Bring together a room full of powerful women, inspiring speeches and a dancefloor, and what do you get? HELLO!’s Second Act Power List - a night where leading names from TV, fashion, sport and philanthropy come together to lift each other up and celebrate living their best lives. At the exclusive new restaurant Sartoria in London’s Kensington, a constellation of stars gathers for our inaugural party, enjoying champagne, cocktails and canapés before a rousing address from our Second Act power hero, Davina McCall.
What no one knows at the time is that Davina has just recovered from secret breast cancer surgery. Yet, true to the inspiration she is, the 58-year-old puts her personal challenges aside to celebrate and empower midlife women - perfectly embodying the spirit that earns her the top spot on our first-ever Power List.
Our Second Act stars include the models Twiggy and Marie Helvin, the journalists and presenters Mariella Frostrup and Susannah Constantine, the authors Kathy Lette and Jo Wood and a quartet of Olympic athletes: Dame Denise Lewis, Dame Kelly Holmes, Jenny Stoute and Michelle Griffith-Robinson. The singer and campaigner Myleene Klass, the make-up mogul Ruby Hammer, the environmentalist Amber Nuttall and the designer Amanda Wakeley are also stylish additions.
HELLO!’s Second Act Power List champions independent women who are thriving in midlife and providing inspiration for the next generation.
Twiggy, 76, the original supermodel now also known as Dame Lesley Lawson, arrives with her husband, Leigh. She’s wearing a sparkly Karen Millen jacket and a blouse from her previous collaboration with M&S. She tells us that she is "very flattered" to be on the prestigious list. "Throughout my career, I’ve done things I didn’t think I would or could do, but you’ve got to have a go," she says. "I didn’t plan to model, act, sing and dance or go on Broadway, but I did it all. You’ve got to have faith and believe. I’ve always followed my instincts – I only do the things I want to do."
The guests are greeted with mini bottles of Piaff champagne, then sip cocktails, sample delicious canapes and catch up with one another. "If you look around this room, it is absolutely full of powerful women," Ruby, 63, tells HELLO!. "Everyone here has got something to offer, something to learn from."
"If you look around this room, it is absolutely full of powerful women"
Kelly, 55, who makes a stylish arrival in a leather dress by Ruedi, tells us that her superpower is her freedom to be her "authentic self". She says: "Being here tonight is amazing. I think the whole narrative about supporting powerful women is really important; remembering who we are and what we have achieved." The Olympic gold medallist adds: "I think we all go on journeys of development and change in different directions, but you get to an age where you think, ‘I know me now, I know who I am’. You have to remember you matter to yourself as an individual and feel empowered by that."
The Marchioness of Bath, 39, the actress Tanya Moodie, 53, and the actress and Second Act columnist Glynis Barber, 70, who attends with her husband and Dempsey and Makepeace co-star, Michael Brandon, are also here, along with Tessy Ojo, the chief executive of The Diana Award, and the author Adele Parks, 56. Other inspiring guests include the fashion designer Donna Ida, 52, the Second Act podcast guest and life coach Jo Glynn-Smith and the osteopath Nadia Alibhai.
Cocktails created specially for the party include a Blackberry Jo-jito and Apple Old Fashioned made with Jo Vodka. Also served are dirty dry martinis and Papa Palomas from Margot Robbie’s Papa Salt Gin. Canapes include truffle arancini, beef tartare on sourdough crackers and tuna tartare.
Kathy and Marie greet each other with a big hug and enjoy a catch-up, as do Olympians Denise and Michelle. "I’ve always been a confident individual; however, there have been times in my life where I made poor choices in relationships that I stayed in, which knocked my confidence," says Michelle, 54, who is wearing LK Bennett. "But I feel more confident now than I did in my twenties. I want to make sure every woman can light up – she has a lightbulb waiting to shine."
Adele is excited to see fellow novelist Kathy, while Davina delights in celebrating her recent engagement to her boyfriend, Michael Douglas, with Denise. Ruby, who brings along her daughter Reena, is seen laughing with Susannah, who later compares near-identical Zara outfits with Davina.
"My superpower isn’t just endurance, it’s transformation, and the courage to begin again, differently and better."
Myleene, 47, tells HELLO! how her successful campaign to change the law around miscarriages to ensure that women receive better support has given her a newfound purpose. "Like any woman who has navigated this kind of loss, it’s not a path I would ever have chosen, but since it happened, I’ve found power in turning the pain into purpose," she says. "Life has thrown me curveballs I never anticipated, yet each time I’ve emerged with a sharper sense of purpose and identity. I think that’s the quiet power so many women possess, the instinct to evolve, to reshape ourselves while staying true to our core and to do it with our hands full. My superpower isn’t just endurance, it’s transformation, and the courage to begin again, differently and better. I know who I am now and, perhaps for the first time, I truly like her."
Marie, 73, looking elegant in Erdem, tells us: "For me, being a powerful woman means being engaged with what’s happening in the world and being capable of contributing towards change for a more positive world." She adds that having cancer in 2022 has made her appreciate every little thing. "It made me realise that life is short and I’m just trying to experience everything I can. I live day by day, moment by moment, and that’s good enough for me. I feel blessed that I’m alive."
