A biography for Marie Helvinhasn’t been written yet.
“Cheating is never to do with how attractive you are.”
“Not having alcohol has kept the weight off around my waist; my skin feels so much better, and I am sleeping really well.”
“I think I'm living in the wrong century. I would have made a great courtesan. Not a mistress - I could never be kept - but a courtesan with my own rules.”
“It would be nice to see a fashion range that is geared towards a vibrant, sexual, confident 50-something.”
“I definitely think men prefer women more undone and natural than butch and masculine. They prefer a fresher, sexier, more feminine look.”
“I'm interested only in buying land in my native Hawaii so that one day I can live there and have the space to rescue animals.”
“I genuinely have to work - I don't have enough money not to. But the last thing I would want is to be looked after.”
“I had a very spoilt childhood. Not that my family were incredibly wealthy, but we lived on the beautiful island of Hawaii where everything was lush and in abundance.”
“Smiling makes you and others feel better, and it makes you look younger.”
“I don't particularly like children. That sounds awful, but I have nothing to say to them.”
“I've slipped enough times over the years to know the peril of a too-smooth sole, so every time I buy a new pair, I take a pair of scissors or a piece of sandpaper to the bottoms to roughen them up. In my catwalk days, I even used to spit on the soles of shoes before I ventured down the runway.”
“I'm not bothered about clothes. Never have been.”
“My fashion icons are Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner. Their classic looks and clean lines should be the cornerstones of your wardrobe - white cotton shirts, black Capri pants, pencil skirts and ballerina skirts.”
“For me, my 50s was the decade when my tolerance for heels faded. I'm in good shape and, at 8 st. 3 lb., I'm still the same weight I was in my 30s, but as you get older, the weight of your body shifts somehow.”
“I hate Botox, but a fabulous-looking friend of mine told me her secret was this gadget that uses electrical impulses to tone your facial muscles. It works!”
“I can't stand small babies. I would rather give birth to a kitten or a colt... a little pony.”
“When you get older, your skin tone changes; your hair probably changes colour, whether you dye it or not, and you just can't wear the colours you used to like anymore.”
“Sixties models knew nothing about skin care.”
“I'm 56 - I don't want to look like I'm 20.”
“I love fashion, but I don't really do shopping.”