Strictly’s Claudia on parenthood, showbiz life and the hang-ups behind the glitter
Quirky TV favourite admits she can't watch herself on the box without being 'physically sick'
BEHIND Britain’s most famous fringe and the striking green eyes coated in mascara lies the Claudia Winkleman we don’t see on Strictly Come Dancing.
Despite her flamboyant personality, hilarious jokes and unique looks that have made her a fashion favourite, Britain’s most popular female TV star can’t bear to see the show that’s made her a household name.
She shakes her head and says matter of factly: “ I actually can’t watch myself on TV without being physically sick.
“Damn, I’m 44, it’s falling apart. I have a huge fringe and I wear enough eyeliner to kill a clown. I mean, a lot of people find it repellent, but I’m too old to start changing.”
But for a brief moment the happily married mum of three — who refuses to have mirrors on the ground floor of her Westminster house — did have a little bit of cosmetic help.
She admits for the first time: “I had a go at Botox and I looked weird. I’m not even going to show you what’s under my fringe because then you’ll be physically sick on me.
“I try and be honest about it. I tried it, didn’t like it. I looked alarmed, and if there’s anything that I am it’s not alarmed.”
But growing older doesn’t scare Claudia anymore.
I quite like the idea of looking withered and weird with an overly long fringe and too much eyeliner on
Claudia on getting older
She explains: “The train has left the station, it’s too late. Bring it. I quite like the idea of looking withered and weird with an overly long fringe and too much eyeliner on.
“But I’m not going to say never again. I might wake up in two years’ time, find a small hand-mirror, scream the house down and run.”
However, Claudia is passionately against the trend for celebs’ looks to be technically enhanced after photoshoots.
She says: “I don’t like being airbrushed. I love doing no make-up. I’m on the Tube all the time looking disgusting. I’m not saying I’m liked, but if anybody does like me I think it’s because I’m slowly crumbling in front of their lives.
“I’ve been pregnant three times on Strictly, there’s been sick down my chin, I’m not a perfectionist.”
Claudia, married to film producer Kris Thykier, 44, since 2000, has invited me to her local coffee shop where she remembers regularly breastfeeding her children.
Remarkably, she hasn’t done a sit-down interview for four years for fear of looking like a “complete tool”. Her words, which she insisted I print today.
In fact, she is disarmingly honest and endearingly self-deprecating. Constantly.
That’s quite remarkable given the two years she has endured.
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In 2014, her daughter Matilda, now ten, was seriously injured after her fancy dress costume went up in flames at a neighbour’s home on Halloween.
She was left in hospital with severe burns and Claudia immediately pulled out of Strictly to be by her side.
Her eyes well up when I ask about Matilda, whose privacy she is determined to protect. She says: “She’s made incredible progress and I am grateful to the doctors and nurses who saved her every single day.
“My daughter’s doing her 11- plus. So that’s when you just get down to being a mum.” Matilda’s accident led to calls for fancy dress outfits to meet stricter fire safety standards.
And last year the Government said it would oversee a probe into the standards regarding cheap children’s costumes.
She doesn’t want to take any credit for the campaign but says: “I think if people think twice before they put their kids in fancy dress costumes around open flames then that’s great.”
Claudia had to endure the most traumatic months of her life in the public spotlight as the accident occurred in the midst of a Strictly series.
How has she coped while outwardly remaining so positive? She takes a deep breath and replies: “I’ve got a lot to be happy about, I feel incredibly lucky. I can’t believe I have this job, an amazing family.
“You have to touch wood all the time and think, ‘Please let everything be alright’. And people go through much worse.”
Family life means everything to Claudia — also mum to Jake, 13, and Arthur, five, — although she’s accepted hers won’t get any bigger. “I’m too old to have another or I can’t have another one,” she sighs.
Claudia’s even made the difficult call to quit the BBC’s flagship Film show, causing an overwhelming outpouring from viewers after The Sun revealed the news last week.
She says: “It was a very very difficult decision. But if I want to put my kids to bed and be present I can’t do it.
“Being a mum for me and for most mums is everything. I’m sure I’ll question why I gave up that job when my kids start saying, ‘Stop picking us up from school and trying to kiss us on the mouth, you’re an embarrassing human being’.”
Tess shares her love of being a mum with Strictly co-host Tess Daly, who is now a close pal.
She bristles at criticism of Tess, including a sketch on ITV’s Newzoids which portrays her as a robot only able to deliver scripted lines.
Claudia says: “Tess doesn’t stick to the script. She doesn’t have a script, everything she says she’s just saying it, I love her. She’s got the gravity and main job, I’m the idiot on the balcony.”
She’s quickly taken to this year’s line-up, including ex-politician Ed Balls, who “makes me scream”.
How should his politician wife Yvette Cooper feel about him being partnered with stunning newcomer Katya Jones? She says: “I’d feel absolutely buoyant because I think he’s having the best time.”
She adds: “What’s so weird about that show is often the people who arrive, who can’t do a thing, are the ones who flourish.
“Politicians have to be careful but now he doesn’t have to worry. He’s going to have the time of his life.”
She’s devastated about head judge Len Goodman leaving, calling him the “official king of Strictly”, saying: “I’m in a state of denial.”
But Claudia backs both original pros Anton Du Beke and Brendan Cole to replace him together.
She says: “They so know what they’re talking about. Maybe they could do it together.
“I’m not sure one person could take over from Len. But the bosses are very clever in what they’re doing, other than hiring me obviously.”