The 50+ stars with bikini bodies better than women half their age… and all their secrets you can steal

MANY of us dread bikini season – but these stars are still rocking a two-piece in their 50s and beyond, and they certainly have the figures for it. The likes of Amanda Holden, Victoria Beckham and Carol Vorderman all have bodies that will be the envy of women half their age. Victoria Beckham works out first thing every morning doing a mixture of cardio and lifting weights Credit: BackGrid Posh Spice says she ‘does more now than when I was 20 or 30’ Credit: Getty Luckily for us, they have revealed their secrets. Here’s what the A-list pack swear by to keep toned all year round… Victoria Beckham Posh Spice, 52, famously trains with PT Bobby Rich five to six days-a-week, previously raving she was “in my strength training phase!” on Instagram. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! A few years back, Victoria admitted to doing a 45-minute treadmill run daily, followed immediately after by an hour of training her legs, arms and core. Now, under Bobby’s guidance, her workouts are shorter, her weights are heavier and she’s getting stronger as a result. Bobby previously told Women’s Health: “An important point I wanted her to understand – and that most people struggle with – is that a 35-minute session can at times be more beneficial than a 90-minute session. But we got over that hurdle pretty quickly!” In her Netflix documentary last year, Victoria revealed she often did a half-hour Stairmaster for cardio followed by an hour-long workout with husband David and Bobby. Waking at around 6am, she’ll head straight to the gym, with Becks joining her after Harper’s school run. She told the Beauty Desk podcast: “I do more now than when I was 20 and 30. Just because you get older, it doesn’t mean that you’re limited to what you can do. You can achieve great things… Most read in Fabulous “The great thing about getting older is you really care less about what other people think. I now accept the way that I look. I just want to be the best version of myself. I want to be healthy. I want to be fit.” David famously revealed that Victoria has eaten the exact same dinner every night for 25 years – grilled fish and steamed vegetables. She’s certainly disciplined. Amanda Holden Amanda jokes she ‘runs for’ her rosé in the summer and her red wine in the winter Credit: Instagram/@noholdenback Amanda Holden believes her vegetarian helps her stay healthily Credit: instagram/noholdenback At 55, Amanda’s enviable figure is down to a mixture of running (3-4 miles a week), riding her Peloton bike, Kundalini yoga and a ‘Viking workout regime’ created by her trainer Svava Sigbertsdottir. She previously told TV Times: “The deal I struck with myself was I have to run for my rosé in the summer and run for my red wine in winter.” “It’s about trying to stay happy and balanced,” she said last year. “If it’s a Tuesday and I want an Aperol then I will. Or if I want a cheese sandwich at 10pm at night, I will. I am not strict on myself but I am healthy by default because I’m a vegetarian. “I have two coffees a day and I have them before 9am. I drink water all day long, by 1pm I have drunk the amount you’re supposed to drink but I am up at 5am.” Amanda eats just two meals-a-day – breakfast and dinner. Her first meal is normally an egg white omelette, spinach, feta and avocado, served with a green juice. Tess Daly Tess Daly focusses on core workouts and loves skipping and boxing Credit: INSTAGRAM/TESS DALY She eats three balanced meals a day and works out five times a week Credit: instagram/tessdaly Tess, 57, says that breakfast is a meal which she’d “never, ever skip”. She eaets Greek yoghurt topped with berries, seeds and sometimes banana. For lunch, she has a tuna mayo wrap with salad, and dinner is teriyaki tuna or chilli salmon served with sweet potato and veg. Tess added: “I have a sweet tooth — I can’t help it — so I need a bit of chocolate on a daily basis. I think a little treat is great; we deserve a bit of pleasure in our lives.”When it comes to exercise, Tess’ PT Sam Shaw revealed she works out five days-a-week for around an hour, which could be a run and stretch, a gym session or a yoga class. She uses light weights, resistance bands, a skipping rope and sometimes a pair of boxing gloves to mix her workouts up. Sam told Women’s Health: “We work together to focus on keeping Tess’s core, back and glutes as strong as possible since she has a slightly weak lower back, so it’s really important to keep all the surrounding muscles intact as support.” Louise Redknapp Louise Redknapp loves ‘social’ training – likes Pilates with