EXCLUSIVE
N ESS’: king ITY star and businessan Luisa Zissman is ing up for a new career ockey. celebrity, who shot to fame 2013 series of The Apprentice, ently training hard to race at wood this August. a, 32, will be competing t fellow celebs including Vogue Williams and Olympic Victoria Pendleton in the olia Cup event. the former Celebrity Big r star admits it’s not been an de. “I’ve been getting up at r to six in the morning, three r times a week to go to the yard,” she tells the Daily Star. ride, then sometimes go on rciser, which is a mechanical then do a personal training n then pilates – and then I I’ve been exercising for six which explains why I’m feelexhausted. so intense that I think if I keep any of it up after the ll turn into jelly, like a little lin man!” since starting her gruelling e in February, Luisa is feeling han ever. “I’ve got abs now – ally toned,” she says. always worn size 10 jeans my late teens, but now I’m a really comfortable size eight. It’s changed me mentally, too. I was overrun when I was first approached to do this and it’s been so nice to have a focus and work towards something. The sense of achievement is great. In your 30s you can tend to get stuck in a routine, and having a fresh challenge has definitely been good for me.”
Daunting
Luisa has been a keen horse rider since she was four and keeps dressage horses, but says riding a racehorse is “very different” to that. “It set me in good stead, but it’s basically been a whole new learning experience,” she adds.
And for her, Pendleton – who won her first race in March 2016 – will be the one to beat on August 1.
Luisa says: “It’s really daunting to be up against a professional athlete – especially as she’s a jockey and ridden round Cheltenham.”
The charity race is raising money for Wellbeing Of Women, which funds medical research into women’s reproductive health, and Luisa is also putting on her own charity event for the cause later this month.
It will include a live version of the Loose Lips podcast she presents alongside close pal Anna Williamson, from Celebs Go Dating.
The pair launched Loose Lips last October, after Luisa appeared as a guest on Anna’s solo podcast Breaking Mum & Dad and wanted to do one herself.
“Loose Lips has been surprisingly popular and almost has a cult following now – and it’s not just women, we have a few ‘man fans’ as me and Anna call them,” says Luisa.
“What I love about podcasting is that it’s not like TV – you can say pretty much whatever you want. You’re not edited or forced to conform, which suits my personality type more.”
Unsurprisingly, the outspoken star reckons people are “way too easily offended these days”.
“It’s verging on the ridiculous,” she says, sighing. “The thing that really gets me is people who are offended on behalf of other people, who are actually not offended by that particular thing.
“I don’t know if it is because people are bored, and social media gives them somewhere to share their voice or whether it’s because we have less worries in life now. I may have some controversial opinions but I would never go out of my way to hurt anybody.”
As a mum of three daughters, Luisa is raising them to have the confidence to say what they think.
“I want to teach them to not be afraid of people not agreeing, because you can’t have everybody agreeing with you. I’m trying to raise them with a bit of spice,” she says.
Luisa was runner-up on The Apprentice to Dr Leah Totton. But her ruthless style landed her a spot in the following year’s Celebrity Big Brother. During the show she came out as bisexual and admitted seeking therapy for sex addiction.
Dangerous
But Luisa reckons reality TV has changed for the worse since then. She says: “I just think there’s no real substance in terms of the shows or the contestants – it’s very dumbed down.”
She adds: “Reality TV stars are disposable, and I’d include myself in that, and it’s really dangerous not having a back-up plan. I’d be OK because I could probably start a business out of thin air.”
●