Dame Twiggy on stepping outside her comfort zone
Since being scouted at 16 and becoming the face of a generation, Twiggy’s accomplishments have been endless. She’s had hit records, won two Golden Globe Awards, starred on Broadway, designed a range for M&S, and most recently, launched a podcast.
In an exclusive interview in Good Housekeeping’s January issue, Twiggy opened up about her incredible career and shared her thoughts on the importance of stepping out of your comfort every once in a while.
“I think it’s good for us all to do that. You’ve just got to be brave enough to do it!’, she says.
“I remember when I got asked to do my first Broadway show, My One And Only, the director Tommy Tune rang me up and I said, ‘No, I can’t do that!’ The thought of going out in front of an audience of 1,500 people was terrifying. But Tommy said, ‘There’s no such word as can’t; pack your bag and get out to New York,’ and I did.”
Even when faced with a global pandemic, Twiggy used the time to launch her own podcast, Tea With Twiggy, but revealed that like most of us, she found the time incredibly challenging, too.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, I found it all incredibly frightening, especially with Leigh and I being in the upper age group,’ she says.
“I felt fortunate that I wasn’t on my own, but the hardest thing was not seeing my daughter, Carly, and my grandchildren.”
She spoke about the strength of family, but also of the challenges. Twiggy’s first husband, Michael Witney, died of a heart attack shortly after they separated in 1983, and she became a single parent to their young daughter, Carly.
“It was tough, but somehow you get through. You can’t live a life and not have ups and downs, can you?", she says.
"Michael and I had separated by then, of course, but it was a very sad time, especially for Carly, who was only six when it happened.”
While Twiggy explained that she thinks of herself as a strong person, she believes that all women have a certain amount of strength inside of them.
“I think as a woman, we’re all stronger than we know because we have to be. I’ve got two older sisters, who have been through some terrible things and they’re incredibly resilient, too.”
Following Michael’s death, Twiggy found love again with actor Leigh Lawson, whom she married in 1988. The couple now live in London and have five grandchildren. Asked what the most important thing she’s learnt about love is, she said it’s "to talk and to listen to the other person."
“Discuss your worries, discuss everything. Leigh and I sit down and have dinner together every night; we’ve always done it,” she says.
“There’s never been any sitting in front of the TV with trays or anything like that. Also, when the kids were at home we sat down as a family – a great time for discussion.”
Read the full interview with Twiggy in the January issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale now. It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect.
Tea With Twiggy is available on all major podcast providers.
You Might Also Like
