EXCLUSIVE: ‘I feel invisible on the red carpet’: Lorraine Chase, 71, reveals why she didn’t have surgery despite calling her face ‘haggard’ while calling show business ‘toxic’
Emmerdale star Lorraine Chase has revealed why she’s never had cosmetic surgery in an exclusive chat with MailOnline, despite saying her face is ‘feral’ and admitting she ‘feels invisible’.
The former model, 71, who rose to fame in the 1970s as the “Luton Airport Girl” in a series of Campari advertisements, has dabbled in reality TV and pantomimes in recent years.
Speaking to MailOnline at We Will Rock You press night, Lorraine also shared why she thinks the entertainment industry is “toxic.”
Lorraine said, ‘I’m not sure I look that good. I have no secrets, I just get on with life. But looking back, I wish I had drunk more water, because the old boat race is a bit haggard.
“I didn’t have surgery, but when everyone around you is doing it, you look like the old bastard who hasn’t behaved well. You look a certain way, getting older isn’t easy.’
EXCLUSIVE: ‘I feel invisible on the red carpet’: Lorraine Chase, 71, reveals why she didn’t have surgery despite calling her face ‘haggard’ while calling show business ‘toxic’
A look back in time: The former model pictured herself around 1972 when her modeling career took off
Throwback: The former model, 71, who rose to fame in the 1970s as the “Luton Airport Girl” in a series of Campari advertisements, has spent the last few years on reality TV and doing pantomimes.
She added: “I’ve never been married and never had kids, so I can’t understand why I don’t look exactly the same. Showbiz is quite a toxic industry, especially for women, it’s so ruthless.
“I feel pretty invisible on the red carpet these days, but getting older is the price we all pay for our 5 minutes to fame. It’s just life…”
Lorraine has always openly discussed her health issues over the years.
In 2013, she was diagnosed with a skin carcinoma that had reportedly been growing on her face for four years, according to the Daily Star.
Speaking to the outlet after the cancerous tumor was removed, Lorraine stated, “I call myself ‘Scarface’ now but you really can barely see it.”
“There was a big hole where the cancer was cut out, but the eye surgeon who stitched me up did it sympathetically.”
She admitted she was “very worried” about how the surgery would affect her ageless look, but joked that it had actually “enlivened” the eye it was under.
Lorraine’s husband John Knight sadly passed away in 1996 after losing his battle with cancer.
Lorraine shared her thoughts on his passing in 2013 and admitted that she never got over his death.
She told Mail Online at the time: ‘I would watch him undergo chemotherapy, which was grueling. Just as he was starting to feel better, they told him it was time for the next round of chemotherapy.
“He never complained and the only time I saw him cry was when he was told stem cell replacement therapy had failed.”
Talented: The actress portrayed as Steph Stokes in EmmerdaleD
“He must have known there was little hope, but he never gave up and agreed to any medical procedure.”
The star said her husband died at home and “I don’t think I ever really got over it.”
Lorraine first rose to prominence as the glamorous Cockney star of a series of Campari advertisements in the 1970s when, when asked by her co-star if she had “flown in from paradise,” she replied, “Nah, Luton Airport .’
She went on to star in Blankety Blank, Worzil Gummidge and as Steph Stokes in Emmerdale, as well as starring in reality TV shows including Come Dine With Me and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.