Entertainment
Carol Smillie slams ageism in TV and vows never to get cosmetic surgery: ‘How can a man carry on into his 70s or beyond but it’s unthinkable for a woman?’-Kim Novak-Entertainment – Metro
The former Changing Rooms host had her say.
Carol Smillie slammed the double standard for TV presenters as they get older (Picture: getty)
Carol Smillie has opened up on the ages women face in the TV industry but vowed she would never get cosmetic surgery to look younger.
The former Changing Rooms host, 60, opened up about how jobs in television tend to dry up the older you get, especially for women.
She revealed on the How To Be 60 With Kaye Adams podcast: ‘After 50 it’s very obvious that the opportunities that come up are far less interesting, exciting, well-paid, all of these things.
‘Everyone has their day. You can’t always be at the top. That’s fine, but if you choose to cling on and get angry about it it’s not very healthy.
‘I just think it’s someone else’s turn – time to move to something completely different. Something that’s not going to matter your age so much, or your weight.
‘It’s unhealthy, if you choose to wade into that attitude and indignant about it. You’re better to take yourself out of it and do something completely different. I watch other people get angry or upset about jobs not coming their way and you think “What’s the point? Just move on. Take control of it yourself.”’
The former Changing Rooms host has taken a step back from television herself (Picture: David Crump/Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock)
Carol admitted there had been times where she felt ‘a bit foot-stamps and angry’ about it, but she tries not to let the injustice get to her too much – and certainly not to the point where she would go under the knife to try and secure a job.
She explained: ‘If I start fiddling about with my face then my body doesn’t match. That’s the other thing I noticed with the women I worked with in TV at the time, I noticed a few of them now have gone down the route of changing their face or changing things.
‘That’s entirely their business and I wish them all the best, but it’s terrifying. I just don’t want to – I just grow a fringe.’
Carol also revealed that she believes the fact that Gloria Hunniford, 82, still gets daytime television jobs is ‘tokenism’ as so few older female presenters get the same opportunity.
Carol believes Gloria Hunniford getting daytime TV jobs is ‘tokenism’ (Picture: ITV)
She explained: ‘It’s not a normal job and the whole age thing in television I might think “Oh, come on, how can a man carry on into his seventies or beyond on TV, but it’s just unthinkable for a woman to do the same?”
‘Apart from Gloria, but they put her on daytime and it’s a kind of token. It feels tokenism.
‘You can get obsessed about it and you can rant and rave about it. It’s probably not going to change in my lifetime unfortunately.’
Carol admitted: ‘That’s why I don’t do it any more. I just think it’s better to move on and not get angry about things that you can’t really change.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Doctor Who showrunner hits back at ‘woke’ criticism: ‘The world has changed, not the show’
Entertainment – MetroRead More
