‘I’ve learnt my own worth’
Lisa Snowdon chats This Morning, modelling highs and lows and her fitness mission to get Britain moving
From modelling in Milan in the 90s and becoming the face of Kellogg’s cereal, to winning Celebrity MasterChef and hosting her own radio breakfast show, Lisa Snowdon has done it all.
And now Lisa, 51, is on our screens again for This Morning, fronting regular women’s health and fashion segments.
Engaged to George Smart, 42, Lisa is evidently loved-up with her man after they rekindled their romance in 2015. She previously shared, “He’s the most supportive person.” But the presenter’s other major relationship is with her body image.
Here, Lisa tells us about listening to what your body is telling you as she looks back on the “tricky times”as a model in the 90s and explains why, for her, fitness is key…
Hi, Lisa. How would you say your relationship with health and fitness has changed over the years?
I realised the importance of it when I reached my forties – not only to keep fit and to feel good but for my mental wellbeing. I really notice a difference when I don’t move. I feel lost without it!
You were told to lose weight during your modelling days. How do you look back on that now?
Back in the day, I wasn’t impressed with being told to lose weight because, in my mind, I was already really tiny. I was old enough to realise that wasn’t something I wanted to do. I had a healthy attitude to food, as I always have. I liked my body. So I wasn’t prepared to try to
lose weight.
What did you take away from that time?
It was a tricky time. That was early 90s. Everyone was chic and androgynous. That was at the height of fashion at that time. So, I just left that territory. I left Milan and came home.You get to know what your own worth is and what you’re prepared to do or not do. It definitely didn’t give me bad confidence issues with my body. If anything, I felt more confident within myself to be like,“No, this is my body.”I learnt how to say no.
‘I liked my body. So I wasn’t prepared to try to lose weight’
And what have you learnt since working on
This Morning?
I love working on This Morning. For me, it’s all about empowering women and making them look and feel the best they can about themselves. There are viewers that
come in who model for us and they’re not experienced. They come in, and they might be a little bit nervous, but they do it. It’s great to see their confidence grow.
Tell us about David Lloyd’s Falling In Love With Fitness campaign…
Exercise isn’t a fad for me. Once you fall in love with exercise, you realise that you can’t live without it. I want to encourage everybody to move their bodies and find something they will stick with. At David Lloyd Clubs, they’ve got this amazing 45-second quiz with leading psychologist Dr Josie Perry to work out which one of five fitness personality types you are.
Lisa has teamed up with David Lloyd Clubs and is urging everyone to take the quiz, at blog.davidlloyd. co.uk/david-lloyd-clubs-fitnesspersonality-quiz/