{"id":695819,"date":"2026-05-26T14:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/695819\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:16:11","slug":"actress-rachel-ward-hits-back-at-trolls-who-labelled-her-old-and-decrepit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/695819\/","title":{"rendered":"Actress Rachel Ward hits back at trolls who labelled her ‘old and decrepit’"},"content":{"rendered":"

British-Australian actress Rachel Ward<\/a> has hit back at online comments regarding her natural, grey-haired appearance.<\/p>\n

The ’80s sex symbol<\/a>, now 68, has opted to age naturally, and drew backlash on social media from trolls claiming she’d “let herself go” in later years.<\/p>\n

But the star has now shared her candid thoughts on ageing gracefully<\/a> \u2013 and why the scathing comments don’t faze her.<\/p>\n

\"RachelRachel Ward has spoken out about the backlash she received online for her natural appearance. (Instagram)<\/p>\n

On this week’s episode of Australian Story,<\/a> Ward defiantly claimed comments on a recent Instagram video<\/a> \ufefflabelling her “old and decrepit” had only served to increase her social media following.<\/p>\n

“The more wretched I look, the more followers I have,” The Thorn Birds<\/a> star joked, adding she’d unwittingly become a much-needed representative for natural ageing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I was a catalyst for a larger conversation. I think people have been challenged [because] women weren’t allowed to have wrinkles, weren’t allowed to go grey.<\/p>\n

“Why do we feel that we’ve got to pretend that we’re still 40 when we’re 68? … I’m so past caring about what people think about one’s appearance or age.”<\/p>\n

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\"THEThe star, now 68, was considered a sex symbol during the height of her acting career in the 80s. (Disney General Entertainment Con)<\/p>\n

She suspected people’s shock at her current appearance was down to her withdrawal from the public eye over the years, forgoing acting for a simpler life on her family’s Northern NSW cattle farm.<\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeff”A few trolls were a bit shocked about my grey hair. They maybe haven’t seen me since I was 24, and they went, ‘Oh my god, that’s what you ended up looking like.'”<\/p>\n

She shared insight into how Hollywood<\/a> viewed women during the height of her acting career in the 1980s, revealing women were largely defined by their sexuality \u2013 and what men believed they ought to look like.<\/p>\n

“I went to Hollywood in 1982, and everything was about sexuality. It was all about the sex scenes. It was all about the male gaze,” she recalled.<\/p>\n

\"CastShe hit back at trolls who had labelled her “old and decrepit.” (Getty)\"British“It took me a long time to feel that I had value as a woman.” (Getty)<\/p>\n

“It’s very empty and very unsatisfying. It took me a long time to feel that I had value as a woman.”<\/p>\n

The saga first began in December, following a seemingly innocuous social media post where Ward appeared makeup-free.<\/p>\n

The post<\/a> was later flooded with cruel comments from \ufefffollowers expressing their shock at her natural appearance.<\/p>\n

“I read she’s 68. Looks way older! I’m 62 and can’t believe she’s only a few years older than me,” one person commented.<\/p>\n

Another offered a similarly cutting comment: “OMG what the h— happened to u? U were so pretty?” Wrote another.<\/p>\n

Ward responded at the time, saying she “felt sorry” for those who feared ageing to that extent.<\/p>\n

“They will learn that it’s ultimate freedom as a woman to let youth and beauty go.”<\/p>\n