Northern Irish broadcasting legend Gloria Hunniford has shared her 'body story' to mark International Women's Day 2023.
Last week, Loose Women announced the return of its award-winning 'Body Stories' campaign to celebrate body diversity and highlight the importance of representation, as 75 per cent of viewers admit they avoid looking in the mirror because of how it makes them feel about their body.
This year’s 'Celebrating Every Body' campaign sees a host of the UK’s most recognisable female faces and Loose Women panellists take part in an inspiring Body Stories photo shoot for the first time, as well as candidly share their own body stories.
Read more: Gloria Hunniford on 'celebrating her body at 82' in new campaign
Taking to the hot seat to share her own story and 'celebrating her body at 82', Gloria spoke candidly about the changes she made to her mentality about body issues.
Here is what she had to say:
What is your body story?
I think when you get to my age, you judge everything by strength. So I’m not concentrating on my body per se, except to try and keep healthy. As you get older you tend to try hiding parts of your body. But I’m more mentally tuned in at this point in my life rather than concentrating on my shape, my body, am I slim enough? And I’d like to think that I represent attitude.
It's inevitable in life that you have blocks. And just before Christmas, last Christmas, I had a really bad time with kidney stones that went to riot and I ended up in A&E. But my attitude kicked in because I started to give myself tasks, just like everyday things. And my attitude has got me to where I am today.
I’m not looking for the perfect body. And I’m happy with the strength that I have in my body and that I have in my mind – at the moment that is.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I suppose not to worry so much and I suppose there have been times when I’ve been too anxious.
Highlighting the importance of ‘Celebrating Every Body’, the new research finds that more than three quarters (78%) agreed it’s important to see relatable body types in the media - including older women, disabled women and those from different ethnic backgrounds. 65 per cent of those polled, respectively attribute this to normalising differences and encouraging acceptance.
The findings also revealed over half (57%) say they have no body confidence but more than a fifth (23%) would feel better about themselves if they saw people they identify with in the media.
A further 65% admitted lack of body confidence has stopped them from doing things they’d like to, such as going swimming (58%) and wearing activewear (39%) - with a quarter (24%) blaming a general lack of confidence in themselves and one in five (18%) putting it down to feeling insecure about their body.
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV1 & ITVX
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