Heartbreak for 'devastated' Kelly Brook as she loses baby girl at nearly five months

By Sara Nathan


Devastation: Kelly Brook has been left heartbroken after losing her baby girl at nearly five months


Kelly Brook has been left ‘devastated’ after losing the baby girl she was expecting with her boyfriend Thom Evans.

The striking model, 31, who was nearly five months pregnant, was rushed to hospital at the end of last week, but tragically suffered a miscarriage.

Miss Brook had announced she was pregnant after just three months of dating former rugby union international Evans.


This evening, Miss Brook was resting at her farmhouse in Kent and a spokesman for the star told the Daily Mail: ‘I can confirm that Kelly and Thom have very sadly lost their baby.

‘They request that everyone please respects their privacy at this very painful time.

‘There will be no further comment.’

A friend said: ‘Kelly is understandably devastated, she’s at home and she’s being looked after by Thom and her mum Sandra.

‘There’s nothing you can say to anyone at a time like this – she just needs to be allowed some time alone to grieve.’

Celebrities were quick to offer their condolences to the couple, with Denise Van Outen writing on Twitter: 'OMG.. That's awful news. I'm so sad for them x'
Dannii Minogue wrote: 'Sending big love to Kelly Brook and Thomas Evans.'

And Michelle Heaton added: 'Just awful news about Kelly brook.. It's happening far too frequently these days, I can't even imagine the hurt.'

Heartbreak: The baby was the first for Kelly and boyfriend Thom Evans


While Miss Brook admitted that the pregnancy was not planned, she said she was ecstatic at the turn of events - and claimed to have found 'The One' in Evans, a 26-year-old Scotsman.

She said: ‘That is what happens when you are in love - you surrender to whatever is to be. It wasn't a plan, but if it happened, it happened. We were boyfriend and girlfriend.'

The couple were seen strolling hand in hand in the London sunshine last week, with Miss Brook’s bump on display in a floral frock, and she added that despite her frequent trips to Los Angeles for work, Evans had been by her side.

She said they had been inseparable since they met last November at her birthday party as she gushed: ‘We have spent virtually every day together ever since.

'There was no game-playing, which is why I think our relationship progressed so quickly, because we haven't had to deal with egos.

'I love Thom and Thom loves me. We love being together. It is as simple as that.'

Resting: Kelly, seen in Los Angeles earlier this month, is now with her family in Kent


Miss Brook had excitedly announced the news of her pregnancy on Twitter last month, revealing: 'Thom and I are happy to announce we are expecting a baby girl. We are delighted XXXX.’

She had then been bombarded by offers of work and was signed up to design a maternity range for New Look.

Miss Brook is the latest in a string of celebrities to have suffered miscarriages, including Amanda Holden and Lily Allen.

Former Scotland international star Evans is a former teammate of Miss Brook’s ex Danny Cipriani.

Evans played for the London Wasps with Cipriani from 2004 to 2006.

However, the Zimbabwe-born sports hunk was forced to quit his career as a professional rugby player after he suffered a horrific spinal injury.

He is now hoping to become an action movie actor.

Trauma: Kelly looked happy and excited as she was spotted at her family home in Kent last month


Evans, formerly known as the 'pin-up of Scottish rugby' was almost paralysed when he collided with Welsh player Lee Byrne during a rugby union match in February 2010.

Despite a series of operations, he was forced to accept that he would never regain match fitness and retired from the game the following July.

He has since been taking acting classes in Los Angeles.

Evans’ brother Max still plays for the Scottish national team and the brothers are cousins of Radio Two DJ Chris Evans.

The DJ revealed live on air how he and his family had been keeping the pregnancy a secret for some time.

Miss Brook split from Cipriani in June last year after two years together. He now lives in Australia playing for the Melbourne Rebels.

She was spotted out on a couple of dates with Glee star Matthew Morrison over the summer, but nothing came of the flirtation and Evans has been her first relationship following her split with Cipriani.

The couple remained friends and Cipriani said: ‘Kelly told me in January that she was expecting. I’m really happy for her - she will be a great mum.’

During a recent interview and revealing picture shoot with Esquire magazine, Miss Brook, who was left grief-stricken by the death of her father Kenneth Parsons following a battle with cancer in 2007, referred to her ex-boyfriends, including Jason Statham, Billy Zane and Danny Cipriani, as ‘big kids’ and ‘show- offs’.

