{"id":887786,"date":"2026-09-08T09:21:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T09:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/887786\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T09:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T09:21:02","slug":"it-keeps-me-feeling-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/887786\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It keeps me feeling young\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debbie McGee<\/a> has always lived an incredibly active life and it\u2019s going to take more than a niggling injury to slow her down. The TV star tells Good Housekeeping she\u2019s been forced to put some of her favourite workouts<\/a> on hold while she recovers from a persistent strain, but she\u2019s hit upon the perfect way to keep moving as her body heals.<\/p>\n

\u2018All my life, I\u2019ve always exercised a lot,\u2019 Debbie tells us. \u2018I don\u2019t mean the gym \u2013 I hate the gym \u2013 but I\u2019ve always done Pilates and yoga<\/a>, and danced. But then, for the last year, I\u2019ve had a damaged inguinal tendon in my stomach.\u2019<\/p>\n

The inguinal tendon is a band of connective tissue that sits at the base of the abdomen and plays a key role in supporting the abdominal muscles. And as a result of her injury, Debbie tells us she\u2019s had to temporarily halt any exercise that involves bending forwards. \u2018It\u2019s healing slowly, but it\u2019s been a weird year because I can\u2019t do all the things I used to do,\u2019 she says. \u2018I tried to keep going with yoga and Pilates, but it just aggravated [the injury] and it wasn\u2019t healing.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie makes sure she stays active around the home<\/p>\n

Simply resting up doesn\u2019t appeal to Debbie, who tells us she\u2019s inspired by parents who remained active into their 80s. \u2018I remember my dad was 84 and up a ladder on the roof,\u2019 she says. \u2018I went mad at him, but he just said, \u201cI\u2019ve done it all my life. If I stop doing it, I\u2019ll get old.\u201d Those things stay in my head.\u2019 So, rather than just pausing her fitness regime, Debbie has come up with some creative ways to adapt, building easy strengthening moves into her everyday household routine. <\/p>\n

\u2018While I\u2019m around the kitchen, I do things like rising up on my feet to strengthen my calf muscles. And I do my old ballet pli\u00e9s, which are like squats, really,\u2019 she says. \u2018If I’m bending down to go in a cupboard, I can\u2019t bend forward with my stomach, so I bend my knees out, like ballet second position. I do that every time I go into a cupboard. So that\u2019s keeping me exercising all the time. That keeps your legs stretched and strong.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie in her kitchen, where she combines cooking with simple exercise moves<\/p>\n

Touchingly, she says that memories of her beloved late husband, magician Paul Daniels, continue to inspire her efforts. \u2018Paul used to say, \u201cEvery time you walk through a doorway, pull your tummy in and stand up straighter.\u201d And actually, if you connect a doorway with that, you do suddenly go, \u201cOh, yeah, I\u2019m slouching; I\u2019m going to stand more upright.\u201d All those little things add up.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"debbieGetty Images<\/p>\n

Debbie says she remembers her late husband Paul\u2019s words of wisdom on posture<\/p>\n

Making a cup of tea or popping a pan on the hob has now become another reminder to move, she adds. \u2018I\u2019ve got two light weights in the kitchen for my arms, because I thought, \u201cOh, no, my arms are starting to go a bit.\u201d So I\u2019ve started doing bicep curls and things like that while I\u2019m waiting for something to boil. I want to make sure my arms and my legs stay strong.\u2019<\/p>\n

Debbie has also been gently incorporating her love of ballroom dancing into her routine, ensuring she continues to stoke the passion ignited by her time on Strictly Come Dancing<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"debbieBBC<\/p>\n

Debbie has such fond memories of her time on Strictly Come Dancing<\/p>\n

\u2018That was my dream job! The music, the dancing, the lovely people, everything,\u2019 she reminisces. \u2018What I do now, four days a week, is a salsa Latin workout at home, on YouTube. After the summer recess, I\u2019ll go back to doing some ballroom and Latin classes locally, probably twice a week.\u2019<\/p>\n

