Tess Daly shares the TV-watching trick that keeps her in top shape at 53

15 March 2023 , 17:50

376     0

Tess Daly holds a wooden plank for as long as she can to tone up (Image: PA)

Couch potatoes rejoice: there is a way to stay fit while watching telly.

And it clearly works, as svelte Strictly host Tess Daly practises it, and she rarely breaks a sweat.

“I’ll set an alarm on my phone and I’ll hold a plank or something,” explains Tess, adding: “It’s not easy holding it for a minute, your arms start shaking.

“Sometimes I’ll put my iPod there and watch a little bit of Netflix whilst I’m doing my plank because it helps it pass much quicker. I’ll time it, then have a little break in between.”

Mum-of-two Tess admits her gym workouts are the “first thing that’s sacrificed” when life gets busy, so she’ll simply “get down on the carpet – or I’ll get my yoga mat out – and I’ll do a few little lunges, a few mountain climbers, a few planks” while the television’s on.

Woman tells of losing 29 kilos and becoming a bodybuilder in her 60s

But she’s not big into cardio workouts anyway.

Tess with her husband Vernon Kay, who prefers a 'manly' workout (Getty Images)

Tess is one of the most glamorous women in television (PA)

“Anything that makes me sweat, I’m a little bit allergic to,” she tells the Netmums podcast.

“I prefer a more languorous form of exercise, such as stretching, which is why yoga works because it’s sort of relaxing.”

Her husband Vernon Kay, on the other hand, enjoys a “beefy, manly, uber sweaty workout”, which he gets “preachy” about.

“He’s a fairweather exerciser,” she says, with vague annoyance. “He’ll be fit six months of the year and do nothing for the other six, apart from swing a golf club occasionally.

“I do little and often. For me that works better. Whereas he gets really intense about it and he’ll get really preachy. I let him get on with his beefy, manly, uber-sweaty workout.”

Hopefully, his are not on their carpets.

Ashleigh Rainbird