‘Five years ago I lost 50lb doing Dancing With The Stars – I call it Dancing With The Starved!’
People say that Donny and I look alike. I don’t see it, but I guess there is that family thing. When I look in the mirror, I see my late mother: I have her nose, her dark eyes – I call them chocolate eyes – I have her colouring and my hair is greying the same way, although I use colour and she didn’t.
As we hit 50, the weight creeps on and there is a tendency to think, “Oh, it’s genetic, I am just like my mother.” But we don’t have to be. Five years ago I lost 50lb doing Dancing With The Stars – I call it Dancing With The Starved! I feel so much better.
Donny and I do a show in Vegas five nights a week – it’s very energetic, so you stay in shape whether or not you want to.
I am a huge advocate of drinking water. I don’t drink alcohol. I don’t smoke and rarely have caffeine. People ask me about plastic surgery. I have a tightening laser treatment – it has wonderful results, a permanent effect and there’s no cutting.
I am happy. I have a wonderful marriage. I was in a not-great second marriage for 20 years, then I fell in love with Steve, my first husband, again and we remarried. I wore the dress from our first wedding in 1982 – it was tight, but I could get into it.
I feel blessed – I am a woman who has been able to work in the entertainment business for five decades. I don’t want to age, but I would never take back a year for the wisdom I’ve gained in that time.
The Guardian
