Janet Street-Porter, the celebrated Loose Women panellist known for her sharp wit and vibrant red hair, has opened up in an exclusive interview about her recent surgery, her upcoming 80th birthday, and her riotously successful UK tour.
Described on her own website as "the nation's favourite pissed-off pensioner", the television legend proves she is as straight-talking and entertaining as ever, sharing candid details about her life and career.
Becoming the 'Bionic Woman'
With her famous cackle, Janet revealed she is well on her way to becoming a "bionic woman". She recently underwent surgery on her right knee, a procedure that follows a hip replacement last year and a left knee replacement eight years ago.
Characteristically resilient, she was on her feet just two hours after the operation, walking to the loo without a stick while full of painkillers. However, she admits the initial high has worn off and she is now contending with significant nerve pain, especially at night.
"I'm walking around fine but at night the nerve pain is shocking. Really bad," she confessed. "I'm putting loads of ice on it but… you've just got to tough these things out."
A Philosophy on Ageing and Honesty
Facing her 80th birthday next December, Janet is philosophical about the milestone. When her agent suggested calling a new tour "80 not out", her response was typical: "Darling, when you get to 80 and you're a woman, you're not interested in bloody cricket."
She has no plans to slow down, declaring she will still be working and growing vegetables, though she might "find a younger person to do the donkey work". Her lifestyle will continue to include a greasy fry-up and the odd glass of wine, defying conventional health advice.
"I still hate those health pages," she says, getting worked up. "I read them then start ranting. But a rant is good for the soul."
This belief in speaking her mind is central to her role on Loose Women. She insists the panel's purpose is to provide spontaneity and say what viewers secretly think but don't have the guts to say.
"I sometimes look at Coleen [Nolan]'s face and she's totally amazed at something I've said," Janet revealed. "But on a live show, people want spontaneity... We're saying it on their behalf."
'Off The Leash': The Stories Behind the Star
Following a rest after her surgery, Janet is back on the road with her autobiographical UK tour, Off The Leash. The show is endorsed by her good friend of over 40 years, Sir Elton John, who described it with the words, "The bitch is back."
The production delves into her working-class upbringing in 1950s London, explaining why she didn't get on with her "weird" and "boring" parents. She describes a household full of rules and secrets, where her mother "couldn't cook to save her life", serving meals like a salad comprising a single lettuce leaf, a spring onion, and a tomato.
The show also features excerpts from the detailed diary she kept between the ages of 14 and 16, covering everything from mod fashion and her hair obsession to seeing the Rolling Stones at 15 (she wasn't impressed).
She opens up about pivotal and painful moments, including being forced to have a backstreet abortion as a teenager and unceremoniously dumping her fiancé for her "gorgeous and funny" first husband, Tim—a move she admits was "very cruel" in retrospect.
Reflecting on a career that began at Petticoat Magazine and led to her own TV series, The London Weekend Show, fifty years ago, Janet says she still faces prejudice early on for her working-class accent. "People think trolling is relatively new, but I had it in the early 70s," she recalled.
Despite the passage of time, reading her teenage diaries on stage makes her question how much she has really changed. "I do sometimes wonder if I'm really that different from the silly teenager I was back then," she mused. "I don't think I am."
