Dame Mary Berry is, undoubtedly, a British national treasure and as the TV baker nears the end of the first year of her nineties, she has revealed how she is staying fit and well. Speaking to the Daily Mail in a new interview, the former The Great British Bake Off judge, 90, revealed what forms of exercise she enjoys at home with her husband, Paul Hunnings, 93. "I don’t do gyms. What a waste of time!," Mary confessed. "What's wrong with having a nice run out with a dog?" She instead said that she enjoys light sports with her husband and would be trying her hand to croquet.
"My husband has always been a keen sportsman. He's frail now, but he can still play croquet. And he plays well because he has an eye for a ball," she said, adding that they share a passion for the outdoors even if she isn't as sporty as Paul. "The outdoors is what makes us healthy, what makes us well…I'm competitive. Of course I'm competitive! It would be extremely difficult to maintain a 60-year-career if one wasn't, I suspect."
Mary's motivation
Apart from her love of the outdoors and her enduring career (she is set to star in a new BBC show, Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking, later this autumn), it is her family that keeps her looking forward to what this new decade might bring. "The best thing about turning 90 is that I'm well,’ she says. "I'm enthusiastic for the future. I have a wonderful family. I'm immensely fortunate that I still have my husband, who is 93. Many of my girlfriends are widows."
The author, who has published over 90 cookbooks, is also able to enjoy their company as she and Paul now live near them. "It's a perfect house for us,’ she said of the four-bedroom home in Henley-Upon-Thames, Oxfordshire, she and Paul bought in 2019. "We moved 30 miles just to be nearer the children." Mary is a mother to Thomas, 57, and Annabel, 55, having lost her son William to a car accident in 1989.
Mary's home
Having moved to Henley, Mary downsized her abode from her six-bedroom pad in Buckinghamshire. However, Mary's current riverside residence is far from modest with its indoor pool, tennis court, and home gym, though we now know that she doesn't use the latter. Her home also features a separate cottage, a double garage, and a dressing room for the star to get ready in.