Daisy Lowe: ‘I’m Ready To Take On Anything’

In the past eighteen months Daisy Lowe has undergone a transformation. At 27, she has faced the greatest heartbreak of her life, gained and lost 21 pounds and made a vow that she is going to stop playing it safe and start embracing the moment.

‘I’ve completely changed,’ she announces during our chat following Grazia’s live shoot. ‘I used to be such a Saffy [the super sensible daughter in Ab Fab.] I worried about a lot of things. Even in my early twenties all I wanted was to wanted to settle down and have a family but now it’s time to get out there, follow my dreams, have some fun and really make the most of my life.’

Those who imagine this decision has been made as the result of a relationship imploding (she recently split from Thomas Cohen, the widow of her close friend Peaches Geldof who she dated for six months) would be wrong.

As a model and actress with Va Va Voom curves that have launched a dozen underwear campaigns (along with a sizable catwalk and editorial portfolio) Daisy – the daughter of rock royalty Pearl Lowe and Gavin Rossdale – is often portrayed as a girl about town. Former high profile partners have included Mark Ronson, Matt Smith and the model Will Cameron.

But Daisy insists that in reality, her world has only ever revolved around her family. She speaks to her fashion designer mother, Pearl, every day; considers her step-father, the musician Danny Goffey, one of her greatest influences and knows every detail of her three younger siblings daily routines down to the eating habits of the pet dog.

Her upbringing was not conventional. Up until her early teens, her mother struggled with a serious drug problem (she has now been clean for almost thirteen years) and Daisy often found herself playing the little adult. When Pearl decided she needed to leave the North London home that was party central to the likes of Kate Moss and Jude Law in order to focus on her recovery, Pearl’s parents – Edgar and Leila Davies - stepped in to look after Daisy who was in the midst of her GCSEs. ‘My grandparents had always helped look after me, they were always there’, she says.

So when Edgar was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago, Daisy’s world came crashing down. ‘My bubble burst,’ she says. ‘My granddad – Gramps - was like my superhero and all of a sudden I had to face his mortality, the idea that he may not be around.

‘I couldn’t cope without him. There was no decision that I wasn’t going to spend every moment I could with him and my family. I just stopped working. I’d take him for hospital visits, I’d go to chemo with him, sit with him, cook for him.

‘I didn’t really go out. Nothing had any meaning except being with him and my family. My mum was in pieces. Our family may not be conventional but we are incredibly close. The only place I wanted to be was right by him, watching over him.’

Touchingly she explains how Edgar’s illness led her to gain weight. She smiles: ‘Our nickname for Gramps was The Dustbin because ever since I was a kid, if anyone left anything on their plate he’d finish it. But because of the cancer, all his tastes changed and he lost his appetite and stopped eating.

‘I don’t know quite what was going on with me but I just took that place. I ate all the time and I’d eat anything anyone left. I became the Dustbin. I only wore track suit bottoms and I gained 21 lbs. I didn’t care. I didn’t give a monkeys what I looked like, if you think you are going to lose someone who has been the centre of your world forever you completely change all your priorities. It was like I was eating for him, willing him to get well.’

Two years on, Edgar – against the odds – has recovered. Daisy has also lost most of the weight she gained. ‘Once he was through the worst of it, I realised I needed to keep my energy up in order to raise his energy. I wanted to be really positive. I’m so lucky I have great people around me like Nick Grimshaw and Johan Pontzer (the artist) who’d come with me to hospital, make us laugh, make him laugh and just try and keep really good energy around us.’

She employed the trainer Belinda Scriven to get her body back in shape. ‘I wasn’t obsessed. I just wanted to get back to what I was. I was lucky in that I put weight on in a fairly proportionate way but my boobs were enormous and my legs were massive. I know how to dress and on one of the few occasions I went out I went to The Brits wearing a Tuxedo and a bustier which had my boobs spilling over them so it completely distracted anyone from noticing anything else.

‘I’ve been eating reasonably sensibly but not going mad. I’m happy with my body. I’ve been through something that has just made me incredibly grateful to be alive and now the worst is over I just want to really go for life.’

Daisy is great company. She’s smart, she’s open (except she doesn’t like to discuss her private life ‘I’ve learnt from my mistakes and it’s also other peoples’ privacy too – although she does admit to currently dating the actor Darius Danash. ‘No. I’m not single and yes he’s a lovely guy.’) She’s also forthright and opinionated on the subject of women’s bodies.

Having modelled since the age of 15, Daisy has always been considered a ‘large’ model as she cannot fit into sample size six clothes.

‘Oh God,’ she says. ‘I hate those labels. I think the labels ‘Plus Size’ and ‘Curvy’ should be banned. You don’t say ’White model’ or Skinny model’. Why should ‘Plus Size models have a label. They all sell clothes, that’s the job.

‘I’m definitely a feminist. I think women should be happy with their bodies. When I was 19 and I split up from my first boyfriend (the model Will Cameron) I was so devastated I lost two stone.

‘I was 8 and a half stone and I went from a D-cup to an A cup and my legs were like sticks. I worked non-stop that year but I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like myself. I’m meant to have curves.’

Her plans include more modelling, and more acting (she appears in Tulip Fever and the Ab Fab movie this year) – as well as ‘more travelling and seeing more of the world.’

I remind daisy that almost a decade ago, she told me her aim was to settle down with children. She roars with laughter. ‘I think things have shifted so much. I felt really responsible when I was young and there was quite a bit of role reversal with my mum and I when I was younger.

‘But then when she moved to the country and changed her life, I slowly started to lose that feeling and the roles changed again. Now I feel like I actually already have the most amazing family and there’s no rush. I want a few years just trying out all the things I want to do.’

Having just watched her on set, dancing around to Beyonce in a variety of body con outfits, it’s hard not to be in awe of Daisy’s body confidence. Does she feel as fearless as she looks? She shakes her head and says, ‘I’m told by designers I have a sexy body and I accept that but I never actually feel sexy. I’m far to clumsy to be properly sexy. I’m always falling over which is hardly a good look.

‘I used to dress sexily but that’s another thing that’s changed and I’m trying to be a bit more of a lady now. I’m loving the way Katherine Hepburn dressed and the way Julianne Moore dresses.

‘I love those beautiful classic styles, my favourite designers are Saint Laurent, Christopher Kane, Frame and Paige Denim. I think ladylike is very sexy.’

She looks incredibly happy too. ‘I am,’ she says. ‘When you think you are going to lose someone but you don’t then it makes you feel completely blessed and ready to take on anything. And I am.’

Take a look back at Daisy's best fashion moments in the gallery below:

READ MORE: WATCH: Behind The Scenes With Daisy Lowe For Grazia's Front Cover