How stars like Kym Marsh and Kate Moss changed their life before hitting big 5-0 from quitting show to dumping toy boy
FROM the outside, it may seem like actress and presenter Kym Marsh has just inexplicably set fire to her whole life.
FROM the outside, it may seem like actress and presenter Kym Marsh has just inexplicably set fire to her whole life.
In the space of a few weeks she’s ended her relationship and quit the long-time job that brought her financial stability and wide acclaim.
These bold moves may appear to be madness to many, but they make total sense to any woman in the same age bracket.
Kym is fast approaching 50, so of course she’s ready for some big, dramatic changes as she reaches this important milestone and goes into her second act.
By this point, most of us are clear about what we want, what we stand for and exactly what we are capable of achieving.
With the relentless demands of small kids behind us, it’s a moment to put yourself first for once, and remember your dreams, goals and aspirations.
Plus, reaching your half-century is a massive wake-up call.
The time for sleepwalking through your existence on autopilot is over.
What do you really want? Are you happy with who you are? Do the people who surround you fulfil your needs and desires?
Playtime is over — things have just got serious. Girl Power is all well and good, but get ready for the Force Of Fifty — it may make you face up to some harsh realities, and overhaul everything.
Scary? Yup. Exhilarating? You bet!
New projects
As I approached the big 5-0 I ended a thankless friendship that was draining my energy, started training to be a therapist alongside my current career, and realised that my husband and I, like many who have been together almost two decades, were taking each other for granted and needed to put some effort into our marriage.
It felt like a much-needed spring clean that has invigorated my appetite for life.
So I wasn’t surprised when, despite being one of the biggest names on BBC One school drama Waterloo Road for five seasons, Kym announced she will be leaving when the current series ends.
She’s turning her back on playing canteen worker Nicky Walters in a bid to stretch her wings, push herself and focus on other telly roles.
This huge decision comes hot on the heels of the end of her six-month relationship with Samuel Thomas, who was 19 years younger than her.
A source said: “Kym’s heading towards 50 and wants to try as many new things as she can.
“One of the reasons she dumped Samuel was because she just wanted to have some fun and see where her work takes her.
Kym’s heading towards 50 and wants to try as many new things as she can
Sun source
“She’s already got a busy professional and family life and is very much enjoying her freedom and being able to take on exciting new projects wherever they may take her.”
Saying goodbye to the security of the regular Waterloo Road pay cheque might have been daunting when she was younger, but Kym clearly feels it’s going to push her out of her comfort zone into thrilling pastures new.
The source went on: “She’s enjoyed her time on the show but it takes up a big part of her year and she decided this current series would be her last. She told bosses before they started filming that the current series would be her last and they have written her out.”
Kym is far from the only famous female reassessing everything at 50.
At the same age, beloved presenter Davina McCall got divorced from husband of 17 years, and father of her three children, Pet Rescue’s Matthew Robertson.
She said afterwards: “The summer after my 50th birthday, Matthew and I had split up, and I was in a real transitional phase of my life.
“I moved out and started renting a place and that felt like the first step in a new phase.
“I thought, ‘OK, we can look forward now’. It was transformative.”
Davina is another woman who saw 50 as a huge moment, a chance to shake out the cobwebs.
“My big thing is that it’s never too late to do anything,” she said.
“The truth is, 50 isn’t the end, it’s the beginning, maybe of a new career, a new exercise regime, or a completely new look, or it could be when you decide to let yourself go grey and really embrace it, or sign up for a triathlon that you’ve never done before.
The truth is, 50 isn’t the end, it’s the beginning, maybe of a new career, a new exercise regime, or a completely new look
Davina McCall
“It’s a time of experimenting with what you are capable of doing, and trying the things you’ve always wanted to do but have been too scared to try.”
Like Samuel Thomas, another toyboy who was a casualty of the Force Of Fifty was Nikolai von Bismarck, aka Mr Kate Moss for more than nine years.
Although he was by her side for her landmark birthday, a source said that the couple had been in an uncertain place for some time, and that Kate felt the time was right to move on and cut ties after taking stock of her situation.
“Despite being 13 years her junior, Nikolai wants to enjoy a quieter life,” the source continued.
“He remains on his sober path and they just have increasingly different hobbies and wants. She felt they were going on different journeys in life.
“And at 50, Kate feels fabulous and like she wants to get back out there and have some fun.”
Anyone who has seen any photos of Kate recently will be left in no doubt that this is exactly what is now happening.
She is living on her terms, uncompromisingly, emboldened with the freedom that comes with leaving your 40s.
Kate feels fabulous and like she wants to get back out there and have some fun
Sun source
She is back to always looking like she is having a better time than anyone else, which is exactly what we want and expect from the supermodel.
Turning 50 made Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria brave enough to uproot her family and leave the country she had always lived in, to start over again in a new location.
Well, two actually.
“I had my whole adult life in California,” she explained, “But it was changing. The vibe was different. And then Covid happened, and it pushed it over the edge.
Eva, her husband Jose Baston, and their seven-year-old son Santiago now split their time between Spain and Mexico City.
“I had my whole adult life in California,” she explained, “But it was changing. The vibe was different. And then Covid happened and it pushed it over the edge.
“It just feels like this chapter in my life is done now.”
Wondering how that’s working out for her?
“I’m living my dream in Marbella,” she reports. “The first time I arrived here I felt, ‘Ah, yes. There’s something special here’.
“There’s a wonderful energy. There’s air, there’s the beach, the people, the culture, the lifestyle. It’s very different.”
Turning 50 being rebranded as a positive, empowering time in a woman’s life, rather than any tired old cliches about being “past it”, is thanks in part to incredible ambassadors such as Jennifer Aniston, who had her big birthday in 2019 and revealed that she felt better than ever.
She said: “Fifty was the first time I thought, ‘Well, that number, I don’t know what it is because I don’t feel any different.
“I feel physically incredible. So it’s weird that it’s all of a sudden getting telegraphed in a way that’s like, ‘You look amazing for your age’.
“I think we need to establish some etiquette around that dialogue and verbiage.”
Fifty was the first time I thought, ‘Well, that number, I don’t know what it is because I don’t feel any different
Jennifer Aniston
Sure to agree would be Hannah Waddingham, who turned 50 in July.
Although she has worked almost constantly since her twenties, it wasn’t until her breakthrough role in TV series Ted Lasso in 2020 that she really came into her own, career-wise.
“I’m glad that it didn’t happen when I was 20, 25, 30, because I know who I am,” she says. “I don’t apologise for who I am.”
Like her peers on this page, Hannah is proud to have reached this age, and has never looked better.
“I can celebrate that, and the fact that I’ve gone into everything with a full heart and given 100 per cent to it,” she grins.
“This whole thing about hiding your age is not for me, personally.
“I like to go, ‘I’m just about to turn 50’, and hopefully they go, ‘No!’
“Finally it seems like women in the middle of their lives are being treated like the well-informed, culturally heavy, passionate human beings that they are.”
So if you, or a female you know, is reaching the end of their 40s, watch out.
Life as you know it may be about to be turned on its head, everything you think you’re certain of might be utterly transformed, your world may be put on a kind of spin cycle, so everything gets shaken up and is put back together again differently.
Get ready. The Full Force of Fifty is coming for you!