Exclusive: Lisa Snowdon reveals why she is in no hurry to marry fiancé George Smart
Lisa Snowdon is not keen on being the centre of attention - especially on her wedding day. "A lot of women imagine walking down the aisle. They imagine their flowers, their dresses, and I just have never had that vision," the model and TV presenter says. "It's just a contract at the end of the day."
When it comes to her relationship with her fiancé George Smart, Lisa is not afraid to embrace the unconventional. The former Britain's Next Top Model presenter first dated George 20 years ago after they crossed paths while she was a DJ at MTV, and he was the channel's head of events.
The couple reconnected through mutual friends in 2014 before George proposed in 2017.
The pair certainly aren't in a rush to walk down the aisle. Lisa's motto is the more low-key, the better. "I don't want everybody looking at me, which is weird because I do television and hosting," she says. "I'm just really relaxed and so is George. It will happen, but I just don't know what that looks like."
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Taking time apart to grow her career in TV and his in communication management is what Lisa credits with being the foundation of their strong relationship.
"There were a lot of destructive relationships that I was in, and I think if you have to fight too hard for something, it's obviously not right," Lisa – who was first scouted by a modelling agent in 1991 – says of her past.
"We both needed to go off and make our mistakes," Lisa says. "We got reintroduced and it was just amazing because we'd lived our lives, we'd done everything we wanted to do and you just fit."
Lisa knew soon after their reunion that George was the one. "It was just immediately this mutual respect and our communication has always been on point," she says. "We basically moved in with each other immediately."
Lisa's second spring
Her relationship with George is just one enriching element of the midlife advocate's "second spring", which also includes a fashion presenter role on This Morning.
"People see it as the end of your life, but it's the end of an old life, and it's the beginning of a new relationship with yourself if you step into it with full power," she says of midlife. "We have to have a sense of acceptance of the way our body looks now and look at all of that experience from years before and apply it to now.”
As a fashion broadcaster, Lisa empowers other women to step into their power and embrace looking and feeling good. But even Lisa has days when her inner critic takes over. "I think us ladies, that's slightly ingrained in us," she says of a propensity to be self-critical. "That stems from those hormones from when I was getting my periods, and you've got those days where I don't recognize myself.
"Some months you'll sail through it, and other months you want to crawl out of your skin," she adds. The star - who has spoken openly about navigating midlife since entering perimenopause at 44 - dedicated her 2023 book, Just Getting Started: Lessons in Life, Love and Menopause, to this very feeling.
"I say [to hormones], 'You can now go and do one'," she says. "They're like little terrorists that invade your body, and then you're just like, 'I don't feel like me'."
In moments of self-doubt Lisa will go for a walk with George or call a friend.
Through her and Andy Goldstein’s podcast, We’re Not Getting Any Younger, Lisa is able to turn to famous women – including actress Tamsin Outhwaite and ex-Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes – who have learned to find empowerment in midlife.
"When you're in the depths of loneliness or confusion about what's happening to you, you don't see any way out," Lisa says of menopause.
"[But] life gets better, and you start not caring as much what people think and just going out there and owning it."
Hosting The Smileys
As someone who has been involved in charity work throughout her career, Lisa will certainly go out and own her role as host of The Smiley Charity Film Awards on 20 March.
"I became an ambassador for Breast Cancer Now 20 years ago because my grandma had breast cancer and she unfortunately passed away," she says.
Lisa is also president of Meningitis Now, having contracted the disease in 2010, and works with Essex & Herts Air Ambulance. During the Smileys, numerous charities will be presented with awards including The Bicester Collection International Impact Award, which recognises charities from across the globe and their cause-based films. In its fourth year, this award has seen a record number of entries from countries and continents including Australia, South America, Europe, and Africaas part of The Bicester DO GOOD initiative.
"I get nervous because it's at the O2 Indigo, so it's a big crowd," Lisa says of her hosting role. "It'll be a celebratory night, but also there'll be emotions because some of the films are really hard-hitting," she adds. "But it's a brilliant way to celebrate these charities that do amazing work."
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Lisa also looks forward to more amazing work of her own while making time for travels with George and, as she puts it, "just enjoying life and embracing whatever comes."
Lisa Snowdon is hosting the Smiley Charity Film Awards on 20 March, the world’s largest celebration of purpose-driven film campaigns. Watch the live stream on the night at www.smileycharityfilmawards.com and cheer on your favourite charity from home.