Debbie tells us she enjoys the classes both for the workout itself and the social element. \u2018I don\u2019t like walking on my own and it\u2019s so hard to organise it with other people when you\u2019re a busy person,\u2019 she says. \u2018So I just love dancing classes.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018And if you do ballroom and Latin, you can keep doing that for as long as you can walk,\u2019 she says. \u2018It\u2019s not something you have to give up as you age. I think we all know now that keeping your balance and keeping yourself strong is important as you get older. Dancing is good for your cardio and it keeps your core and legs strong.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie pictured in her kitchen at home<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just exercise that\u2019s helping Debbie look and feel youthful at 67. The TV star tells us she\u2019s thrilled by the results of her first-ever aesthetic treatment, NeoGen Plasma<\/a>, which uses a controlled skin \u2018injury\u2019 to trigger fresh collagen<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Debbie underwent a \u00a34,500 course of six treatments at Reading\u2019s Aspire Clinic last year and credits this no-knife tweakment for doing something she never expected: shifting stubborn age spots<\/a> and enabling her to finally ditch heavy foundation.<\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie had incredible results on pigmentation from a course of NeoGen Plasma<\/p>\n

\u2018I had a great big brown age spot,\u2019 she explains. \u2018It wasn\u2019t a mole \u2013 it was two, but they kind of covered this area of my cheek, and my father had exactly the same and they\u2019re unsightly. So, I always had to cover it with makeup, and if I didn\u2019t, people would say, \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

With her autobiography, A Magical Life<\/a>, out in October, Debbie decided that it was time to finally do something about it with NeoGen. It’s a treatment loved by a host of celebrities, including Shirley Ballas<\/a>, Leslie Ash<\/a> and Christine Hamilton, a friend of Debbie\u2019s who recommended she try it. <\/p>\n

The speed of the results blew Debbie away, she tells us. \u2018I was a real sun-worshipper back in the day, so I had lots of freckles, too,\u2019 she says. \u2018The first thing I noticed was, \u201cOh, my goodness, they\u2019ve all faded!\u201d And by the second treatment, they were gone.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The biggest thing it\u2019s done for me is I don\u2019t wear makeup any more on a day-to-day basis. It’s given me a confidence in myself that I didn\u2019t have before, because I just feel much more natural.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie says she feels far more confident after her non-invasive skin treatment<\/p>\n

\u2018I used to look at people on TV and in photographs and think, \u201cThey’ve got such clear skin. Mine will never be like that because I\u2019ve got all these tiny little brown freckles.\u201d But NeoGen has got rid of them all. Now I\u2019m the proud owner of a face with clear skin at my grand old age, so it\u2019s a wonderful treatment in so many more ways than I would\u2019ve ever thought possible.\u2019<\/p>\n

Debbie tells us she completed her initial course over a year ago and is delighted to remain pigmentation-free<\/a>. \u2018What I\u2019ve found amazing is that it keeps on working. I\u2019ve not had the top-up because I didn\u2019t want downtime, but my skin seems to just get better and better.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie loves how the tone and texture of her skin has improved<\/p>\n

Her success with NeoGen hasn\u2019t tempted her to try other anti-ageing tweakments<\/a>, she says, noting that wrinkle toxins and fillers remain off-limits. \u2018I\u2019m frightened what will happen to me after them,\u2019 she says. \u2018I\u2019d never touched my face with treatments [before NeoGen] and I never wanted a facelift. I still don\u2019t ever want to be someone that people look at and say, \u201cOh, she\u2019s had work.\u201d I think too many people get addicted to it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"debbieCourtesy of Neogen<\/p>\n

Debbie says she has no interest in any invasive treatments, preferring a natural look <\/p>\n

Looking dramatically different is the exact opposite of her goal. \u2018I don\u2019t need to look younger,\u2019 she says. \u2018I don\u2019t want to look like I’m in my 20s because my body isn\u2019t a 20-year-old\u2019s. I just want to do things that make me feel good about myself.\u2019<\/p>\n

For Debbie, NeoGen does exactly that and is worth a few days of redness while her skin heals. \u2018It just promotes your own collagen. It\u2019s not invasive,\u2019 she says, \u2018and so it\u2019s a natural process, but it looks natural \u2013 and for me, that\u2019s the most important thing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Debbie McGee had a series of six NeoGen treatments at the Aspire Clinic<\/a> in Reading. NeoGen is available across the UK; find your closest clinic here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Debbie McGee has always lived an incredibly active life and it\u2019s going to take more than a niggling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84,6707],"class_list":["post-887786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-most-popular"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}