I started modelling when I was 73. I’m 83 now, though people tell me I look 56. I was introduced to modelling by chance, by my neighbour Lydia, and I’ve been lucky. Coxy, my agent, says: ‘‘There is something in your face that people like.” I’ve been a regular in
All Ages for four years, and I’ve worked all over the world.
I’ve had five shoots cancelled so far. All Ages is suspended after this week because we need to self-isolate; work trips to Romania, Sweden and Nigeria have been called off. I was supposed to play a dead body in a film shoot in Germany; that’s off. I’m lucky that, as a retired engineer, modelling isn’t my only source of income. I don’t know what the future holds, but I don’t have too many worries. The one thing I will miss is the company of the Guardian team: All Ages is like a family.
A friend told me I am supposed to stay indoors now, but I do go out, just to shop. I live alone and my daughter comes at weekends to check that Daddy is OK. I’m very cautious. I wash my hands and use Dettol. If I saw a person coughing on the bus, I would stay far away.
Touch wood, I’ve always been lucky health-wise. I eat a strict diet; I like green tea, cabbage, chicken, wild salmon. I’ve been weightlifting since I was 15. In 1997 we extended our garage and put barbells in there, so I can exercise at home.
I saw people fighting over toilet paper on the news. To me that is selfishness, though I’m lucky again there: in the 80s, I bought a dozen packets of toilet paper in a cash and carry, and I’m still getting through them now.