It breaks etiquette to do a double-take when meeting a celebrity in the flesh, but it’s almost impossible not to with Gillian Taylforth. The veteran soap actress breezes into the restaurant, casually chic in denim, virtually barefaced and looking so astonishingly youthful that we practically demand a recount. 71? How can this be?
It’s no exaggeration to say she looks like a woman in her early 50s, matched by the energy of someone decades younger. No wonder even Gillian herself needed a second to wrap her head around turning 70.
‘When I was 50 I didn't think anything of it; when I got to my 60th, I did think, “Things are changing a bit,” but 70 was an “oh” moment,’ she says. ‘I remember my mum being 70. I thought, “Where did those years go? How did that happen?”’
‘But then I just thought, “Do you know what? Really, it’s just a number.” And I don’t feel any different. I still do what I did before, I still train as much as I can, I’m still working, I still eat right, I still see my friends,’ she says, smiling as she ticks off her blessings. ‘Nothing's changed. Life carries on.’
Professionally, Gillian remains one of the hardest grafters in soap land, and she even found time to set up her own skincare brand, Skin GT, while turning 70.
The mother of two is kept just as busy off-screen as the besotted grandmother to four-year-old twins. ‘I absolutely adore them,’ she says proudly. ‘My two favourite words in the world are “Mum” and “Nanny”. The twins keep me young.’
Here’s how else Gillian looks and feels so youthful at 71…
She listens to her skin
A key secret to her youthful complexion is tuning into how her skin has changed over the years. As Gillian explains, she’s leaning into what it needs now, not how it was in her 40s.
‘I’ve always, always been interested in skincare,’ she says. ‘I’ve tried a lot of different things over the years. My skin’s fairly tolerant, but as I’ve got older, after the menopause and all that, it’s definitely changed and become much drier.’
Since noticing this shift, she began searching out products that would keep her skin smooth, glowy and comfortable after long days in heavy screen makeup. ‘Some things worked, some didn’t,’ she says. ‘That’s why I started thinking I’d like to do my own range one day.’ The thought ticked away for years until Gillian got chatting to a female skin scientist at a party and was encouraged to make her dream a reality.
‘I just thought, “I know what I like on my skin. Why not go for it?”’ The result is Skin GT, a day-to-night line of two cleansers, two serums, plus an SPF50 moisturiser. ‘I don’t think you need a big, complicated skincare regime,’ she says. ‘I just wanted it to add back what we lose from the skin as we get older, so it’s a bit firmer, a bit plumper, with a glow to it. It just gives you confidence in your skin. When people tell me they’'re getting compliments from using it, that makes me really happy.’
From the outset, she was adamant that she wouldn’t be selling impossible anti-ageing promises. ‘It’s not about saying, “This is going to change you completely and you’re going to look 20 years younger.” This is me saying, “This will be making your skin look the best it can be.” It’s a lovely regime,’ she says.
Skin GT Moisturising SPF50 Sun Protection
It’s certainly working for her. When we meet, she’s wearing zero foundation, only her brand’s SPF50 and a pinch of blusher, yet the youthful radiance is undeniable. ‘My Shield SPF is really good for that instant glow. I wore it to go to a magazine shoot and the makeup artist said, “Wow, your skin looks really good.” It’s nice that people are noticing,’ she says. ‘There are makeup artists who see me a lot, and when they see and feel the difference, that’s really great.’
She puts hydration first
Gillian tells us she looks after her skin inside and out. ‘I believe in hydrating, hydrating, hydrating,’ she says. ‘Every morning I fill up a huge water bottle and put in different fruits and vegetables: mango, lemon, cucumber, celery, watermelon, anything. Then I top it up throughout the day and it’s really refreshing.’
She makes smart use of tweakments
Refreshingly, Gillian doesn’t pretend her youthful skin is all down to skincare and drinking gallons of water. She chats openly about having professional treatments, which she uses sparingly and selectively.
‘I don’t do fillers – I’m scared I wouldn’t like it – but I did try polynucleotides. Yes, the salmon sperm facial! That was good,’ she says. ‘And I’ll have a little jab every now and again to smooth out frown lines. But I only have a small amount, because I don’t want people to say, “What have you done?” In my line of work, I’ve got to be able to look surprised and move my face.’
She’s made amends for her past skin mistakes
Professional treatments also help her to make up for a time when she wasn’t as religious about SPF. ‘I had a bit of old sun damage on my hairline that I had zapped with a laser,’ she says.
‘When I was younger, my friends and I would sit out all day. It wasn’t instilled in us to wear SPF – you’d just think, “The sun’s out, lovely!” If there’s one thing I’d tell my younger self, it would be, “Listen, do NOT do that, because you’re going to regret it!”
These days, she wears her SPF50 daily, keeps her face out of the sun and occasionally puts tanning drops into her Nourish night serum.
Skin GT Nourish Active Night Serum
‘I like to wake up with a little glow,’ she says. ‘But I think you’ve got to enjoy yourself if you're going away on holiday for two weeks. You can’t just sit underneath the umbrella the whole time. I want to splash around in the pool with my grandsons. Everything in moderation – enjoy yourself.’
She’s staying young at heart
Gillian may be blessed with a marvellous bone structure (Kate Moss comparisons rightly abound), but it’s her attitude to life that’s her greatest anti-ageing asset. ‘I just think that we get older but we don’t have to get old. You can still be young at heart,’ she says.
‘You need to keep that mischievousness inside you. You still want to have a laugh and a joke, and that’s what I do. I’m always singing and dancing, making up songs for the twins, and my family go, “She’s off again!” My nickname is Jukebox Gilly.'
‘But that’s me, and I have fun. I’m happy go-lucky. And let’s face it, life is too short to be a miserable, boring person.’