her best mate Credit: Instagram/Louiseredknapp She’ll also watch Love Island on her exercise bike to get her miles in Credit: Instagram Former Eternal singer Louise, 52, has a refreshingly balanced approach to her fitness. “l work out three times a week, whether that’s with a trainer in my garden with friends, a HIIT session, or a Pilates class,” she previously told Women’s Health. “Training for me is very social.” “I love a green juice, [but] I’m all about moderation,” she added. “I’m the first one to go out and have a cocktail and a tequila shot. I’m not someone who won’t eat a chip.” In an interview with Hello! Louise revealed her multitasking hack for racking up the miles. “I’ve got a Peloton at home. I watch Love Island and go for a bike ride in the lounge,” she said. “If I’ve got a night in, I get on the Peloton, bike ride, do a few situps, then I’m done.” She insisted the gym was “not at the front of my priorities” and said she’d rather meet a friend for dinner on a Tuesday night than go to the gym. Louise told Women’s Fitness she was “totally obsessed” with Pilates, adding: “I’m so lucky that one of my best friends is a Pilates teacher.” She favours Reformer, which costs upwards of £20 a class. Davina McCall Davina McCall is something of an icon in the celebrity exercise space Credit: 3 She works out daily for only for around 30 minutes, followed by a dog walk Credit: Instagram Having released 15 fitness DVDs dating back to 2004 and selling more than a million copies, Davina is by now as famous for her love of working out as she is for Big Brother. The 58-year-old wakes at 6.15am every day and gets straight in her workout gear – doing a 30-minute gym session first thing, which is often cardio focussed and uses light weights or bodyweight. “If I start my day in civvies I am not going to work out, it’s never going to happen,” she said previously. Fans of her figure can steal her exact workouts by subscribing to her fitness platform, Own Your Goals Davina. After working out on an empty stomach, she has powdered bovine collagen for breakfast, with granola and milk, or sometimes a crumpet “if I’m naughty”. She’ll then take her dog Bo on a walk, wearing her half-kilo weighted gloves, which she describes as “the single greatest piece of kit I’ve used”. Lunch is Davina’s main meal of the day, normally pasta with Philadelphia or something egg-focussed. Then dinner is meat and potatoes if she’s with her kids, or some sort of salad. Mel C Mel C competes in Hyrox and triathlons. She also lifts weights regularly and does yoga Credit: Instagram/@melaniecmusic Mel C was first introduced to the gym by fellow Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell 30 years ago and still loves lifting weights now. The 52-year-old aims for six days of movement a week (one of which is active recovery) but sometimes only does three if she’s travelling. However she tries to prioritise a 30-minute session before a flight if she can, explaining: “I just know lifting heavy is going to make me feel good.” Sporty Spice does a mixture of weights (with moves like squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, lunges and pull-ups), riding an exercise bike and stretching, saying: “I want to be as fit as I can for as long as I can.” Mel recently told BBC Breakfast: “I think [my fitness reflects] many years of being active. When I was a kid I did loads of sport. I’ve danced. I’ve just never stopped. Now we know so much more about what’s good for us, and we train smarter.” Mel has an 80/20 approach to diet, relaxing her rules on a weekend, and also competes in Hyrox challenges and triathlons. For recovery and mindfulness, she likes yoga. Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Aniston swears by Pilates based exercise and intermittent fasting Credit: BackGrid According to her trainer, her core strength is ‘pretty unmatched’ Credit: Getty Friends actress Jennifer, 57, swears by a high-protein, low-carb and sugar diet, as well as cardio-heavy workouts five times a week. She told Radio Times: “I do intermittent fasting, so no food in the morning. I noticed a big difference in going without solid food for 16 hours.” She loves meditation and dog walks to unwind, and switched “no pain, no gain” workouts for Pvolve in 2021 (a low-impact blend of Pilates and resistance training, focussed on building mobility, stability and strength). She loves plank variations and typically works out for 45 minutes. “I think Jen’s core strength is pretty unmatched,” her trainer, Dani Coleman, previously told The Independent. “We do a lot of single-leg strength work and stability training. I think a good measure of longevity