While posing provocatively in skimpy swimwear for Esquire Magazine, she said they all ‘needed to be the centre of attention’.

Speaking of Evans, she said: ‘He doesn’t need to be the centre of attention. The previous guys have been big kids really. Show-offs.’

And in a further dig to her former actor lovers Statham and Zane, she said of Thom: ‘He’s not an actor, so I don’t have to sit and watch all of his sh*t films.’

Kelly dated Jason Statham for seven years until 2004, before dating Billy Zane from 2004 to 2008 and then moved on to Danny Cipriani from 2008 until 2010.

While Miss Brook’s film career might not be as successful as Statham’s, the Piranha 3D actress made fun of herself by saying she’s made a career out of being a failure.

She said: ‘My mum tells me: ‘You fall in sh*t but come out smelling of roses!’
‘I’ve made quite a successful career out of being a failure.’



source:dailymail

Simon Webbe gets a good luck snog from new Greek girlfriend ahead of Eurovision final

By Jessica Satherley


Kiss good luck? Simon Webbe was spotted picking up his new Greek girlfriend Maria Kouka in a London park and kissing her passionately


Before he jetted off to Düsseldorf to compete in Eurovision, Blue’s Simon Webbe was treated to a supportive kiss goodbye from his Greek girlfriend.

The love-birds couldn’t keep their hands off each other as they frolicked and snogged in a London park.

And Simon got so hot and bothered by 24-year-old Maria Kouka that he tore his shirt off, exposing his well-defined six pack.


The Eurovision hopeful, who will join his Blue boy band mates in Saturday’s grand final, has even convinced Kouka and her Greek friends and family to vote for him.

Simon, 32, told the Daily Star Sunday: ‘Maria and I have been together since February and she’s been really supportive since I’ve been busy preparing with Blue for this Saturday’s competition.

‘She’s even asked her friends and family back home in Greece to vote as they are eligible to vote for our UK entry from over there.’

And by the looks of their park affection, there’s no doubt that Maria will be voting for her new beau.

The pair were even wearing matching outfits of jeans and army-green vests on their day out, alongside Simon’s British bulldog.

Shirtless frolick: Simon took off his shirt and revealed his well-defined six pack as she chased Maria around the park


Maria was born in Athens and lived in Africa and the US before moving to London, where she works as a model.

She says on her website of becoming a model: ‘I knew it was going to be difficult, but I didn’t care how much I would have to struggle, the hours I would need to put in, or the sleep I would lose out on!

‘All I knew is that I had a dream and no one or nothing was going to stand in my way.’

The All Rise singer’s new relationship comes after splitting with his long-term love Layla Manoochenri.

His former girlfriend of six years ended her relationship with the singer after arriving home to find him on bed with The Only Way Is Essex star Chloe Sims.

Layla, 24, told the Daily Mirror: ‘I got inside [the bedroom] and he was in a compromising position with Chloe in the bed. The freaked out the moment they saw me.

New love: Simon and Maria have been dating since February and she he has convinced her and her Greek friends and family to vote for Blue in the Eurovision contest

The ex files: Simon Webbe with his former girlfriend of six years Layla Manoochenri (left), who dumped him last year and Maria Kouka with Jersey Shore star Pauly D (right)


‘She had a little white dress and was on top of him. He had no top on but had his jeans on. The lights were on in the room so I had a very good view and they looked like they were in the middle of something.

‘I stood there and laughed, what else could I do? I just turned on my heels and left.’

After the incident made headlines, Simon denied having an affair with the Essex star and his spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Simon 100 per cent categorically denies having an affair with Chloe whilst he was with Layla.’

But as he puts the past behind him, his new romance with Kouka seems to be heating up and she wrote on his Twitter page today: ‘Good morning beautiful.’

While Simon revealed via Twitter today: ‘Off to Cologne to promote I CAN for Universal Germany exciting stuff nice to be back on the road again!’

He will join his band mates Lee Ryan, Antony Costa and Duncan James on stage to represent the UK this week in Eurovision’s Song Contest.

Rehearsals: Boy band Blue have been practising their routine to represent the UK in the Eurovsion Song Contest this Saturday night


source:dailymail

Cher Lloyd gets butterflies as she unveils her new - and eighth - tattoo on Twitter

By Georgina Littlejohn


New look: Cher Lloyd unveiled her new butterflies tattoo on Twitter this weekend - and new hair extensions in Miami last week


She already has an assortment of tattoos scattered across her person.

