Dame Julie Andrews holds a very special place in the nation’s heart, thanks to her angelic singing voice and her timeless performances in iconic musicals. Now nearly 91, she’s still fit – and has shared the secrets of the exercise routine that helps her stay healthy and active.

In a Yahoo Life interview, Dame Julie said: ‘I have all my life worked out first thing in the morning or something like that – a little less so these days.’ Julie began taking walks through the countryside, hiking up hills and inclines, to improve her endurance for theatre roles - and her routine has also included stretching, aerobics and ballet. More recently, she’s said that she tends to ‘work out as little as I can for as much gain as I can’, exercising to ‘keep supple’.

On the 2024 Wiser Than Me podcast, Julie said that getting outdoors and moving helps when she feels anxious or needs to ‘free up’ her brain. She also revealed that she’d recently hiked in the Dolomites, walking ‘many, many miles a day’ and climbing ‘thousands of vertical feet’.

And it’s the simple habit of walking and moving first thing in the morning that’s remained part of her life for years. It’s clearly worked – when Wiser Than Me podcast host Julia Louis-Dreyfus asked how old she felt, the star replied: ‘Well, I probably feel like in my 50s, honest to God,’ she replied. ‘As long as the brain holds out, I’m doing okay, you know, and I don’t feel bad at all now.’

Walking is considered good exercise for anyone in their later decades – and walking uphill may help deliver greater benefits, suggested a 2025 study. ‘For older adults who are looking to exercise to improve their health, incline walking may be beneficial to promote lower body strength and cardiovascular ability without inflicting further harm to the aging knee joints,’ said the lead study authors.