BETH TWEDDLE ON THE JOY OF TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF

The former Olympic gymnast had just returned to work after maternity leave when lockdown hit. But, she tells Abi Jackson, it’s been rather lovely.

Beth Tweddle loves a to-do list. She writes them every morning – “or sometimes the night before, so I know what needs to be done,” says the former Olympic gymnast and mum-of-one, 35.

Britain’s ‘greatest ever female gymnast’, Tweddle racked up seven consecutive National Champion and three World Champion titles, plus Commonwealth and European Champion wins and three Olympic Games, scooping Bronze at London 2012, before retiring at 28. Now, her career is focused around Beth Tweddle Gymnastics and the brand’s range of training programmes, including a school curriculum programme, sessions for tots and the Academy and Gym Stars series. She also took part in – and won – Dancing On Ice in 2013, but had an awful blow three years later, suffering a severe injury while participating in Channel 4’s The Jump. A joyous new chapter started in May 2019, when she and husband Andy Allen welcomed their baby girl Freya.

The pandemic was particularly weird timing, as Tweddle had just returned to work after maternity leave. “It’s very strange, I’d literally been back to work for two weeks and then the first lockdown kicked in. So I’d just got a bit more normality back, and then I was basically back to being at home with Freya,” she says. “But do you know what? It has been lovely.”

Despite the past year being “a rollercoaster”, Tweddle says: “The huge positive for me was being able to spend so much more time with Freya, and with Andy working from home as well, we both got to see a lot more of her development at this age.” Juggling working from home and a lively toddler has been a balancing act, but Tweddle says she’s learned to let go of putting too much pressure on things. Home workouts remain a regular priority – even if they don’t always go like clockwork.

“I’ve been doing workouts in the living room. I’m a morning person, so I tend to do things first thing, I find that sets me up for the day. Freya gets up at half six and I’ll get up with her, then by half eight-ish Andy maybe takes her for a bit and I’ll do my activity. But if she starts running around and comes in with me – she finds it hilarious when I’m doing exercise and will usually try and sit on me or copy me – then I’m not too worried. I think people sometimes put too much pressure on themselves to do it perfectly. You just have to let go of that.”