Jenny Powell's beach confidence: 'Will I be wearing a bikini in my 70s? Hell yeah!'
Jenny Powell has no hesitations that she'll still be (confidently) wearing a bikini in her 70s despite whether society 'allows' her to or not.
The TV presenter and radio host, 54, has called out the attitudes that surround women of a certain age for not covering up at the beach, reinforcing the campaign motto: 'Every body is a beach body'.
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"I can't believe Christie Brinkley posed in a bikini recently and got slagged off for it because she's 68. She looked unbelievable," she said in an interview with Closer magazine, referring to the ageist criticism the model and actor received on social media.
"Whether or not 'I'm still allowed' to wear a bikini is just not something I would think about."
She added, "They discussed whether women should wear bikinis in their 50s on Loose Women once. What a load of tosh! Will I still be wearing a bikini in my 60s and 70s? Hell yeah!
"I'm accepting of myself and I'm going to embrace my moments of feeling great and people can take it or leave it."
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Powell also discussed her interview on Instagram, in which she often posts pictures of her enjoying life on the beach in a bikini, abroad in the sun, her different work ventures and her family life, as a mum of two daughters.
"Live your life the way you want to, and never mind what other people think!" she says. "I tell my kids... in life there are 'no rules,' just guidance and if your gut is telling you otherwise then go with it."
She also opened up to Closer mag about the tough time she experienced with the menopause, showing that despite what women's bodies go through, this shouldn't be a reason to cover them up, but to celebrate them instead.
"I didn't feel like me," she said, adding that she felt "really tired and depressed".
"My periods were awful, I'd have to change about five times a day and I lost that much blood I became anaemic.
"I'd struggle to get out of bed and I couldn't wait to go back to bed at night. I left it too long to get it sorted, so in the end had to have iron infusions in hospital."
Nevertheless, Powell embraces all that she goes through, good and bad. "The menopause journey is an interesting one," she adds on social media. "I'm constantly tweaking and adjusting my approach to living with/through it."
And her "best advice" to others going through something similar is: "sharing, talking, reading about it, read my @closeronline magazine (see my stories today) and it might just help a bit!! And thank you @the.hormone.doc for your constant support, what an angel you are".
And that's not all she's been through recently. After sadly losing her dad last year, she often refers to him in her posts, still seeing the positive side of things, and mentioning how he inspires her.
It seems the beach is a place for her to feel confident inside and out.
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"Embrace, look up, soak up, take that feeling with you," she wrote in a recent post, sharing a bikini picture by the sea.
"Lots gone on in this past year, Dad passed away, my menopause hit hard and that was just in my world. Dad’s passing has made me look up a lot more (mainly talking to him !!) Also I’ve learnt to avoid the ‘noise’ that hormones and grief can bring.
"This beach is called Silent Beach... think we should all have a place at home to be silent... it’s nourishing and recharges you and gives you time to reflect and manage your thoughts that sometimes lead you astray think my silent place will be in the wardrobe (not many options tbh! ) Where’s yours?"
Watch: The Attitude with Jenny Powell
