TV personality and former model Jodie Kidd, 44, on the pitfalls of being on a catwalk at 15, racing about on Top Gear and running a pub
Tell us about the your campaign with wine brand Leaps & Bounds…
It’s a lovely tie-in for me because and the number one thing I said is that it’s going to be dog-friendly. Leaps & Bounds is pushing for more places to allow because it’s difficult taking them with you.
I’ve had dogs all my life. When modelling, I took my Jack Russell with me everywhere I could. I took her to a fitting with fashion designer Julien Macdonald and he was like, ‘Oh, she’s so gorgeous – I’m going to make her an identical dress’.
So she had this lovely little doggy outfit with Swarovski crystals on her claws, and she came down the catwalk with me. I don’t think I could live without dogs. I’m lucky to live in the countryside where I have space to have two.
How many animals do you have?
I have two horses, two dogs and some chickens, so a little menagerie. But I stopped riding after having my son Indi, so I haven’t ridden for ages. I’ve got this rather wild and crazy former racehorse and it was always a full-on adrenaline ride when I went out with him, so I wasn’t losing my nerve – I just don’t bounce like I used to when falling off.
How do you divide your time? You’ve got few things going on at the moment…
Yes, I’m spinning many plates. The pub [the Half Moon in Kirdford, West Sussex] is running beautifully. We’ve survived lockdowns, Brexit – the cost of living isn’t ideal but I wanted to save the pub for the village. I’m doing a lot of driving for my car YouTube show, Kidd In A Sweet Shop, which I’m about a year into – it’s doing really well.
It’s interview-based, so I get to chat to collectors, designers and owners about their love of cars, and occasionally I get to drive a few. I’ve just started a kids’ food company called Indios, trying to get the best, healthiest and nutritious food into our little people. Plus I’m a mum, of course.
You co-wrote a book, Balance Your Life, a few years ago. How did that change things for you?
When I was modelling, I wasn’t eating well, I was constantly on the go and jet-lagged. You couldn’t get good, healthy food like you can now going between a shoot and a fashion show, and you never had time to sit down and have a nice meal.
I went from being brought up in the countryside having a very healthy childhood to burning the candle at both ends, and started to get very bad anxiety. I found out how important it is to eat well and do exercise.
Once I brought those factors back into my life, the anxiety lessened and my sleep and everything got better. And the book came from that.
Would you recommend any teenage girl to model like you did?
I was far too young at 15. Modelling is a very adult world. I’m the youngest of five and we’re quite a worldly family. I was crossing the Atlantic from eight years old on my own to see my parents, so I was pretty old for a 15-year-old.
But I look at some of my girlfriends’ kids aged 15 and I can’t believe I was flying solo around the world, going to random locations, often 15 flights a week. It’s quite shocking. It’s so important to finish your schooling and have that childhood of going to university and out with your mates. I didn’t have any of that and I missed that stage of life.
Being the fastest Star In A Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear aged 25 must have been amazing!
It was the first time I’d been around a track and I hadn’t really driven a lot. Most of my teenage years were spent being picked up by a car to go to Heathrow, jumping on a lane, being picked up by a car, going to a hotel. I got my licence when I was 20 or 21, so I wasn’t an expert driver – I just loved going round the track.
I think they were completely shocked when I beat everyone and it then opened this whole other wonderful world of racing cars to me. I had the most extraordinary five years racing for Maserati on some of the most incredible tracks in the most incredible cars.
You were touted as being Chris Evans’s co-host on Top Gear…
I’ve got lots of friends who work on and it’s a full-on filming schedule. Indi was young and I just wanted to be a mum, not away for 300 days of the year filming. Growing up, my parents were abroad a lot, so I was sent to boarding school. It’s something I’ve vowed I wouldn’t do to Indi.
Did you watch Strictly?
It was one of the celebrity shows I did that , so it was mortifying. It’s so embarrassing how bad I am at dancing. I was no nervous. It’s definitely scarred me – whenever I hear that theme tune, I’m like, ‘Aaargh!’ It sounded like a lovely idea at the time, though.
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