have been, even as a child. When things go wrong, I don’t need someone to comfort me.”

Dame Shirley’s I Owe It All To You on Decca Records i s out on November 6.

CLASSY Shirley has new album Picture: MATT HOLYOAK / Hair & make-up: NIKKI HAMBI

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CHORES Shirley struggled