A 91-year-old great-gran says she looks '20 years younger' due to hearty pub food.
The grandmother-of-18 claims she is regularly mistaken for a woman in her 70s rather than her 90s – and even has people accusing her of lying about her age. She said she loves homemade pies and a carvery but insists she hasn't ever gained any weight and still stuns in her bikini swimsuit.
Ex-pat Joan insists she doesn’t feel like an OAP and spends her days travelling with boyfriend, David Winder, 84, a retired cargo coordinator, and sunning herself in her garden in Costa Calida, Murcia, Spain. Joan, a retired dress maker, originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, said: “I don’t know how to behave like a 91-year-old - I just act the same as I did when I was 21."
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She added: “I’ve always looked young, and people are always shocked when I tell them my age as I don’t look, talk or act like I am 91. I don’t do anything special to stay young – I love pies and English grub so even in Spain I’ve stuck to eating that.
"I love wearing a bikini and going to the beach with my granddaughter. I’ve never put any weight on. I think that must be my secret to my young looks that and I just love life and have never had the mindset of being old.”
Joan moved to Spain in January 2002 with her late husband, Trevor Woodhouse, 81, a retired solicitor, and doesn’t seem to have aged a day since. But she insists there isn’t a secret to her youthful looks and says she has never dieted or stopped eating her favourite food - pies.
She said: “I love a meat pie. I always go for a carvery every Sunday.
“I don’t follow any silly diets - I just eat what I want and what makes me happy. I just love English food - especially hearty pub grub. I do have more salads now I’m in Spain because it can be so hot, but I’ll never not have my pies.”
The mum-of-eight has battled colon cancer but continues just to live every day as it comes and throws herself into life. Joan looks so young that people accuse her of lying about her age and demand to see her ID.
Granddaughter Lydia, 27, a beauty ambassador, who lives in Costa Calida, Murcia, Spain, with Joan, said: “It’s mad people 20 years younger try and chat her up. They don’t believe us when we tell them her real age."
She added: "She literally doesn’t age. I hope when I’m older I’m like my grandma and inherit her genes and look as good as she does at her age.
"I really hope to have her luck. Lots of members of our family get complimented on our youthful looks and it’s almost like we get to a certain age then we age backwards."
Joan swears by a Nivea cream which she has used since she was 16 and she moisturises her whole body once a week. She loves clothes and still loves to look glamorous and well put together.
She said: “Age is just a number. I keep young by staying positive and eating what I want. It works for me.”
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