But Cher Lloyd clearly thought that seven was just not enough as she unveiled a new inking this weekend.

The X Factor contestant showed off some new designs on her right arm, an extension of one she already had.

The 17-year-old posted a black and white photo on her Twitter page of her arm, which had been inked with five butterflies.

They were joined by a question mark and a peace sign, as she added to the bird carrying a ribbon that she already had.

On the ribbon is the word 'Boo', a tribute to her late uncle Edward 'Boo Boo' Smith, who died last September after being tricked into taking a heroin substitute.

She had the design inked two months ago and also had an empty birdcage on her left arm to look as though the bird had flown free from it when she put her arms together.

An inquest in December heard how Mr Smith, 34, was found dead in his Malvern, Worcestershire home after being 'deceived' into taking a lethal dose of methadone.

Cher wrote on her Twitter: 'Happy birthday Uncle Boo, missing you. New tattoo. Xxxx.'

In an interview last year, Lloyd admitted: 'I’m not even old enough to have a tattoo, but I have three. I know it’s naughty.'

She also noted Cowell - who has signed her to his Syco label - doesn't approve of her body art: 'Even though Simon doesn't approve of tattoos the thing is I'm my own person and think it'd be cool to get another one.'

Paying tribute: Cher had a bird flying from a cage done in March, which she added the butterflies to


Cher already has a bow on her back, musical note on her left hand and Spanish phrase on her right arm which reads Bolsillo Lleno De Suenos' - which means 'pocketful of dreams'

In January, she then got song lyrics on her left arm - 'All That You Have Is Your Soul' - lyrics from a Tracy Chapman song of the same name, and an image of a large diamond on her right hand

The red has gone: Cher has got rid of her fiery locks for a more sophisticated colour

Tattoo fan: Cher also has a diamond on her right hand and song lyrics on her left arm


Cher also unveiled a new hairstyle as she landed in Miami last week, where she had the tattoo done and where she is believed to be working on her debut album.

The long brown hair extensions come a month after she ditched her fiery red locks for a sleek dark bob, which she added too with caramel and blond extensions.

More etchings: She also has a musical note on her left hand and a Spanish phrase on her right forearm

Not enough: She even has a bow inked on her lower back


source:dailymail

'I'm absolutely thrilled': BBC journalist Kate Silverton reveals she is four months pregnant

By Sarah Fitzmaurice


Thrilled: Kate Silvertone has announced today that she is pregnant that she and husband Michael Heron are expecting a child in October


She had given up hope of having a biological family last year but today BBC newsreader Kate Silverton announced that she is pregnant.

The 40-year-old journalist made the announcement over Twitter where she revealed that she and husband Michael Heron are expecting a baby in October.

She conceived the child naturally after several failed IVF attempts over a number of years – and she had lost all hope of having children just last year.

The sweetest Tweets: How Kate revealed the news


Kate told fans in a series of posts on the social networking site after telling fans that she was no longer able to get a puppy – something the couple had been considering recently.

She posted: ‘Now a little announcement I have to make - for those of you who have asked about the puppy there is sad news... We cannot get it....:-(‘

Growing bump: Kate is four months pregnant and has revealed that she gave up hope of having biological children after she failed to fall pregnant after several rounds of IVF


Adding: ‘Because we had some very unexpected - but lovely news just recently.....’
‘I am pregnant ;-)’

Kate, who married Michael in December last year, said she had decided to make the announcement after ‘a shaky three months’ but said she is ‘absolutely thrilled.’

The journalist has fallen pregnant after she had given up hope of having children after two years of trying.


Expecting: Kate Silverton with her husband Mike Herron had tried several attemts at IVF treatment before Kate fell pregnant naturally


In an article for the Daily Mail last year ahead of her wedding Kate wrote: 'At the start of this year I could not have even contemplated this day. I was in a rather dejected state because my fiance Mike and I had been trying for a baby for more than two years. I'd had three failed IVF attempts and was on the fourth, pumped up on hormones and steroids and focused on having a baby. Yet with each attempt my heart sank as I realised that perhaps it wasn't meant to be.'

But earlier today after she had broken the news Kate tweeted: 'Ooh that felt odd to announce! We gave up hope of having a biological family last year so this feels something of a minor miracle...'



source:dailymail

Princess Charming... Amanda Holden is swamped by the attention at Shrek preview show

By Daily Mail Reporter


Monster reception: Amanda Holden, who plays Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical, poses with fans after the show at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane


After months of preparation and rehearsals, Shrek the Musical has finally hit the stage and a glamorous-looking Amanda Holden is enjoying being the centre of attention.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge, who plays Princess Fiona in the stage version, appeared very happy as she signed autographs and posed with fans in central London.

