TOYAH ON
CAPITAL RADIO, LONDON
DIARY OF A FACELIFT
WITH DAVID JENSEN
4.4.2005

SONG: It’s A Mystery

DAVID: Capital Gold Toyah and “It’s A Mystery”. No mystery anymore! Toyah has revealed all in a brand new book called “Diary Of A Facelift”, which it does as it says on the tin, that’s exactly what it is. Toyah, welcome

TOYAH: Well, obviously it’s about having a facelift but it’s also about the beauty industry as well. I wanted to put some pointers in. People are always coming up to women like me and saying “god you look so well - how do you do it?" And the standard answer is “I drink a lot of water” and that’s not what it’s about at all

The whole industry has it sown up in this wonderful veil of secrecy that is prolonging youth for those who are kind of on the B … A … Z list - whoever is in the know and members of the public are being kept blind about it. So I’ve tried to write a book that says well, actully, this is what we’re all up to

DAVID: That’s funny what we’re up to implies ... of course people have been for years lying about their age, celebrities have been doing that -

TOYAH: I find it quite sad that women especially have to lie about their age because there is this thing if you are over 40 you’re not going to get work as a journalist, work as a TV presenter and there’s these blind years for actresses between the age of 35 and 50 when you don’t great roles

I think all that’s changing and I’ve always made a point of admitting what my age is because it really narks me ... who’s frightened to talk about who and what they are. Age is privilege, I think hitting 40 is fantastic. Some people don’t. So go out for it, put your hand up

But this whole thing of fear to do with admitting to plastic surgery again just makes me cringe. I’ve seen people advertising very expensive face dreams knowing that they’ve had for instance laser surgery to make their skin look better. That is another thing that really riles me!

DAVID: I can see you are getting riled right now! (Toyah laughs) For example look at me. I’m 35 and I don’t care who knows it (both laugh)

TOYAH: But you look twenty!

DAVID: Oh yeah!? You had some interesting comments on your way to the studio?

TOYAH: I was in Leicester Square and one builder said “well, it’s worked!” and I said “thank you” and then his mate said “nah! I preferred you before!” (Toyah laughs)

DAVID: So the before and after pictures - you’ve obviously looked at these a million times since the operation. You’re happy with what’s happened?

TOYAH: I’m very happy with the end result

DAVID: Why did you do it?

TOYAH: I did because …this is the irony of modern living and modern attitude. I knew from the age of 20 that I would have a facelift. I knew from the age of 20 I would never have children. I mean how contradictory is that? I think its’ part of the modern psyche

I’ve never had the guts to go through with it until I saw myself on telly in the jungle two years ago in "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" and I was shocked. I have a lot of energy, I have a young mind, I have a lot of ambitions I still want to achieve and I thought that face ain’t going anywhere. And it was my decision

Yes I did have some deprecatory comments and some of them incredibly funny but it was my decision do it because I’m still ambitious. There’s a lot of things I want to do as a business woman, let alone as a performer where I’ve got to look in peak condition. I’m not talking about looking 20, because I don’t think I look 20

I had tiredness removed from my face. I think now I can age more gracefully because of it. Because you still age, no facelift is going to stop you ageing but I feel I will age and look better with age

DAVID: OK, we’re going to play some music now. Recently I was talking about something that was on Sky TV, it was a retrospect of "Quadrophenia". You were in “Quadrophenia?

TOYAH: Yeah, I was "Monkey" in “Quadrophenia” (laughs) How long ago was that?!

DAVID: I don’t remember the role so much but I remember the film and all the energy and the excitement. It’s an old film now relatively speaking but it was about a period in the 60s, mods and rockers, wasn’t it?

TOYAH: Yes. People fighting all over the beaches of Brighton, which we reconstructed to great amusement because it went so far in these reconstructions that we didn’t know if we were fighting with real members of public or actors playing policemen

I can remember one fight started and I was swinging at this policeman and I said “are you an actor?” and he said “yes it’s alright” so I thumped him (David hollers with laughter in the background) There was just so many people, about 5000 extras!

DAVID: Lets’ hear some music from The Who because they sum up this generation, they're certainly heroes of the mods

Song: My Generation

DAVID: That’s The Who and “My Generation” and we were just talking to Toyah before that played as her role as "Monkey" in “Quadrophenia.” (Toyah on the far left behind Sting, below) So have you got any more film work lined up?

