Self-care will forever be our favourite hobby but we appreciate that recharging and putting yourself first looks different for everyone. Each week, we'll ask the celeb lot to share their ideal self-care Sunday routines, the hard-working beauty products they recommend to their friends and which TV show they're currently binging…
This week it's all about The Traitors star, Diane Carson. With her sharp bob and even sharper eye for catching traitors (until she succumbed to a glass of fizzy rosè and was 'buried alive' on TV), the retired teacher from Northern Ireland has fast become a national icon. And how would Diane describe life after the show which aired in January this year?
“Mental. One-word answer, mental!" Diane laughs. And did she expect to become season 2's stand-out star?
"I still ask people, ‘Why do you think this is?' and my friends are like, 'We have no idea because it was just you!'"
To celebrate her exciting new brand campaign with Ecover, Diane chats to heat about her self-care routines, skincare gadgets and very wise advice...
On The Traitor's tactics
Does Diane have any tips and tricks for anyone fancying a go on the BBC1 gameshow themselves?
"Be yourself, don’t even attempt to play any games, but you have to be careful. I hadn’t gone in with any game plan, but some of those traitors at night had spreadsheets by their beds ticking things off and looking at information. I didn’t do anything like that. I just went in for a laugh, but I think if you really want to play the game, I’d be taking notes of what people said.
'Looking back, for example, I’d even forgotten I said to Paul, “You could be the traitor’. Now, what I should have looked at was the nervousness when I said that because Sonja caught Ash out doing that.
"I didn’t know this had happened, but you can see Ash visibly taken back and Sonja knew Ash was a traitor because of that. If you want to play the game you need to be taking notes of people’s reactions to things without a shadow of a doubt and you need to be more observant. I can’t believe the chalice was missing for an hour and we didn’t even notice because we were chatting."
On self-care
What does the ultimate self-care Sunday look like for The Traitors' icon?
"Sundays for me, unless I'm busy, are always up on a ten-mile plus run. I try and push it further every Sunday. Then I come in and wash my sheets because the Ecover campaign is about British people uncovering their secrets as far as laundry goes. They've done a survey and about 35% don't wash their sheets once a week. I wash my sheets on a Sunday and I'll do that as part of my self-care Sunday."
On skincare
Has Diane always been big on skincare and what are the products she recommends to friends?
"Well, sadly my skin has probably been destroyed by really bad sunbathing practices when I was young. You're going to be horrified, I was one of those people who lay on tin foil sheets and used baby oil.
"My stepdaughter happens to do natural beauty care online and has quite a good following. Everything is natural, she only uses natural products. She's had a few celebrities reach out to her and I reached out to her because I was about to do an organised run and they have photographers and oh my god, they catch you and you're not ready for them. Seriously, in one shot I saw, I looked like I had been dug up and had been dead for about 300 years! So she helped me with a regime and I've definitely seen an improvement."
On skincare gadgets
"I have the FaceGym Pro EMS Facial Device which almost gives little electric shocks. I'm a bit conscious of this as I get older [points to lower face] and the only thing that's going to sort that out is fillers which I'm not too keen on, but I've got a derma roller which helps to get the collagen going. I have one of those and I would honestly say they absolutely work and make your skin very vibrant. I would try and use that about three times a week."
On beauty faves during filming
Did Diane reach for any beauty bits during the hit BBC1 show? Spoiler alert: it was forbidden.
"One thing about the show was when you had done a challenge they wouldn't let you sort yourself out before you went to the round table, so that was annoying, particularly with my hair! My hair's the bane of my life and it would be stuck up like that or like that [gestures to hair]. My hair probably fusses me more than my skin. You were allowed everything you needed but you did not have time to replenish or anything like that."
On budget beauty buys
"The one thing that works and I have photographic evidence and I've got videos - UK Lash Serum. Oh my god, it's a miracle. I had really stumpy lashes and now I have long eyelashes. There is nothing like it in the world. Most of them are over a hundred pounds but this one really works and they always have discounts.
"I was of the generation that would pluck their eyebrows to bits, but now I have eyebrows again and it's thanks to UK Lash. I swear by it."
www.beautybay.com
On daily wellness habits
What are the everyday rituals Diane swears by for feeling her best self?
"I will run or go to a class every morning, that's what I do and if I don't do that, I feel pretty rubbishy. I do the turmeric ginger shots, I do take supplements. I don't eat fish so I take omega 3 because I think that's really good for you. I've taken evening primrose oil since I was 30 because I got bad skin when I was in my thirties and that cleared it completely. I'll also take turmeric because it's meant to be really good for you.
"Running is definitely one of the best things and meeting and talking with friends. My running club is inclusive of all ages, we've got someone who's 81 and we don't only run, we also walk. The main thing is about chatting and supporting the mind as well."
On wise advice
Would Diane be up for starring in a celebrity version of The Traitors? She tells heat how she's far more concerned with meeting interesting people instead.
"When I went to The Brit Awards with Ross, I obviously had never done anything like that before. On our table was Jo Hamilton, the lady who was the Postmistress that they were going to throw in jail. Wow, what an amazing individual that lady is. She was scared about going up to present an award and I said, ‘Well, if you can present it in front of one stranger, you can present it in front of thousands, that is the difference?’ She said, ‘Well, you’re right, also at one stage Diane, I was standing in the crown court not knowing if I was going to be thrown into prison.‘
"I love meeting real people who are just lovely and it’s not the fact if they are celebs or not celebs, it’s just nice people and I’ve met some absolutely gorgeous people on this journey."
"I’ve also met some egos too and I don’t do egos. We are all just people and sometimes life throws different things at us. Sometimes that allows us to go off and do this or that and sometimes it throws rubbish at you as well. We’re all just people and the one thing I have noticed is when people come up for a photograph with me, some of them are visibly shaking. I’m like, “What! It’s a photograph, come on, it doesn’t matter!” I wouldn’t want them to be shaking with anybody. We’re all just people."
Quickfire round:
Show you’re currently binging? I've not watched TV for ages, which is awful I know, but I just haven't had the time. We did watch The Traitors together as a family though!
Go-to cuppa? I've now gone on to oat milk because I think I was drinking far too much cow's milk in my coffee. So my go-to drink is a one-shot flat white with oat milk. That's my comfort drink.
Go-to loungewear brand? A member of our family introduced me to pyjamas, she probably has about ten pairs and she renews them every year. I have a couple of pairs and a big fluffy sort of thing for the winter from Dunelm.
Everyday perfume? They keep stopping my favourite perfumes, I'm so fed up with this! My favourite of all time is the Cacharel Eden Eau De Parfum Spray and they stopped making it, another one is Stella by Stella McCartney. At the moment I love Dior's J'adore and Penhaligon's Elisabethan Rose Eau De Parfum.
Go-to takeaway order? An Indian takeaway from my local.
Favourite candle? Cinnamon, anything that's cinnamon-y because that's my favourite taste and scent in the world.