"Life is short and I’m just trying to experience everything I can"
Glynis confides that with age comes wisdom. "I’ve learnt that everybody’s just making it up," she says. "I always used to think that everybody had the answers and I didn’t, but I now know nobody does. So you may as well just go and do whatever you want to do, because everybody’s just making it up anyway."
Jenny Stoute, 60, and her Move the Gap teammates Monika and Shakira Akabusi celebrate their Second Act newsletter takeover by bringing their power moves to the dance floor.
As the party gets under way, Poppy Delbridge teaches the podcaster and influencer Jo Good some tapping techniques, while the celebrity personal trainer Claudia Evans catches up with Emma, the Marchioness of Bath.
Jo Wood, 70, the former wife of Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood, swaps numbers with Davina and promises to send her a copy of her new book, The Resurrection of Flo. Jo – in a red jacket from The Kooples – says of the party: "I think it’s fabulous. I love that it’s all wonderful women here. My mum once told me that as she got older, she became invisible. I remember standing there and thinking: ‘I will not let that happen to me.’ I’m 70 now and I’m not going to give up."
Susannah Constantine shares a similar sentiment. "I’m bored of everyone saying 50 is the new 30," she tells us. "I do think there is a shift in attitude and I believe that women of my age – I’m 63 – have so much life experience and knowledge. It’s not informing people through expertise, it’s informing them through experience, which I think is much more powerful."
Our Second Act columnist Mariella, 62 – in an outfit by Me + Em – says: "The ability to try to change things around you is a superpower, and we all have it. "I’ve always been a bit mouthy and opinionated and always fought for things. Now, I feel much more in control of what I want and how I want to achieve it. I feel much less fearful of judgment. I know what I want to change, so I feel an enormous liberation." Adele was excited to see her fellow novelist Kathy, while Davina delighted in celebrating her recent engagement to boyfriend Michael Douglas with Denise. Ruby, who brought along her daughter Reena, was seen laughing with Susannah, who later compared near-identical Zara outfits with Davina.
Tessy agrees. "My Second Act is about legacy and liberation," she says. "It is the season of standing fully in who I am, a woman who has led globally and broken ceilings and now uses her platform to pour into others’. Through The Diana Award and Tessy’s Brunches, I am building on Princess Diana’s belief that kindness and courage can change the world. This chapter is not about striving, but about serving from a place of wholeness."
Mi-Soul’s DJ superstars Lorraine Ashdown and Janice Vee keep everyone dancing with a set that includes Wish I Didn’t Miss You by Angie Stone and Golden by Jill Scott, as well as tunes by the Spice Girls. At one point, Kelly takes to the decks and spins some tunes, to the delight of the crowd.
Among those enjoying the music is best‑selling author Adele, smart in a black velvet trouser suit by Alice Temperley. "I think it’s a real opportunity that we are now recognising there is no sell-by date for women – in fact, we can keep growing, learning, exploring and journeying throughout our lives," she says. "By the time you get to your second act and you’re perhaps not judged so much on how you look, you can just be yourself."
Power Lister and make-up supremo Bobbi Brown, who is back in the US after her Second Act podcast appearance, sends a message of thanks, as does Jo Malone CBE, who provides Jo Vodka for us to enjoy cocktails in her absence.
Meanwhile, Motherland actress Tanya tells us: "Being a powerful woman is always having a sense that whatever is challenging and difficult at the moment isn’t permanent; it will pass. Being a powerful woman is learning self-care, learning boundaries, learning to say no and learning to say yes to yourself."
At the end of the night, guests leave with a goodie bag full of products and a copy of HELLO!. Emma, our society editor at large, who rushed straight to the event in Dolce & Gabbana from an afternoon "playing soldiers" with her sons, John and Henry, in the fields at Longleat, says: "Our lives seem to be in chapters. You’ve had your babies, your career. We need to live life to the fullest knowing we only get to live once. We need to be conscious that this is it, to be grateful and make the most of it."
Among those who were enjoying the music was the best-selling author Adele, smart in a black velvet trouser suit by Alice Temperley. "I think it’s a real opportunity that we are now recognising there is no sell-by date for women - in fact we can keep growing, learning, exploring and journeying throughout our lives. By the time you get to your second act and you are perhaps not judged so much on how you look, you can just be yourself."
The actress Tanya added: "Being a powerful woman is always having a sense that whatever is challenging and difficult at the moment isn’t permanent; it will pass. Being a powerful woman is learning self-care, learning boundaries, learning to say no and learning to say yes to yourself."
Guests left at the end of the night with a goodie bag full of products and a copy of HELLO!. Emma, rushing straight to the event in a Dolce & Gabbana outfit from an afternoon 'playing soldiers' with her sons John and Henry in the fields surrounding Longleat, said: "Our lives seem to be in chapters. You’ve had your babies, your career. We need to live life to the fullest knowing that we only get to live once. We need to be conscious that this is it, to be grateful and make the most of it."