TOYAH: Yeah very luckily I’ve got two American films. I mean they don’t know what I’ve done to my face but it’s obviously worked. Lighting camera men were always telling me I had to do something about my eyes because they found them impossible to light on films. Since I’ve had the work done I’ve been seeing a lot of American film casting directors

I’ve got one film called “French Leave” which Gene Hackman in the male lead in, Maria Aitken the female lead. It’s a fantastic story about elderly people behaving badly and having sex and I’m playing the daughter. That’s been shot -

DAVID: That’s good! That would’ve been awful if you’d been playing one of the parents!

TOYAH: That’ll come next! That’s been shot in England and there’s another film, another American film being shot in Soho over the next two months so touch wood things are going just hunky dory

DAVID: OK. You, talking about American films, I read that you starred or co-starred along Katharine Hepburn in a film as well?

TOYAH: Well, I open the book with my relationship with Katherine. I did a film with her. She chose me out of 2000 hopefuls to star along her in the remake of "The Corn Is Green", almost 30 years ago. We got along incredibly well because I was a punk rocker back then with bright red hair and she just loved the audacity of it in the acting world

She told me that her first reviews were about how she looked, not about her work and they said that she looked like she was a man, that she was ugly, she was wooden

Her mother read those reviews and tried to make her leave the industry because she felt so ashamed by them. I opened the book with that story - about how we perceive people until they are successful and then how we perceive them when they are successful. It’s almost this pack mentality that we are programmed to be quite attacking about image

DAVID: OK. Your husband Robert Fripp (below with Toyah in 2003) has taken some really nice pictures that are in the book (Toyah laughs) and are on the cover of the book as well

TOYAH: They’re gory!

DAVID: What did you say to each other when it was all done, when you got home and looked at each other. Did he say "I’m glad you did it" -

TOYAH: Yeah

DAVID: - or did he miss the old Toyah?

TOYAH: No

DAVID: No regrets from either side?

TOYAH: No regrets from Robert. This is a quiet man who I thought would pass out the moment he saw me and the first thing when I came round he was leaning over me and he said “that is clever!” He formed a fantastic relationship with the surgeon because he became so fascinated how the surgeon worked. It was unbelievably clever, what he did. No regrets, he’s permanently reminded me, almost weekly that I look fantastic

I think he is exceptional because this is not a subject men like very much. I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about it. It’s quite a frightening thing to think about. But Robert took the pictures of the operation onwards and they’re pretty gory but it’s a journey you’ve got to through, there’s no easy way through it. It’s not nice

DAVID: No. I just don’t have the guts I guess ... Ozzy Osbourne recently did this?

TOYAH: I know! I don’t think men need it. I don’t think men lose their sexuality, they never lose their fertility. They always look very sexy. I mean I look at my hubby and he’s 58 and I think God you are gorgeous!

DAVID: That’s great!

TOYAH: He said to me after the op “should I have something done?” and I said “don’t you even think about!” I’ve always felt than men don’t seem to get the tiredness that women get. I think women are educated to be quite anxious about life and eventually that edges itself to our face

DAVID: I didn’t see a big problem before but I must say your eyes in particular … You also made the point that on the cover of the book your skin is absolutely flawless but then after a few weeks you were saying everything settles down, whether it’s gravity or whatever. It sort of comes back to shape. You do get a few lines, it does look a lot more natural?

TOYAH: Yes, it does. We shot the book cover ten weeks after the operation and there’s this period when you’re in recovery when your face is completely wrinkle free and it takes a whole year for the skin to re-teach itself where it’s suppose to be. Eventually you do start to get quite defined cheekbones and a few wrinkles come back but I mean I’d say it's 10 % of what it was before wrinkle wise

DAVID: Well, it’s good to see you, wrinkles or no wrinkles. “Diary Of A Facelift” is out now, doing really well!

TOYAH: Unbelievably well!

DAVID: And going to be released anywhere else?

TOYAH: Yeah, it’s going round the world apparently

DAVID: Terrific stuff. Congratulations on all that success. Good luck in that film you were telling us about

TOYAH: Thank you

DAVID: It should go well

TOYAH: Good luck to you, you’re looking gorgeous!

DAVID: You think so?!

TOYAH: Yeah, don’t you even think about … !

DAVID: I couldn’t. I‘ve just seen the pictures, I wouldn’t. Toyah, thank you very much