Date: 8 January 2004
Originally published in: The Times (UK)
Written by: Carolyn Asome
Best known for her pop star success in the Eighties, Kim Wilde, 43, enjoyed fame with hits such as Kids in America and You Keep Me Hanging On. After a stint in the Nineties co-presenting The Big Breakfast and a West End stage debut in the musical Tommy, she decided to explore her passion for gardening. Enrolling on a horticultural course while pregnant led to appearing as a guest designer on ITV’s Better Gardens and the BBC’s Garden Invaders, and to writing several gardening columns. Participation in Five’s Celebrity Detox last summer led to her presenting a detox video. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and two children.
What’s in your make-up bag?
M.A.C compact, powder and a brown eyebrow pencil, YSL brown eyeliner and black kohl, Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and Aveda lipglosses.
Name your desert island essentials?
The Reader’s Digest Encyclopedia of Garden Plants & Flowers, which I couldn’t live without, and the Zen Jukebox by Creative Labs.
Do you have a beauty secret?
Lots of sleep and water -the stuff we know about already and wish wasn’t true.
Expose a fashion myth.
That designer labels are cooler clothes.
Are you high-maintenance?
No, I’m incredibly low-maintenance.
Do you believe in Brazilians?
No, but if I had the time, then I’d definitely investigate electrolysis.
Who cuts and colours your hair?
Anyone at the Toni&Guy salon in Marylebone High Street cuts it, and Tracey there colours it.
Do you put your face on before you go out?
Always my eyebrows and lips, the rest is optional.
Kim Wilde never leaves home without …?
Eyebrow pencil.
Define your style in three words.
Hit and miss.
What do you wear to work?
My gardening gear consists of comfortable trousers, sweat tops and a pair of clogs, but on stage I wear handmade tight leather suits by Michelle Benarse in black, brown or cream with platform boots.
You’re the fashion police for the day; what do you ban?
Leggings.
When did you last experience sartorial embarrassment?
Yesterday morning after my husband slept in and I had to take the kids to school an hour late looking like death warmed up.
How old is too old for a micro-mini?
Around 35.
What’s your greatest extravagance?
Buying plants.
Hot date with the hubby; what do you wear?
A well-fitting black trouser suit from Browns.
And when you’re home alone?
My gardening wardrobe.
What do you wear to bed?
Nothing.
Thongs or knickers?
Both.
Kim Wilde wouldn’t be caught dead at …
The dogs.
What quality do you most admire in a person?
Honesty.
Can you judge a book by its cover?
No.
Who is the world’s most beautiful woman?
Marilyn Monroe.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Raiding my kids’ biscuit cupboard and eating the leftovers of their dinner even though I’ll be eating my own.
And your dirty habits?
None that I’m owning up to.
Name a cheap thrill.
Gazing at the sky.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
My father said to me: “Push out on the world before it pushes in on you.”
What’s your idea of perfect bliss?
Cuddling my children.
Where do you holiday?
The Lake District, Australia, France and Thailand.
Do you read the glossies?
Yes, gardening ones such as Gardens Illustrated.
What are you most and least proud of?
Most proud of my family and least proud of the fact that I’m pretending to be a natural blonde.
What is your most recent purchase?
My shopping at Tesco this morning.
Who or what would you like to come back as in your next life?
A world champion ice-skater.
Do you have any regrets?
That I’m not a world champion ice-skater.
Where do men get it wrong in the style stakes?
Shoes say a lot about a person’s sartorial elegance.
Share your thoughts on plastic surgery.
It’s not for me, and I have a feeling that I’ll never go down that road, but otherwise why not?
What part of your body would you change?
I wouldn’t mind having my bikini days back again.
What is your motto?
Work hard, play hard.
How good-looking are you on a scale of 1 to 10?
I’d say about 7.
Michael van Straten’s 10-Day Detox with Kim Wilde is out now, from £12.99.