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TESS DALY IN PVC? BRUCIE WOULD HAVE A HEART ATTACK! SHE REVEALS THE SECRETS OF HER SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE – JUST DON’T ASK HER ABOUT DRESSING UP IN THE BEDROOM

By Frances Lyndon

Photography by Alistair Morris

Tess Daly breezes into the studio in a belted playsuit, looking tanned and stylish.

Before long, she will be transformed into a rock-chick vamp in black PVC with come-to-bed eyes.

Neither image is even close to the girlie glamour puss who presents Strictly Come Dancing, and Tess seems surprisingly less relaxed than when we see her on TV.

As for any banter about wearing PVC back home for her husband, TV presenter and Radio 1 DJ Vernon Kay, forget it.

“That would be telling,” she teases.

This is a woman who finds being interviewed a bit of a trial. Down to earth? Yes. Gorgeous? Absolutely.

But there’s also a touch of the school prefect about her.

Tess comes across as a private and serious person, with no time for showbiz flannel.

In fact, the suggestion that she might be a ‘celebrity’ horrifies her.

“I don’t think of myself that way,” she insists.

“It’s not as if I’m photographed falling out of nightclubs at two in the morning.

"I really am very girl-next-door with a positive, glass-half-full attitude to life. What you see is what you get.”

Tess, 37, and Vernon, 34, got married in September 2003. So how does their relationship work?

“Our marriage is based on give and take,” reveals Tess.

“I’m a list-maker and Vernon’s approach is more, um, organic.

"But we agree on the important things and we have the same values.

"We’ve been together for eight years and we can still talk non-stop over dinner.

"That tells you something.

“Vernon has a heart of gold and he’ll go out of his way to help people.

"I love that kindness in a man. It speaks volumes about his personality.

"He’s also hilarious when he’s goofing around doing daft things, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s tall, dark and handsome either.”

The couple both had happy childhoods in solid, northern, working-class families – Tess is from Stockport and Vernon is from Bolton.

Today they live in Buckinghamshire with their three-year-old daughter, Phoebe.

Tess described herself as “incredibly broody” in 2006, but now says she’s “happy either way” about having another baby.

“Phoebe used to ask us for a little brother or sister,” says Tess.

“But recently she’s started to ask for a cat, which would be a whole lot simpler!

“Being a working mum isn’t easy for any woman, but I make sure I’m there at night to tuck her in whenever I can.

“Being a mother has changed me in every way – for the better. Suddenly, it’s not all about you any more.

"Whatever the future holds, Phoebe comes first.

"I’m very aware of the need not to spoil her, and to teach her that money has to be earned, not taken for granted.”

Tess recently visited Bangladesh to film a contribution for this year’s Sport Relief – an experience that had a profound effect on her.

“I met homeless children sifting through rubbish with their bare hands,” she recalls.

“All they wanted was for someone to put an arm around them. It broke my heart.

“I took photos and made a book of the trip that I’ve shown to Phoebe, so she knows how lucky she is to be loved and secure.”

Tess is in an upbeat mood about her next job, hosting a new Saturday night BBC game show, This Time Tomorrow.

There’s also talk of some work with Vernon in America.

“There’s been interest,” she says, “and we’re now at the stage of wait and see.

"I’m easy-going about it because I’ve never been competitive.

"I’m not competing against Vernon and I’m certainly not trying to climb to the top over the heads of other women.

“If the death of my dad Viv in 2003 taught me anything, it’s that we’re here for a good time, not a long time, so make the best of it.”

Tess hosts This Time Tomorrow, which starts on Saturday, July 5 on BBC1

 

THE FABULOUS 5

1. If you could win an Olympic Gold for any event, what would it be?
Talking. My friends say they can’t shut me up.

2. If you weren’t famous, what would you do?
I’d be a property developer. My fantasy portfolio would include somewhere in the Bahamas.

3. What advice would you give yourself as a 13 year old?
When you get your first pay cheque, bank it, save it, then invest in property as soon as you can. I didn’t do that until I was in my late 20s, and I wish I’d done it 10 years earlier.

4. What makes you laugh?
I’m a huge fan of Sex And The City and I reckon most men could learn something from watching it!

5. What do you like most and least about your looks?
I broke my nose in a netball match when I was 15, and it’s now got a bump I could do without. But I’m grateful for having a strong, supple body, and it’s served me well.

 

Photography: Film Magic. Hair: Mark Hill. Make-up: Aimee Adams at Soho Management. Tess wears jacket by Mango, skirt by R Rodriguez at Fenwick

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