"I definitely haven’t given up on men": Gillian Taylforth on her hopes of getting married her stunning size 10 figure

"I definitely haven’t given up on men": Gillian Taylforth on her hopes of getting married her stunning size 10 figure

Gillian Taylforth is one of very few women you’ll see confidently posing in a swimsuit in their mid 50s.

But the actress, best known for playing downtrodden Kathy Beale in EastEnders, is a stunningly youthful size 10... and she is enjoying a new lease of life.

It has been three years since Gillian, who turns 57 in August, split with Geoff Knights, her partner of 23 years.

Their relationship was famously punctuated by rows, breakups and makeups â€" and she is clearly loving life as a single woman.

“I always used to worry about what I looked like but now I think, ‘What have I got to lose?’” says the mum of Jessica, 20, and Harrison, 13.

“I love wearing sexy heels and clothes that show off my figure and I feel more body confident.

“I can’t believe I’m dressing in outfits that I would never have worn in my 20s. I always felt a tomboy but now I feel like a sexy woman.”

The star credits her youthful looks and redisco vered happiness to being on her own, although she does still think about tying the knot.

“I find myself looking at dresses in bridal shops window and getting wistful,” she says. “My friends keep teasing me about it.

“I’m a huge romantic. It would nice to wear a wedding ring at one point before I pop my clogs!

"I definitely haven’t given up on men. I’d love to fall in love again. Why not? You’re never too old for romance but it would have to be someone very special.”

Her rows with Geoff often hit the headlines during her 15 years as a star of EastEnders. She left the show in 1998.

“I was engaged to Geoff for 18 years and we never got married,” she says.

“Maybe deep down I always knew it wasn’t right and didn’t want to make that step.

"My commitment to him was having the children and getting engaged. Once I had Jessie, I didn’t see the need to do it then.”

 

How she was: In EastEnders withSusan Tully, Nick Berry, Adam Woodyatt and Michelle Collins

They split quietly out of the limelight in 2009 â€" and she prefers it that way.

“It wasn’t anything dramatic but there had been a couple of incidents and I suddenly woke up one day and thought, ‘Maybe now is the right time â€" I’m going to do it today’,” she reveals.

“Life is too short. I’d got to an age where I started going to friends’ funerals and people close to me were getting ill. I realised this isn’t a dress rehearsal.

"I just wasn’t happy. We did have a couple of brief stabs at reconciling but neither worked.”

She says Geoff was also aware their relationship had reached the end of the road and moved out of the family home in Broxbourne, Herts.

“We both knew it was over,” she says. “Although I knew it was the right thing, it took courage â€" it would have been so easy say ‘I don’t like being on my own’.

"But I’ve decided to stick to it. It’s difficult at times but I found the strength.< /p>

“I don’t regret staying in the relationship for so long. I was trying my best to make it work. There’s never a right time to leave when you’ve got children,” she says.

These days Gillian gives the impression her life is much less of a rollercoaster and she loves it.

But she admits the thought of dating in your 50s is still daunting.

“It’s difficult when you’re set in your ways,” she says. “Going on dates is weird. I initially thought, ‘I’m past it now’ and ‘Who is going to be interested in me at my age?’

“I can’t just go into a bar on my own like a man can and have a pint â€" I’d look like the Happy Hooker!

“When you’ve been part of a couple it’s a huge change but I have great mates and a lovely family.

“I do go out to bars with friends and I like getting dressed up and chatting to people and I do get asked on dates.

"There hasn’t been anyone too special. It’s nice sometimes bein g alone in the house if the children are out, I sit with a glass of wine and watch TV. It’s calm â€" that’s what I want in this point of my life.”

Is she a cougar? Daughter Jessica’s friends seem to think so. “One of them wanted to meet me and said I was a MILF,” says Gillian.

“She had to explain to me what that meant. I couldn’t date a younger guy in case he thought it was like his mum.

“I’d prefer an older guy. I’d say 50-plus would work better for me. I’ve got a big crush on Mark Harmon in the television show NCIS.”

Strictly star: Gillian with Anton Du Beke

SINCE their split, Gillian and Geoff have stayed as civil to each other as ex-partners can be.

“Obviously we’re in touch because of the children,” she says. “I’d never stop them seeing their father and we get on fine.

"At birthdays we take the children out together. We always make an effort for their sake.

“They were upset when we separated but seem used to it now and even tease me when a man rings me. It’s usually my agent or a mate though.”

Gillian adores her children and jokes how protective she is of them.

She says: “I’m not letting Harrison have a girlfriend until he’s 34! He’s a very sensitive. I just don’t want him to get hurt.

“And Jessie too. She’s doing well in hairdressing. She briefly went to the drama school that my sister Kim ran but acting wasn’t for her.”

Gillian now weighs just under eight and a half stone and says the secret to her stunning figure is eating healthily and doing Z umba dancing.

“I always have hot water with lemon in the morning to cleanse my system and I drink lots of water,” she says.

“I love salad, fruit and vegetables and chicken. I don’t like to eat late unless I’m going out for dinner with someone. But I will have a glass of wine when I go out with friends.

“I don’t deny myself those things. I try and do things sensibly.”

Gillian laments that here are few roles around for actresses her age. After she left The Bill, she appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2008 but her last TV appearance was in Missing two years ago.

“I’ve noticed a difference,” she says. “And us older women are the ones that watch TV. Unless you’re well established like Julie Walters, it’s tough. That’s why a lot of us go into the theatre.”

Gillian is currently appearing on stages across the UK in musical show Girls Night with her sister Kim. “When I sing I Will Survive on stage every night, I really belt it out â€" it’s my anthem!” she laughs.

Gillian is still in touch with EastEnders actor Adam Woodyatt, who plays her screen son Ian Beale, and recently went to Pam St Clement’s leaving party.

“The producers were saying to me if they could think of a storyline, they would love me to go back. But I can’t â€" I’m dead! But Kathy died in a car crash off-screen in South Africa so you never know. I could get reincarnated. It happened for Dirty Den! It would be nice to be back on TV again.”

But it’s party time first, with sister Kim is hosting a huge Diamond Jubilee bash for the family tomorrow. “If we don’t wear red, white and blue, she won’t let us in!” says Gillian. “I’ll be in my tiara.”

A huge royalist, Gillian once met the Queen at an EastEnders event.

“She’s even more beautiful in the flesh,” says the star. “I was shaking when I met her. I’m a huge fan. She’s a great ambassador to our countr y and works so hard for us.”