Susan Hampshire, the actress who played Fleur in the 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, left This Morning presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley astonished after revealing she is 88 years old. Appearing on the ITV show to promote the new Channel 5 series The Forsytes, Hampshire credited her youthful looks to a strict diet and good genes.
“I’m 88, but I’m a health fanatic,” she said. “It’s all to do with what you eat and your genes.” She explained her diet consists of “clean eating, mostly raw, lots of nuts, lots of steamed vegetables, no heavy sauces, nothing heavy, everything that is easy to digest.” When asked about alcohol, she admitted she drinks occasionally but had abstained before the TV appearance to avoid looking “too rough.”
Viewers echoed the hosts’ amazement, with one writing: “Wow 88! Fair play to her!” Another commented: “88? F**k off, that’s not possible.” Hampshire, who won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1970 for her role in the original series, returns to the franchise in the new six-part drama, which also stars Joshua Orpin, Millie Gibson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jack Davenport, and Tuppence Middleton.
The Forsytes airs on Channel 5 at 9pm tonight, exploring family tensions and forbidden love in the late Victorian era.