The 40-year-old was pictured leaving the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane in a shimmering gold and black plunging dress with matching gold heels after the show.


And as well as finding a bevy of youngsters waiting outside the theatre to greet her, Holden also found plenty of adult fans who wanted her autograph.

Previews of the show began on Friday night in London, after the big-budget show closed on Broadway in New York last January,

Despite not establishing itself Stateside, Shrek the Musical has so far drawn in big crowds and hype in the UK.

Critics will be assessing Holden’s performance along with the success of the rest of the cast over the next five weeks, during which a long period of previews will take place.

Now who's the judge? Critics will be assessing Holden's performance over the next five weeks of Shrek previews

It's a fairy tale: Holden, in a shimmering gold and black dress, is besieged by fans outside the theatre


Holden’s on-stage costume is a lot less glamorous than those we are used to seeing her in. She sports a lime green costume after her transformation from a pretty princess to ogress while showing off her singing talents in the musical.

Her delight after the show was clear as she took to Twitter to tweet about the evening, posting: ‘Had an amazing night!! Audience was outta this world!! Horray!!!xx’

Her Britain’s Got Talent co-star David Hasselhoff was apparently in the Shrek audience on Saturday night to support his fellow judge on the talent show.

'Amazing night': Holden tweeted her impression after the show, which opens officially on June 14


Stage frights: Holden as Princess Fiona alongside Nigel Lindsay as Shrek on stage at the Theatre Royal


Amanda tweeted: ‘OMG!! The Hoff was in Shrek today!! So Sweet! He loved it!! No buzzers! Xx’

Holden is set to be extremely busy this summer as she continues her final duties as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, while also playing Princess Fiona in the West End.

She stars alongside Nigel Lindsay, who plays Shrek, Richard Blackwood, who stars as Donkey and former EastEnders star Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad.

After a series of previews, the show will officially open on June 14 and Holden recently revealed her daughter’s excitement to see the full production.

She said: ‘Lexi’s been watching me tap-dance in the kitchen. She’s dying to see the full show.’



source:dailymail

Kerry Katona sells home she shared with ex Mark Croft for £200,000 loss

By Daily Mail Reporter


Loss: Financially-troubled Kerry Katona has sold her Cheshire home at a £200,000 loss


She is drug-free, living a fit and healthy lifestyle and enjoying a career revival.

So it understandable that Kerry Katona would want to be free once and for all from the home she shared with the man she blames for the darkest period in her life, ex Mark Croft.

Kerry has finally sold the Wilmslow mansion the couple lived in during their marriage, but the financially-troubled star has suffered a £200,000 loss on the sale.


The 30-year-old Dancing On Ice contestant purchased the Cheshire mansion in 2007 for £1,225,000, according to the Mirror.

She is finally rid of the home, filled with painful memories, but made a substantial loss in the deal after accepting £1,025,000.

The reality star is currently renting a £3 million mansion in Surrey for a staggering £5,500 a month.

Bad memories: Kerry shared the mansion in Wilmslow with her ex-husband Mark Croft

'Dark days': Kerry and Mark split in 2009


The six-bedroom boasts an indoor swimming pool, gym, spa and cinema room.

She moved into the house in February after agreeing to share the rent with her management Can Associates and the move was chronicled in her ITV2 show Kerry Katona: The Next Chapter.

Kerry sold her five-bedroom, red-brick pile in Wilmslow to footballer Glenn Whelan, the Mirror reports.

It holds bad memories for the star - the bathroom was the setting of her infamous cocaine-snorting video in 2009 and in 2007 she was held captive in the house by three armed burglars.

A spokesperson for Katona was unavailable for comment.



source:dailymail

Can you believe this woman is 65?

By Jill Foster


Defying stereotypes: Hillie Marshall does not look or act how people expect 65-year-old women to


With her thigh-skimming skirts, toned bare, tanned legs and biker boots, 56-year-old Carole Middleton dresses just as fashionably as her daughters.

In the recent picture of her on a shopping trip with Pippa (they favour the same High Street stores), it was tough to tell who was the parent and who the twentysomething daughter.

