Twiggy says she never planned to become a model: ‘I must be mad’

Twiggy has revealed that she did not plan to get into modelling as a career, which means the world could have missed out on one of the most iconic fashion models of the Sixties. The English model, actor and singer, whose real name is Dame Lesley Lawson, said that most of her life has been spent ‘doing things that I didn’t plan to do’. In a new interview with Good Housekeeping , Twiggy, 73, said: ‘I didn’t plan to model. I definitely didn’t plan to do a musical film with Ken Russell and I certainly didn’t plan to star on Broadway in a big musical. I must be mad!’ Russell wrote and directed the 1971 musical comedy The Boy Friend , which also starred EastEnders star Barbara Windsor and ballet dancer Christopher Gable. Twiggy was also involved in Close-Up: The Twiggy Musical , written and directed by comedian Ben Elton. The show is set to open in September at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. She said: ‘I only get involved with projects that really spark something in me, with people I love and want to work with. ‘Ben Elton is an old friend and I love him to bits. He’s a huge talent – so clever and such a sweet man. ‘The musical came about when we were having dinner about six years ago and he said, half-jokingly, ‘I should do your story! It’s an amazing story set in an amazing period – I should write it’.’ Close-Up traces Twiggy’s rise to stardom alongside music from the Sixties and Seventies. Elsewhere in the interview, Twiggy opened up about her marriage to English actor Leigh Lawson and reflected on their nearly 40 years together. Twiggy and her husband Leigh Lawson attend the opening night of Nina Raine’s ‘Consent’ at Harold Pinter Theatre on May 29, 2018 She said: ‘[Leigh and I] have been together for 38 years, which is frightening! I suppose luck has a lot to do with it. ‘You never know when you meet somebody how it’s all going to turn out or what life is going to throw at you. ‘We’ve both been through things that didn’t work out for various reasons and when you’ve had that experience, you’re a little gentler when you meet someone else.’ Lawson is also a director and writer. He has been credited for TV shows such as Silent Witness , Travelling Man , Absolutely Fabulous , and The Red Tent . Earlier this year, Twiggy revealed that cosmetic surgery ‘frightens’ her, and she has never undergone procedures such as Botox, which is common among celebrities. Speaking to the Daily Mail , she said she is ‘proud’ of her wrinkles, but said she was open to the idea of having ‘little tweaks’ someday. ‘But what I don’t think I’d ever do is all the stuff they inject, when they get those funny cheeks that look like cotton wool balls have been stuffed in them. It would frighten me,’ she added. The full interview is in the September 2023 issue of Good Housekeeping , which is on sale now. Additional reporting by PA