'Ageing is an honour' says Tamzin Outhwaite, and female friendships are 'more important' now

Tamzin Outhwaite has explained why her female friendships have become "much more important" as she’s got older and described ageing as an "honour".

When we’re at our lowest or facing unexpected challenges there’s nothing that helps us to get through quite like the support, care and advice of our friends. Many people’s inner circles have been part of their lives for decades and whilst friendships are always important, Murder is Easy star Tamzin Outhwaite believes that her female friendships have become more vital as she’s got older. Opening up during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine in August last year the actor, who recently appeared in the new season of Silent Witness, said that her friends feel exactly the same.

Asked by host Ranvir Singh about why this is, Tamzin responded, "[Female friendships are] much more important as I get older and I think all the women around me feel the same and that’s because whoever you have in your life…basically, they are the longest relationships that we’ll ever have, apart from if you have children, apart from our kids."

Tamzin Outhwaite: Why Female Friendships Are So Important in Our Lives | Lorraine - YouTube

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During the chat, a picture of Tamzin with a group of friends, including her The Wives co-star Angela Griffin, appeared on screen and she clarified that she has several unique groups of female friends she turns to. In her view, "they’ll be there til the end" and she feels like "they are the constants" in her life and that they "all need each other more and more as [they] get older".

As well as no doubt having plenty of friends who aren’t in the public eye, Tamzin is also close with fellow stars including Amanda Holden, Lisa Faulkner and Sarah Parish. It seems that now, more than ever, she values all of her female friendships for the way they show up for each other. Her remarks make total sense as the longer you’ve been friends, the more experiences you’ve been through together and, often, the better you really know someone and how to support them.

Speaking about ageing in more detail on Lorraine, Tamzin described it as a "privilege" and revealed how she good-humouredly responds when her facialist says she’s "laughed too much".

"I just feel like it’s a real honour and a privilege to get old because so many of us don’t and so with that privilege is going to come wrinkles and laughter lines and I’ve had a very full life and an awful lot of laughter," she said. "I mean when I go and have my facials they do say to me, ‘You’ve laughed too much in your life’ and I just think, I’ll take that."

Aside from facials, she has embraced plenty of other things when it comes to self-care. More than that, Tamzin has aimed to help other women to have a similar experience by running We Free Women retreats. She felt that "not enough women" know about self-care or have the tools and thought her self-care passions were affordable.

"The self-care tools that I discovered on a retreat were basically nature, cold water, saunas for me, breath work, yoga, things that are really inexpensive. And so I realised that an awful lot of women need that in their lives and they’re carrying society an awful lot, you know, they’re pillars of community and so we started We Free Women," she explained.

She created the not-for-profit organisation to fund retreats and experiences for women who would "deeply benefit from the chance to relax and make wellbeing a priority" and who might be spinning many plates and going through financial difficulties, menopause, or caring for children.

It’s clear that Tamzin very much recognises the challenges faced by women everywhere and that her female friends, self-care tips and embracing ageing and the “full life” she’s lived are something that are key to her own wellbeing.