Carole, a mother of three, has the enviably slim figure of someone half her years — and she’s clearly not ready to slip into ‘comfortable’ middle age quite yet.

Likewise, Hillie Marshall has the kind of glamorous look that many a 20-year-old would envy.


She admits that when men come into the dating agency she runs asking to meet young women, they are taken aback when she reveals her own age. Hillie is not some nubile young woman, but a 65-year-old mother-of-two from West London, who looks at least a decade younger than she really is.

‘People have a stereotyped image of what a 65-year-old mother should look like — short, greying hair, conservative clothes and a cardigan,’ she says.

‘But that’s not for me. I go shopping with my 30-year-old daughter in Topshop, Primark and H&M, and we often swap clothes. It’s not that I’m trying to be young; I just don’t think about getting old. I live life the way I always have.’

Both Hillie and Carole Middleton are part of a fast-growing trend of women (and men) living ‘agelessly’.

Madonna, at 52, is still lithe, while Helen Mirren, 65, made Vogue’s most glamorous list despite being of pensionable years. And Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t allow a minor thing like her advancing years (she’s 44) to stop her becoming a parent — even if that did mean relying on surrogacy.

The ‘ageless generation’ are never too old to find a new lover, start up a new business or have a baby. In fact, they’re ready for anything — except death.

Now, in a new book about the phenomenon, Time magazine’s Catherine Mayer terms these ‘ageless’ individuals ‘The Amortals’.

‘Amortality may not be a word you’re familiar with — yet — but you’re bound to recognise some of the symptoms, perhaps even in yourself,’ says Mayer. ‘Do people say you don’t act your age? Maybe you aren’t even sure how someone your age should act.

‘Did you start your first business at 17 or was it at 70? Are you always taking up new activities, tackling new challenges and enjoying pursuits that your contemporaries have put aside — from rock climbing to rock music?

‘Amortals are challenging some of the prejudices and structures associated with all the phases of life, and especially their middle and later years.’

More like sisters: Carole Middleton looked the double of her daughter Pippa on a recent shopping trip


Indeed, although Shakespeare wrote about the ‘seven ages of man’, life expectancy in Elizabethan times was below 40. Nowadays, Mayer suggests we should have perhaps ten, 12 or even 15 stages of our lives, given the average man will live until his late 70s and the average woman to her early 80s.

The average lifespan has increased by 30 years across the world in the past century.

Medical advances and healthier diets have enabled the number of centenarians to rise from a few thousand in 1950 to 340,000 globally in 2010. In 40 years, that figure is projected to reach nearly six million.

So, what has caused this shift?

Genes may play a part in how healthy we are, how young we look and how long we live, but amortality, Mayer argues, is a state of mind.

It is society, she says, which is re-writing the rules of what it means to be 40, 50, 60 or beyond. As Mark Twain once said: ‘Age is mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.’

During research for her book, Mayer asked people from a wide variety of different professions and cultural backgrounds to tell her the age they were and the age they felt. Many told her they felt decades younger than their actual ages.

Mayer empathises. She says: ‘At 50, I’m still hyperactive, still compelled to accept dares and push myself to sample new experiences, however daunting. I compulsively fill every moment and then complain to my husband and friends that I’m too busy.

‘Give me more leisure time and I’d spend as much of it as possible in the vivid, busy undersea world, with my 82-year-old father, another amortal.

He took up diving at the very end of his 60s and, like my mother, still works, at least when he’s on dry land.’

Mayer’s father is a theatre historian; her mother a freelance arts publicist.

So how can you attain amortality? Power, fame and wealth, Mayer says, all help their owners to stay as young as the person they feel.

Actress Demi Moore, 48, has never looked better and has a handsome and successful husband (who’s 15 years her junior) to boot — actor Ashton Kutcher.

Demi dresses like her daughters, and looks just as fresh and, frankly gorgeous, as they do.

It may take more work, but she’s willing to put in the hours in the gym, the trips to the beautician and — if the rumours are to be believed — visits to the cosmetic surgeon.

‘The rich have a better chance at longer life spans, and importantly, health spans, than the poor, although bad diets and sedentary ways are eroding this advantage,’ Mayer explains.

Young at heart: Madonna, 52, right, and Helen Mirren, 65, are still glamorous


But it’s not just the rich — the desire for amortality has trickled down to the woman on the street.

Women in their 40s and 50s are 15 times more likely than their mothers to use self-tanning products and 14 times more likely to use anti-wrinkle creams. Their global spending on cosmetics has risen by £1.9  billion over the past ten years.

