Health scan lifestyle Q&A

Shirley Temple Bar(aka Declan Buckley), entertainer and TV presenter

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?

God, I hope not! All that “My body is a temple” stuff – I really don’t get it. It’s like getting a designer handbag and keeping it in its box or keeping your sports car under dust-covers. I like to push myself to my limits.

How often do you exercise?

I’m quite energetic. I’d rather run somewhere than walk. I also perform in a physically demanding show every week, where I literally throw myself about the stage. There are cartwheels and high-kicks and a lot of tumbles. I’d be what they call aerobically fit, rather than physically strong – unless you’re trying to pull a bargain away from me at the sales. Then, I’m like the Hulk.

Do you get your five a day?

I’m not a vegetarian anymore, but I tend towards that so I’d easily get my five-a-day. Chocolate counts as one portion, right? Being in a relationship has improved my diet. It forces you to be more organised about eating. It’s such a drag cooking for one.

Do you worry?

Yes, I am a firm believer in the power of negative thinking. Without my extreme anxiety, most people wouldn’t bother to tell me how lucky I am and how they’d trade places with me in a heartbeat. Of course, I find it hard to believe them.

What do you do to relax?

Anyone who has been on holiday with me knows that I don’t find “relaxing” very relaxing. I prefer to be doing something. I read a lot. In fact, unless I’ve been on the sauce, I find it hard to get to sleep without reading. I’ll read pretty much anything from thrillers to books on philosophy, culture and religion. Of course, the problem is that I can stay up quite late reading.

What’s your unhealthiest habit?

The hours that I keep. I don’t have a conventional job. I work early mornings on some days, very late nights on others. As I get older, I can feel this getting more difficult and I have been known to fall asleep at the worst possible ZZZzzzzz.

In conversation with Joanne Hunt