Despite nearing their sixth decade, there are plenty of fifty-something stars who are looking younger than ever – from Yvonne Connolly to Baroness Karren Brady.

Ronan Keating’s ex-wife Yvonne married her fiancé John Conroy in a romantic New York ceremony this week, after dating for 14 years.

The bride looked far younger than her 52 years, dressed in an elegant white, off-the-shoulder gown and sporting a glamorous smattering of makeup.

The TV presenter and model shares her three children with Boyzone singer Ronan, 49, including Love Island star Jack, 27, and daughters Missy, 25, and Ali, 20. 

Sharing photos of the Central Park ceremony on Instagram, Yvonne appeared ageless in her stunning dress by Irish designer Róisín Linnane. 

But Yvonne isn’t the only famous face that is laughing in the face of a sixth decade, with a host of celebrities looking more youthful now than they did in their twenties, thanks to wellness treatments, healthy diets, exercise, new wardrobes and perhaps hi-tech anti-ageing treatments.

So, which other famous faces appear to be drinking from the fountain of youth – and look younger now than they did 30 years ago? Read on to find out… 

Ronan Keating’s ex-wife Yvonne Connolly married her fiancé John Conroy in a romantic New York ceremony this week (pictured right), after dating for 14 years. Pictured left, Yvonne in 2007

KARREN BRADY

AGE: 56

Baroness Brady, 56, is a grandmother whose career spans more than 30 years in the spotlight – she became Managing Director of Birmingham City when she was just 23 in 1993. 

And yet, thanks to a physical transformation in recent months that now sees her with a tiny waist, glowing youthful skin and voluminous, flowing hair, she wouldn’t look out of place in a line-up of twentysomething Gen Z models. 

The Apprentice star, who’s currently vice-chairman of West Ham, appears to have undergone a head-to-toe overhaul so dramatic that she’s succeeded in turned back the ageing clock.

Photos of her posing in the stands at St Andrew’s stadium in 1995, wearing a pussy-bow blouse in Birmingham blue, looked mature and corporate – a huge contrast to the more playful attire of her current wardrobe, including pretty lace dresses, colourful suits and figure-hugging frocks. 

Brady has always been frank about her appreciation of aesthetic enhancements, having previously disclosed she’d had a £3,500 ‘invisible facelift’, and gushing about a skin-tightening treatment, Exion, that, she said, has given her the confidence to wear short-sleeved dresses again.

Baroness Brady (pictured recently), 56, is a grandmother whose career spans more than 30 years in the spotlight – she became Managing Director of Birmingham City when she was just 23 in 1993

Fresh faced: Brady pictured when she was 25. Right, the mother of two, showcased her glamorous new look during the most recent season of The Apprentice

CAROL VORDERMAN 

AGE: 65 

For telly fans who grew up watching Carol Vorderman outsmart everyone as Countdown’s maths whizz, how the presenter looks now isn’t what many tuning in throughout the 80s might have expected. 

Carol, 65, has got ever more glamorous with each decade, apparently finding the elixir of youth in her forties and still enjoying it twenty years on. 

The politically-minded brainbox regularly shows off her enviable figure on Instagram via a carousel of figure-hugging outfits. 

The star has long been a supporter of clean eating and following a detox diet, and has even published books on the subject. 

Her skin – positively plumped and dewy – and the sensible fringe the star sported during her Countdown days have been replaced by flowing highlighted hair. 

The more sensible twentysomething Carol sported boxy trouser suits and plain dresses for her early appearances on the Channel 4 show.

For many fans, Carol’s major style transformation began in the late 1990s following the arrival of her two children, when she ditched her dowdy looks for more form-fitting dresses.

In 2000, the star split from her second husband, management consultant Patrick King after ten years of marriage.

Carol was first known to many as the letters and numbers guru on Channel 4’s Countdown in the eighties – she started the job when she was in her early twenties

Carol, 65, has got ever more glamorous with each decade, apparently finding the elixir of youth in her forties and still enjoying it twenty years on 

At the time the star credited her weight loss with following a detox diet, and even released a VHS and book documenting the 28-day plan.

By 2011, Carol had been crowned Rear Of The Year – and was a bonafide sex symbol. 

While remaining coy about any enhancements, Vorderman said in 2023 that she has a ‘no f***s given’ approach to ageing.

She said: ‘Everyone on telly has Botox. I look the way I do because it makes me happy. But you get to a point in life where it’s no f***s given. I love what David Bowie said about ageing: “You become the person you always should have been.” 

‘My sixties is the age I always should have been. The abuse I get is off the scale but I don’t give a monkey’s. Actually it spurs me on.’

She also told how she has actually never had a boob job but that she went up three cup sizes when she went through menopause.

AMANDA HOLDEN  

AGE: 55

Amanda Holden pictured in 1998 when she was just 27; the 55-year-old star looks younger than ever thanks to a strict diet and skincare regime

Amanda Holden attends the Britain’s Got Talent Series 19 Launch at the Ham Yard Hotel on February 12, 2026, in London

Amanda Holden is known for her flawlessly toned physique, age-defying complexion and flesh-baring outfits, with the 55-year-old ageing like a fine wine.

In 2024, in an interview with Mail+, the Britain’s Got Talent star revealed how her beauty regime includes everything from £9.99 eyelashes to a blow-dry service alongside L’Oreal shampoo, skin and facial treatments and state-of-the-art home gym equipment. 

‘Never give up. Do what you want as long as it’s in moderation’, she said of how she maintains her immaculate looks – saying she’s up for any treatment as long as it’s ‘not invasive’.

