My man is 20-years younger and people say I look like his mum but age-gap isn’t a thing anymore, says Tamzin Outhwaite
AT the age of 51, Tamzin Outhwaite looks incredible – and it’s all down to a combination of ice baths and working out with her hunky toyboy – in her undies.
The former EastEnders actress, who has been in a relationship with Tom Child for four years, says: “The other day I was working out in my underwear, partly because it was so hot.
“But I find exercising or walking around the house in your underwear gives you more motivation to keep looking after yourself, especially when it’s just Tom in the house.
“I was out on the terrace. It’s like wearing a bikini to work out — not the most supportive, but it feels more comfy.
“It’s nice having the freedom to walk around in gym wear that’s quite small too. When I am home it makes me more aware of my body and that I need to move it.
“In the winter you spend the whole time just covering up, so you don’t see your body. It’s like sweeping your problems under the carpet, but just like under a load of layers.
Read more on Tamzin Outhwaite
“Walking around the house or working out in underwear gives you motivation to carry on.”
You only need to look at Tamzin’s Instagram feed to see that she is body-confident.
The actress, who has children Florence, 14, and Marnie, ten, with ex-husband Tom Ellis, 43, is not shy of posting a bikini snap to her 324k followers.
She says: “I don’t see the problem with wearing a bikini once you get past a certain age.
“I will wear one when I am on holiday. I think it’s nonsense if people say to cover up, the older you get. I don’t even think it’s about size either. If you want to wear a bikini, you wear a bikini. It’s just a belly.”
But, of course, it must help that Tamzin — like many celebrities in their 50s, from J-Lo to Amanda Holden — has a gym-honed bod. She works out four times a week, with a combination of intense cardio training and yoga. And often, she exercises with 31-year-old Tom.
She says: “It’s not loads, but I make sure I do an hour of exercise a day. Tom and I work out together — we are either laughing or we are really trying to pump each other up.
“We both are trying to get fit at the minute. We are also not drinking alcohol for four weeks, which is great.
“With alcohol you spend an awful lot of time buying it, making it, drinking it and then recovering from it too.”
With their 20-year age gap, Tamzin has received plenty of unsolicited opinions on her relationship with film director Tom, who she met in 2017 at a yoga class.
But it is solid, and she says: “We just have a great connection. It’s very difficult to describe, we are both just having a lovely time.
At the beginning of our relationship we were saying it couldn’t work because of the age gap. We thought it was too much, but then we thought, ‘Who cares?’.
“I get the odd strange comment, saying, ‘You look old enough to be his mother’, which makes me want to say, ‘Well, I am old enough to be his mother, but I’m not!
“Mostly I get women in the same position, saying, ‘We’ve been together, he’s this young, at first we thought it was a bit strange, but if it was the other way around and it was a man, there wouldn’t be any interest at all’.
“The age gap is not a thing in our relationship any more. We use it as comedy to make people laugh but we never have to discuss it.”
And Tamzin says their workouts together help to keep their sex life on track too.
At the beginning of our relationship we were saying it couldn’t work because of the age gap. We thought it was too much, but then we thought, ‘Who cares?’ and once we said that, we were in.
Tamzin Outhwaite
She says: “I don’t have real secrets to keeping it active, but I think the key is that we still make each other laugh and we still fancy each other.
“It helps when you see your partner keeping fit. It spurs you on to do the same, and when you’re exercising, there are the endorphins and you definitely feel sexier. It’s got to be a massive part of it.”
Tamzin is just as determined to look after her face too, and says: “I’ve tried Botox, before my wedding to Tom in 2006.
“Never tried a filler. I had massive frown lines so I tried Botox, but I soon found out that as an actress it is very difficult to express oneself. I wouldn’t do that stuff now. I’m not great with needles and never have been.
“However, I am always open to trying a different facial.
“And I am going to try out a non-invasive face-lift facial next month, which is going to be painful, apparently, and I’m not sure if I will be able to cope.
‘Am I looking so old?’
“Sometimes I will neglect it for a few months or half a year, and then I remember, ‘Oh my God, why am I looking so old?’ and so I get back into facials.
“But one thing I absolutely swear by is ice-cold showers or baths. It’s the best anti-ageing trick. I used to hate the cold, but now I really look forward to a freezing cold shower.”
She continues: “I’d love to be able to say I never want a face lift, mainly because I often think that if everybody goes down that route, there aren’t going to be any older people in the acting industry.
“What happens when they want an 80-year-old woman, and it’s a character part?
“I’d like to continue acting into my old age. It’s lovely when you see a real face, with laughter lines and not any work done and just looking happy, with the eyes smiling.”
For now, Tamzin’s career shows no signs of slowing down. She has just been cast in the second series of ITV crime drama The Tower, playing a character called Cathy Teel.
She says: “It’s nice to know I’ve still got it. I’ve done a couple of short films this year, and a bit of theatre. If I can carry on doing this until I am 100, I will. I love my job.”
Tamzin will turn 52 in November and has previously said there is “no way” she would have any more children. She would not stop Tom having them, but she says: “He really doesn’t want kids.”
One thing I absolutely swear by is ice-cold showers or baths. It’s the best anti-ageing trick. Anyone can do it, it’s not expensive.
Tamzin Outhwaite
She has also spoken previously about how she initially struggled with the perimenopause, which she started in 2020. However, she says she has now got it under control with supplements, HRT and a healthy diet.
She adds: “After lockdown, it really affected my mental health and I went through a teary phase.
“Now I am so aware of it all, I am balanced out and I think it’s comical — it doesn’t have to be tragic.
“It’s just like your body is changing gear, and I’m trying to remain active rather than lazy.”
So how will Tamzin celebrate her 52nd birthday? Given that she is happy exercising in her undies, maybe a naked shoot, like Caprice, J-Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow, who are all a similar age to her?
Read More on The Sun
She says: “Would I do a birthday suit shoot? It’s never crossed my mind, but if I managed to get a body like J-Lo’s I’d be up for it.
“I’d probably just walk around in the nude, if I had her body.
