Browse Sections

• Personal finance
• Health and beauty 
  • Health and beauty features
  • Style
  • Street style
  • Columnists
• Dating
• Holidays
• Hotels
• Food and drink

Bad Girl made good...

Helen Tither
14/ 7/2008

NOT many of us feel confident enough to strike a pose near the pool in a skimpy bikini. But Claire King has every reason to show off her svelte physique as she relaxes on a well-earned break in Spain.

Going straight to the top of the charts with her first fitness DVD - Ultimate Body Workout - the former Emmerdale and Bad Girls star not only shifted 50,000 copies of her exercise routine.

She also beat off competition from starlets half her age who were pitching their own workout wares, including Eastenders actress Natalie Cassidy. Striking a blow to show women can look and feel good about their bodies whatever their age.

Taking a break from the sun-lounger to catch up with Style, the 45-year-old actress says she was sick and tired of exercise DVDs fronted by young lovelies with little to worry about on the body front. And, she reckoned, it was about time women over 40 had a fitness role model to relate to.

Gap in the market

"I'm surprised that it got to number one, but not surprised at the same time," she purrs in those trademark husky tones. "We put a lot of work into it, taking a month to get it right.

"I just thought most people doing these DVDs seem to be in their 20s. I wanted to see what I could do for women, particularly over 40, when things start going a bit south. There was a real gap in the market there.

"I asked all my mates what areas of their body they would most like to tone - they all said tums, thighs and bingo wings. So we got some exercises together to work on those areas."

Being over 40 herself, Claire says she knew only too well the body hang-ups her target audience would have. Frank and appealingly down-to-earth, she has a refreshingly common sense attitude to keeping fit.

In fact, while her most famous TV role has been as Emmerdale mega bitch Kim Tate, off-screen she's friendly, chatty, and totally in tune with what real women want.

"I've always been anti-gym, which I think most people are. They find them boring. But also it can be a bit intimidating, particularly if you are older, as you don't want to stand next to some lithe little girl if you are there in a leotard with your muffin top tummy hanging out.

"A lot of people can't afford gyms either so I wanted to make something you could do at home without any machines or anything. Also, a lot of women don't want to go to aerobics classes jumping up and down clapping."

No nonsense

Claire's no nonsense approach to getting in shape - with not a gym ball, boxercise gimmick or faddy diet in sight - certainly seems to have hit a nerve with the thousands of women looking for a simple solution to squeezing into those summer cossies.

However, she warns, it's not for the faint-hearted. It promises results - but only if you are willing to put the work in. A keen sportswoman, Yorkshire-born Claire takes tough workouts in her stride, having worked as a stuntwoman before hitting the soap big time.

"If you really want to lose weight you have got to put in the effort," she says. "If you really try you can really get your body back to how it was when you were younger but it takes motivation. I wanted to do something where you have to put the work in to get the results.

"I have always kept fit by riding horses, swimming, or walking the dogs. I believe you have got to want to do something to stick at it.

"This workout uses a lot of core stability techniques, it's about getting toned as oppose to losing weight. You really can see your body shape change. I started noticing in week two or three a complete difference - my bum was getting firmer and I had muscle definition in my arms, which I had never liked before."

Watching Claire in action not too long ago alongside bad boy Brendan Cole on Strictly Come Dancing, where she whizzed around with ease in thigh-skimming skirts, it's hard to believe she could have any body hang-ups.

Confidence

In fact, she says, it's hard for all women to feel confident as time marches on - particularly in the image-obsessed TV industry.

"There is an element that being over 40 is seen as being over the hill and dead in this industry," she muses. "Getting in shape helps you feel better mentally. It's that key word - confidence. Some women feel fat, dowdy or wifey, but as soon as they start getting firmer they become sexy again.

"The shoot for the DVD cover was a bit nerve-wracking. I thought there's just no escape from this one, walking out in a bikini with a whole crew of men there. You're just thinking `come on, hurry up!' But then when a 20-year-old guy on the crew says you look good it does make you feel better."

With those trademark sharp cheekbones and feline eyes that have seen her secure so many sexy bad girl roles, Claire would seem to have little to worry about on the love life front. However, she laughs, there is just one problem.

After separating from husband Peter Amory, who played Emmerdale's Chris Tate, a few years ago, she's had so much work there's been little time left for romance, what with releasing an autobiography, working on Hollyoaks and starting work on a new gritty Brit flick film this summer with Tara Reid.

"There haven't been any exciting developments," she sighs. "I have noticed I have had a lot more attention recently though. I've always been fairly confident and I feel better now and look better. Yes, there's been interest but nothing too permanent. I'm just too busy!"

Claire King's Ultimate Body Workout, priced £19.99, is on sale now.