The star says her glowing skin ‘is mainly down to good genetics’ but loves a facial therapy sculpting massage and keeps loose, crepey skin at bay with AgeJet Plasma Skin Therapy treatment.

Alongside a raft of other treatments, the celebrity is a known fan of LED masks, saying: ‘I adore my Maysama Prana LED Light Therapy mask, which I use three to five times a week for six minutes.’ 

Mother-of-two Holden first shot to temporary fame on Cilla Black’s Blind Date in the early 90s.

The then 20-year-old wasn’t picked on the dating show but her appearance put her in the spotlight and four years later she was dating future first husband Les Dennis. The pair were married to each other from 1995 until 2003.

GILLIAN ANDERSON

AGE: 57 

Gillian Anderson as she looked at the height of her X Files fame in 1996 – when she was 28 

Gillian Anderson shot to fame in her 20s as Dana Scully in the X-Files but, now 57, the American actress has never looked better

Gillian Anderson shot to fame in her 20s as Dana Scully in the X-Files but, now 57, the American actress has never looked better. 

The mother of three, who says she’s never had plastic surgery, was named global ambassador for L’Oréal Paris, the world’s largest beauty brand, earlier this year.

Gillian, who played journalist Emily Maitlis in last year’s Scoop, the dramatisation of her 2019 car-crash interview with Prince Andrew, has been praised as an excellent example of ‘ageing well’ by London-based plastic surgeon Mr Mark Solomos.

Speaking to the Daily Mail last summer, Mr Solomos said: ‘Gillian is the perfect example of “How to age well”.

‘Her features are soft and pretty but again she’s a fair skinned beauty who has done well to keep out of the sun, wear a good SPF and work hard to look after her skin. 

‘Her body shape has barely changed, and this would be the result of again following a good diet and working out with a trainer most days.’

While Gillian, who has gained a new young fanbase thanks to her role in Netflix series Sex Education, does use high-end lotions on her skin, she has said she feels less urgency to try to look younger thanks to the time she’s spent in Europe, where she’s starred in numerous theatre productions.

‘I think in Europe, in general, there’s a sense that women who age naturally can be beautiful,’ she said previously. 

‘Whereas I’m not so sure that’s the perception in America, specifically in LA I think that it’s seen as a flaw, somehow – like wrinkles are a flaw.’

And, in last year’s L’Oréal campaign she reiterated her refreshing view on ageing when she said: ‘They say your best years are behind you. I’m just getting started.

‘I wish that in those early years I would not have wasted so much time on my doubts. Age has never been a limit, it’s an advantage. My advice for facing doubt is to say f*** you. I leap before I give myself a chance to be afraid.’

SALMA HAYEK 

AGE: 59 

Salma Hayek attends the 2025 LACMA Art+Film Gala at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 1, 2025

Salma Hayek (pictured in 1995) turned 59 in September last year – and yet, the actress looks just as good, if not better, than when she was in her 20s

Salma Hayek turned 59 in September last year – and yet, the actress looks just as good, if not better, than when she was in her 20s.   

The wife of billionaire businessman François-Henri Pinault – whom she wed in 2009 – is still looking as youthful and glowing as ever. 

Hayek has always oozed confidence and has never been afraid to show off her flawless figure. 

She told the New York Times in 2020 that she loves hydrating creams, oils, and serums. She also revealed that she never cleanses her skin in the morning and adores coconut oil. 

TESS DALY

AGE: 57 

Busy wife and mother-of-two Tess continues to defy age despite her hectic schedule at home and work, much to the fascination of her fans

Seen 15 years ago in her younger years with her husband Vernon Kay and their two daughters 

Tess has previously insisted that age is merely a number, that there’s not necessarily a magic product she uses to look so youthful and that it’s all in the mind

Busy wife and mother-of-two Tess continues to defy age despite her hectic schedule at home and work, much to the fascination of her fans.

Tess has previously insisted that age is merely a number, that there’s not necessarily a magic product she uses to look so youthful and that it’s all in the mind. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020 she said: ‘Part of it is being in denial and forgetting I’m 50! And honestly, I am not being smug but I just don’t feel any different. I feel the same as I ever did.

‘I have kids – one of them is 10, so I’m always in the park with her. That keeps me young and active and on-the-go. Having children means the childhood spirit is well and truly still alive. But honestly, I don’t feel any different!’

Tess went on: ‘It’s about your brain and mentality. You really are what you feel.

‘I am not someone who goes. ‘right now it’s time for grey hair and glasses’ just because I am getting older. Some people talk themselves into it.

‘I am lucky to do a job I love, and have a young family, and work out and look after myself. Yeah, the wrinkles are there but I just try not to focus on them so much. Because what can you do?’

Tess said that her industry doesn’t help in making women feel less wary of their ages, but that it helps her to fight back against ageism.

‘Women – and not just in show-business – are forced to start defending their age at a certain age. You can scour an interview about a chap off the telly and his age might not be mentioned at all. Women’s ages are usually listed in the first line. So ageism is alive and well in the world of showbiz.’

On her approach to eating she has said: ‘I’ve always been into eating well and love how your fridge can be like your own pharmacy. I’m obsessed with ginger because it’s antiviral and boosts immunity, and I put it into juices and make tea with it. However, I also love cake and chocolate. 

‘People sometimes ask: “Do you not eat sweets?” And I say: “Are you kidding!” I’ll have cheeky snacks, but that’s fine because I do it in moderation. And I’m too busy to be unwell, so I take a vitamin gummy daily.’