Exclusive: Ruth Langsford says 'I don't always love my body' as she opens up on the pressure to feel 'empowered'

Ruth Langsford was refreshingly candid in her woman&home interview, opening up on her feelings about getting older, her reaction to a male social media user’s comment about ‘looking her age’, and musing on whether she’d ever have cosmetic procedures.

The much-loved daytime TV personality turns 65 in March, and was frank about feeling torn about her changing body and appearance. If you feel like most celebrity women over the age of 50 are espousing body confidence and embracing their fabulous mature looks, Ruth’s more humble attitude may feel refreshing, and perhaps more relatable for many of us.

“I know I’m supposed to be empowered, look in the mirror and love my 65-year-old body. Well, I don’t always and, actually, I don’t think many women do,” said Ruth, who is 'picking herself up' after her divorce from Eamonn Holmes. “When I’m with my friends, we all complain about trivial stuff but it’s how we feel and that’s OK. Then, we pick ourselves up and get on with our lives because we have so much to be grateful for.”

This balanced attitude ran through the insightful interview, with Ruth reflecting on her upbringing, and her mother and grandmother’s insistence that she be grateful for her body at a functional level, rather than ‘vain’ about how it looked. That may be one reason why she has avoided having ‘tweakments’ so far – but she mused that she might not rule it out in the future.

“Every time I see myself on camera, I think, ‘I’d like to get my neck done.’ It’s all I see. Something about your neck suddenly goes, and it’s really ageing. I’m not saying that I’ll never have a neck lift or a chin lift because, who knows? By the time I’m 68, I might not be able to stand it any more,” she told us.

For now though, Ruth is feeling healthier after some recent weight loss, which she puts down in part to her recent divorce, but also after having had a hormone check and rebalance, as her main menopause symptom was weight gain. She speculated the weight loss could also “hopefully” mean she’s coming to the end of menopause.

Shop Ruth's shoot

She certainly looks beautiful to us in her regular appearances on Loose Women, in our photo shoot for the article and magazine cover, and has inspired many with her fashion collection for QVC. And we’re so glad that Ruth was able to take a recent thoughtless comment from a social media user and hit back with common sense and perspective.

“A man put on a social media post [recently], ‘Ruth’s really looking her age these days.’ I had a little jolt and thought, ‘What, because I’ve got a few lines?’ I’m nearly 65. What am I supposed to look like?”