Former supermodel Jodie Kidd, 47, opens up about how panic attacks ended her modelling career and led to running The Half Moon pub in West Sussex with fiancé Joseph Bates
Jodie Kidd used to spend her days being whisked to catwalks all over the world, but she’s now living a more outdoorsy life in West Sussex with her fiancé Joseph Bates and her son Indio, 14. Not only does the former supermodel look after chickens and grow her own veg, she is also the proud landlady of The Half Moon Kirdford.
Make-up free and enjoying the sunshine as she chats to OK ! from her country abode, Jodie – who is fronting The Electric Road Trip, a new campaign promoting electric vehicles – says her life, in many ways, is as idyllic as it sounds. But she admits there isn’t a lot of downtime.
The 47-year-old is clearly proud of the 15th century pub she’s been landlady of for almost a decade. “The pub is amazing,” she says. “We’re very supportive of the local community and try to get all our produce from within a 25-mile radius. We have two rosettes, so we’re quite gastro pub-y. It’s just a joy.”
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What she enjoys most is when they host a special event like a birthday or a wedding. She explains, “You feel part of the celebrations, part of people’s lives. Behind the scenes there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it’s so worth it.”
Speaking of weddings, Jodie’s partner of nine years, former Royal Marine Joseph, proposed to her in Paris in 2021. So will we see her walking down the aisle any time soon?
“Oh I know, it’s the longest engagement,” giggles the star, who’s been married twice before. “Of course, we’re going to get married. Life’s just been so busy. We haven’t got six months to plan it right now – and we want to do the whole thing properly.”
Jodie does know that when the time comes, it will be a country wedding in England – probably Devon, where Joseph is from. She says, “It’s a county I’ve completely fallen for over the years, so that’s where we’re thinking.”
Jodie believes she and Joseph are such a good match for each other because of the mutual respect they have for one another and the fact that there’s no ego or jealousy between them.
“It’s just a lovely balance of respect and honesty,” she says, smiling. “We’re a very, very good team. He’s my friend, my partner and the best dad. I feel very lucky. He’s not going anywhere!”
Another clear source of happiness for Jodie is her relationship with her son Indio, from her relationship with Argentine polo player Andrea Vianini. Although he’s hit the notoriously tricky teenage years, she says it’s been pretty plain-sailing.
“He’s just a joy. And yes, he’s really shooting up. For me, the big thing is learning this new language that teenagers seem to use. But he’s a wonderful young man and he still likes a cuddle. He’s just a little heavier now when he sits on my lap.”
Jodie shot to fame as a supermodel when she was still in her teens, but she stepped away from full-time modelling in the early 2000s, previously revealing that she used to suffer “huge” panic attacks on the runway.
Recalling those days, she says, “I was exhausted, feverish, anxious. I’m a country girl. I’m normally out baling hay, feeding the animals. Suddenly I was in these big cities, not looking after myself, not eating well, not sleeping, just flying around the world. I literally did not stop. Then my body just went, ‘I’m not doing this.’
“I was at the absolute height of my career. I had Chanel campaigns, shoots left, right, and centre. But I was fried and one day I said, ‘I won’t do another catwalk.’ I found it triggering.
“So I moved to the countryside, started growing vegetables again, riding horses again and getting my nervous system back in order. I needed nature, trees, animals, my friends and family. And slowly I got myself better. I love the life I have now.”
Jodie is just a few years away from turning 50 (though we get a faux stern look, when we remind her of the milestone). While she’s not precious about her looks, she does look after herself and has realised, she says, that putting the work in shows.
“I do my red-light therapy, my skincare routine, I take my magnesium and try to get enough sleep. I take my make-up off at night and wear SPF. I think 50 now is so different from 50 when I was a kid.”
She’s philosophical about ageing and says, “Yes, there are the wrinkles, the odd hair growing where it shouldn’t and it’s harder to keep that weight off your middle. But I embrace it,” she says. “I mean, come back to me when everything starts drooping – I may want a bit of support eventually.”
Jodie famously took up motor-racing in 2004, but she stepped back from the sport when she realised races are often held on weekends, when she wants to be at home for her son. But her YouTube channel Kidd In A Sweet Shop still fuels her passion for cars.
“Motor-racing was exciting, exhilarating. There’s a crazy adrenaline junkie in me,” she admits. “But driving is now my peaceful place. I put some music on, hit the road and don’t think about anything. I just feel very happy behind the wheel.”
She acknowledges that electric cars have had a bad rap in the past, but that things are much better now and she’s the proud owner of an EV. She’s also teaming up with the Department for Transport for a new campaign about EVs and the various scenic points where you can charge them up and down the country.
“I love driving EVs and I love a road trip. We just came back from Cornwall and we love it,” she tells us. “My friends were shocked that we were going there in an electric car, but it’s actually easy to do big journeys, that infrastructure is coming on. There are now double the amount of charging points available.”
She relishes the excuse to visit some of Britain’s most scenic spots and says she has loved road trips since she was a little girl, when her family would pile into a van and drive to Switzerland for their yearly skiing trip.
“It used to take days but it was about enjoying the journey, stopping off at a gorgeous B&B and going exploring. I have the best memories of those trips.”
Jodie has teamed up with the Department for Transport to promote electric road trips, highlighting charging points in scenic UK locations. The campaign is backed by charging networks including Be.EV, Fastned and Osprey.
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