‘We’re all taking up yoga and popping our supplements to stave off old age.

Then there’s the across-the-board popularity of shops such as Zara, Gap, Topshop and H&M, which appeal to women from the ages of 14 to 60-plus.

‘The meanings of age have become elusive and visual clues untrustworthy,’ Mayer explains. ‘Children dress like louche adults, while their parents slouch around in hoodies.’

Attitude also plays a huge part. ‘If we don’t think of ourselves as old, we won’t think ourselves into being old,’ says Mayer. Look at the fiftysomethings at festivals with their children — the whole family wearing Gap parkas and Converse trainers.

‘My 60-year-old mother is talking about going to a festival this year,’ says 33-year-old copywriter Olive, from London. ‘And she’s constantly on social website Facebook, messaging her friends who are all 20 years younger, posting songs — along with photos of herself on the beach in a bikini.

‘I cringed at first, but she looks great, and she’s happy, so why not?’

But isn’t all this just an attempt to deny the reality of the loudly ticking clock?

Mayer says our perceptions of ageing have come adrift, as early death has all but disappeared in the developed world. ‘Unlike past generations, who saw death on a daily basis — whether it be the stillbirth of a child or a parent killed off by consumption, plague or war — today we can often be middle-aged before we see death up close.

Confident: Demi Moore, 48, right, has a toy boy Ashton Kutcher and looks as young as her daughter Rumer Willis, left


‘Even then, it’s usually in the sanitised surroundings of a hospice or hospital.

‘Polite societies don’t dwell on death. We’re expected to dab our eyes and get on with the business of living,’ Mayer explains. Perhaps this is illustrated best by Simon Cowell who, as a typical amortal, shows no signs of slowing or settling down even though he is over 50, and says: ‘I can’t go to funerals. I find it very difficult to deal with that kind of reality.’

Other amortals avoid looking death in the face by embarking on an affair. ‘If there’s one thing that really drives amortals, it’s the impulse to blot out thoughts of our own mortality,’ says Mayer. ‘And passion, especially if spiced by drama and intrigue, proves a great distraction.’

How can death be around the corner if we’re, like 77-year-old Joan Collins, revitalised by the love of a man 30 years our junior? Once, asked if the age gap between her and her fifth husband, Percy, 46, bothered her, Joan shrugged: ‘If he dies, he dies.’

But does she really feel oblivious? ‘I honestly never give it a second thought. He’s just Percy. His age is the last thing on my mind.’

Joan has said she is determined to live to 100. But money can’t buy eternal life, no matter how ‘youthful’ your attitude and whatever the cosmetic surgeons or supplement manufacturers are forever telling us.

According to Mayer: ‘Genes, environment and dumb luck’ determine how long we live and in what condition.

‘Embracing old age isn’t a bad thing, if that means appreciating your accrued wisdom and feeling comfortable in our loosening skins,’ she says.

‘But amortals are often in denial about ageing and death and may become angry and depressed when confronted with reality.’

This is one of the perils of amortality. And Mayer freely admits that non-amortals may laugh behind the backs of amortals and their behaviour.

But, she says: ‘Dignity is overrated. If you’re the kind of person given to muttering “act your age, not your shoe size”, beware. Conforming to outdated, restrictive ideas about age is just as damaging.’

She describes one experiment by the renowned Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer that found that dressing old can make you feel and behave older.

‘Most people try to dress appropriately for their age, so clothing in effect becomes a cue for ingrained attitudes about age,’ explained Langer.

‘But what if this cue disappeared? We found that people who routinely wear uniforms as part of their work life, compared with people who dress in street clothes, missed fewer days owing to illness or injury, had fewer doctors’ visits and hospitalisations, and had fewer chronic diseases.’

Last year, the BBC re-ran another experiment of Ellen Langer’s in which several celebrities all in their 70s and 80s were asked to ‘go back in time’ and live in a house decorated as if it were 1975. They had to dress in kipper ties and kaftans, only discuss news events from that particular decade, and to all intents and purposes live as though they were still only in their 40s.

The results were remarkable. Their mental faculties improved drastically and so did their physical health.

The oldest housemate, actress Liz Smith, 88, was able to walk without her sticks for the first time since a stroke had affected her two years previously.

‘The moral of the story?’ says Mayer. ‘It’s healthier to be mutton dressed as lamb than mutton dressed as mutton.’


source:dailymail