Jodie Kidd says that she ‘had no bloomin’ choice’ except to embrace being a single mum to son Indio
The model also says that she's an insomniac because she's too busy 'dissecting things' to sleep
This week TV Magazine gets to know Jodie Kidd...
I’m not the most intellectual person,so being able to drop out of my art class at college when I was spotted as a model was a very big turning point in my life. I’d only been at college for a week. I thought I’d go to London to see what happened, and within two months I’d flown to New York and was doing all the shows with Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington. It was very odd. Extraordinary, really.
I was always a tomboy, but the first thing I bought with my modelling money was make-up. After having all this gloop put on me for catwalk shows I realised I quite liked it, and Mum was fed up with me borrowing hers, dropping it and smashing it. So we went to Clinique and got a whole make-up bag full of products.
My family are very high achievers and that’s made me the competitive person I am today. I was the youngest of five and always had hand-me-downs. I had to stick up for myself and be independent from an early age to be seen. My siblings were all accomplished, sporty children, so I had to deliver too. Getting the county record for the high jump – 1m 60cm – made me stand out!
I was such a driven child and my five-year-old son Indio is the same. I’ve been cycling a lot recently to take part in Tour De Celeb, so Indi insisted he wanted his stabilisers taken off his bike. He went straight off, tearing around the garden, no looking back.
My dream dinner date is Sir David Attenborough. I could just listen to him and stare at him. When I was travelling a lot as a young model I had a little DVD player that I watched The Blue Planet on. I was in faraway places on my own, missing home and he took me to my happy place. My hero.
I’m an insomniac. I dissect things in my mind as I’m lying in bed. I have a glass of wine, a bath and watch Peaky Blinders or something on telly to try to switch off before I go to bed. If I have something big on the next day? Nope, I know I’m not going to get any sleep.
I turned down the presenting job on the new series of Top Gear. I’m sure we’ll all get used to the new version eventually. Indi and I still watch repeats of old series – he’s obsessed with James May. I’ve got a Jaguar, a BMW, lots of flash cars, but ask Indi what his favourite car is and he’ll say a Volvo because James May drove one in the Top Gear Africa Special.
One of my most embarrassing moments was on a catwalk. I had these high-heeled boots that were strapped to the knee. The strapping came undone and with one flick it came off and smacked this poor woman in the front row in the side of the face. It wasn’t [US Vogue editor] Anna Wintour, but it wasn’t far off – I think she was from Italian Vogue as I never worked for them again!
I’ve had to adapt to being a single mum – I had no bloomin’ choice. Those are the cards that were handed to me and I have to make it work. But my son Indio is my best friend. It’s just me and him, and we chat about everything and have really grown-up conversations.”
NEW! Tour De Celeb Monday 7pm