The British dancer who built Rosie’s £7million superbody
WHEN Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was named as Britain’s highest-earning supermodel last week after raking in a staggering £6.8million in the past 12 months, she no doubt thanked the ‘glam squad’ of stylists, hairdressers and make-up artists now compulsory for A-list celebrities.
Yet there is one woman Rosie credits above all others in sculpting her stunning physique – British ‘guru’ Simone de la Rue, a former West End dancer who is Hollywood’s latest secret fitness weapon.
Simone, 41, is unknown in her native country, but her clients include Taylor Swift, Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts, Sandra Bullock and Emily Blunt. And her secret appears to be a bewildering blend of dance, aerobics, yoga – and a mini trampoline. Plain old Pilates is no longer enough.
Her business, Body By Simone, has become a £2million empire in less than five years, and now includes two LA studios and a New York gym. She will open her first outpost in London next year.
Huntington-Whiteley is famed not just for her slender beauty but an athletic look – in particular that tummy – based on Simone’s regime of stretch and balance exercises. Not forgetting the work of a ‘glam squad’ which includes a manicurist, massage therapist and nutritionist.
In person, 5ft 4in Simone is a petite blonde, honed to within an inch of her life. We meet in a cramped office off the gleaming lobby of her studio in the LA suburb of Brentwood. She is saying goodbye to an impossibly beautiful woman who turns out to be model and actress Amber Valletta, while in the studio a crowd of yummy mummies wait for the class to begin. Rashly, I give it a go.
The pace is relentless and sweat is soon pouring down my face as the regulars pound out complicated routines flawlessly, leaving me floundering. A floor-to-ceiling mirror in the dance studio only adds to my distress, as the rest of the class lift a Pilates ball in perfect union between their toned thighs while mine shoots across the room. Dance steps, turns and twirls are incorporated into a 55-minute workout which also includes sit-ups, squats, stretching and core work – all done to a relentlessly upbeat soundtrack.
Simone stresses that her classes – they cost £20 and there is no membership fee – are for everyone, even though it didn’t entirely feel like that. ‘Exercise has to be fun,’ she says soothingly as my thighs ache from the last set of lunges. ‘You just need to keep coming back and your body will soon start to thank you. No one is perfect in the beginning.
‘Of course the celebrity following I’ve built has played a big part in my success and I’m sure some people are attracted by the “Hollywood” side of it. I want my clients, celebrity and non-celebrity, to feel safe here. I don’t advertise.’
When Taylor Swift posted a picture of herself and model Karlie Kloss in one of Simone’s classes, Simone’s Instagram feed jumped by 10,000 followers.
Simone says the secret to 29-year-old Rosie’s astonishing 5ft 11in figure – genetics aside – is the combination of using dance for fitness with classical moves, including pirouettes to strengthen and lengthen muscles. Rosie, who is engaged to British actor Jason Statham, also uses a mini trampoline in some classes to increase ‘the fun factor’ and improve balance and posture. She works out with Simone five days a week. ‘Being fit and healthy is part of being a celebrity today,’ Simone adds, her speech as flawlessly Hollywood as the rest of her.
‘Everyone has a glam squad, but the core is still starting with a toned, healthy body. It’s the foundation of everything else. My mantra is “strong not skinny”.’
And Simone did give me one heartening tip: she bans clients from weighing themselves. ‘I’ve not stepped on the scales in years. When I was at ballet school we had to stand on scales once a week and if we put on half a pound we’d be in trouble. That mentality is so unhealthy.
‘I tell them to look in the mirror and learn to love what they see.’
I haven’t stepped on the scales in years – it’s unhealthy