When Celebrity Traitors star Julie Hesmondhalgh isn’t running around the castle (or being banished from it!) she has a 10-minute habit that she relies on to keep herself fit and strong. It’s surprisingly easy and a good routine almost anyone could get involved with.
Now in her 50s, Julie has said that she’s in better shape now than when she was in her 30s. Her secret? A short yoga routine. Her sessions consist of ‘just 10 minutes of stretches’, she previously told Good To Know, but says, ‘I do think it’s changed my life. I’m stronger and don’t get as ill nearly as much.’
The Coronation Street star also said she does ‘a lot of dog walking’, which is another easy way to slot movement into a busy routine. The results? ‘I’m fitter than I ever was in my 30s and healthier in mind, body and spirit,’ she said.
Julie explains that she likes to do yoga in the mornings and finds it has mental as well as physical benefits. ‘I started it mainly to keep me calm when my kids were growing up,’ she says.
Previously writing in The Guardian’s ‘What I see in the mirror’ series, Julie said being a mum to two daughters meant she felt a ‘massive responsibility to be positive about what I’ve been given, because it’s a hard world for a girl to grow up in’. She attributed this response to her positive approach to ageing, citing Lena Dunham and Caitlin Moran as role models, for being ‘people who embrace who they are’.
Faithful Julie may now have left the Celebrity Traitors castle, but she told the BBC she did so ‘with her head held high’. Now, she can tune in with the rest of us to enjoy the rest of the series. ‘I can’t tell you how stressful it is to watch yourself – especially when you’re playing badly,’ she told the outlet.
Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.