is how well we can keep our body upright.” Jennifer hates being told she looks “good for her age”. “It drives me bananas. I can’t stand it,” she said in an interview with British Vogue. “I don’t even understand what it means. I’m in better shape than I was in my 20s. I feel better in my mind, body, and spirit. It’s all 100 per cent better.” Carol Vorderman Carol Vorderman eats a bag of sprouts every day and hasn’t weighed herself since 1999 Credit: Instagram The presenter says she only works out ‘when I feel like it’ Credit: carolvorders/Instagram.. Carol has embraced a slower pace of life recently, revealing 4am starts and working six days-a-week, plus a commute from her Bristol home to London, left her suffering from burnout at the end of 2024. Speaking to Good Housekeeping, the 65-year-old admitted she had been a “workaholic” and has now cut down to two days of work a week. “Healthwise, I’ve been on all sorts of drugs this last year and have had lots of muscle wastage, so I’m prioritising protein,” she added. “I have a bag of sprouts a day when I’m at home! I’m addicted to sprouts. I also make sure half of my plate is vegetables. And I never buy bread, because I could eat bread all day.” She takes a similar approach to exercise. Last year she told Saga magazine: “I’m coming up to 65 and my priorities have changed. “My daughter is in the gym three or four times a week, she’s super fit and it’s all about numbers and measurements. “Whereas I just work out when I feel like it and do it because I want to and it improves my overall health.” Carol – who has never smoked or done drugs, and rarely drinks – said her priorities are “health, social, fitness and then work is very low down.” She hasn’t weighed herself since 1999, adding: “I know if I put on weight because my clothes are tighter and I vary between a size 9, as I call it, and an 11.” She added: “I try to eat correctly about 70% to 80% of the time because sticking to something 100% is near-on impossible as life gets in the way. “I have my regular things, like a daily green juice and I have a bowl of fruit with Benecol yogurt on it. But there is no point beating yourself up if you have a bad day.” Carol swears by a ‘detox diet’ – where she eliminates whole food groups like wheat, sugar and ultra-processed foods – and hates quick fixes and fads. Lizzie Cundy Lizzie Cundy has a 15-minute circuit which she does first thing every morning Credit: Instagram She’ll also workout in the gym, going for a cycle on her bike followed by a weights session Credit: Instagram Former WAG Lizzie, 58, does the same 15-minute body weight circuit every single day, as soon as she gets out of bed. “Before any gym, work, or phone call, even if it’s 4am. I wake up 15 minutes earlier than I need to. I’ve done that since I was 18,” she told Women’s Health. She starts with arm swings, on her tiptoes; torso twists in a squat position; single-leg swings; penguin taps; and a variety of planks. Lizzie said: “I held the record for the longest plank at my gym. So they gave me free Chinese takeaway from this restaurant in my local village. I’ve done it for a long time, so I think you build up the stamina.” She also works out four times a week in the gym – starting with a cycle on the exercise bike before lifting weights. “I find it’s really good for my mind,” she told Women’s Health. “If I’m feeling stressed, I will go to the gym and [be] a different person. “I’ve relied on exercise for my mental health [especially] when things aren’t going so well, [like] going through terrible divorces. I come out feeling happier and better.” Jenni Falconer Jenni Falconer loves running home from work, and is partial to a round of golf too Credit: Instagram She hasn’t eaten crisps or chips for decades, fuelling her workouts with porridge and stir fries instead Credit: Instagram Presenter Jenni has run 11 marathons, with her personal best at 3 hours and 31 minutes. After her 4am radio shifts, she’ll run back to her home in Wimbledon from central London, turning her commute into daily exercise. The 50-year-old mum also does strength training two to three times a week and enjoys a round of golf. Jenni likes to eat porridge before a run and have a shake with almond milk, fruit and peanut butter afterwards. A chicken stir fry or salmon, veg and rice are her dinners of choice. Jenni proudly describes herself as “disciplined”. She doesn’t drink alcohol during the week and amazingly hasn’t eaten crisps or chips for 36 YEARS. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2024, she said: “I quit them… and now it’s 34 years later and I still haven’t eaten them. I have never had a McDonald’s.” Comment now