FEELING SEXY AT 62
Mystery fella first to pay his way I may be older but I’m very fit Given my girls a lot of pain
TRISHA Goddard could always talk the talk but now she is in great shape to skate the skate in Dancing on Ice.
The chat show queen is feeling sexy thanks to her mystery boyfriend and ready to compete with the ITV show’s younger celebs.
At 62, the three-times married star and breast cancer survivor is the oldest contestant on series 12 of the show, starting tonight.
Mum-of-two Trisha is confident and chatty about her chance of impressing judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
But she is less open about the American she has dated since her 2018 divorce from third husband Peter Gianfrancesco.
She referred to him only as #Boo and revealed he earns more than she does and was the first man to take her out for a meal or buy a piece of jewellery.
Trisha, best known for her daytime chat show which ran for 12 years, she stressed the importance of fitness to her chances in the contest and life as a whole. She said: “I might be the oldest in the competition but I’m the fittest, apart from Perri Kiely [Diversity dancer]. Before I thought ‘These kids are so much younger’. But when you’re young you smoke, you drink, you stay up late. It takes more of a toll on them. Physically, I’m very strong. Fitness post breast cancer got me through. I know how important it is for mind and body.”
Trisha was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, suffered depression in the 90s and even tried to take her own life.
Now she keeps dark thoughts in check by running and using weights and resistance bands. She said: “If I haven’t run for a few days I start feeling like I’m losing control. Feeling rain, wind and sun in my face is special to me. It got me through my treatment.”
And loving her body again has made Trisha feel comfortable getting intimate with #Boo, who lost his first wife to breast cancer.
She said: “I’m not ashamed of my body but you become very aware of the changes. I wear a pressure sleeve, it ain’t the sexiest thing. You go into a new relationship and think ‘oh no’.
“#Boo makes me feel sexy. If I’m coming down the stairs he tells me how beautiful I look. He buys me gorgeous clothes and can’t wait to see me in them.”
Trisha, who lives in Connecticut, US, met him through a friend. She said: “#Boo was going through a divorce, too. We didn’t expect to meet, we were sat at the same table, we laughed all night. That was two years ago.”
Trisha’s cancer fight put huge pressure on her 20-year marriage to Peter and her relationships with daughters Billie Dee, 30, and Madi, 25, from her second marriage to Mark Grieve.
Her first marriage was to Aussie politician Robert Nestdale in 1985.
He was emotionally abusive and she later learned that he was gay.
PR manager Billie last year spoke of her 16-year battle with drink and drugs, saying her mum’s absence when growing up was partly to blame. Trisha admitted the family have had their problems but insisted they are as strong as ever after working through it. She said: “I’m proud of the young women they’ve grown to be. It’s not been easy to have mum in the spotlight.” Trisha, the first black woman to front a British chat show, is excited and nervous to be back on prime time UK TV but worries about remembering the routines.
She said: “I’ve got chemo brain, which really affects my memory. And menopause on top of that. Skating has really helped as the brain responds to exercise. If I can remember my whole dance routine you’ll see me get
Fitness is so important. It got me through after breast cancer
very emotional. I can still remember guests from years ago but my short-term memory isn’t great.”
She will be competing against the likes of ex-eastender Joe Swash, Corrie’s Lisa George and model Caprice Bourret. And while she has bonded well with fellow celebs, she has already earned a reputation for her straight talking backstage.
So what’s next for Trisha? She admits marriage number four could be on the cards and her mystery man may support her a while she’s on the ice.
She added: “He might come to
Dancing on Ice but he’ll have to come dressed up!”