Marie Helvin hopes to fall in love again

Marie told HELLO! magazine: "Falling in love again would be fantastic. What woman doesn't want that feeling of being in love, of being loved?

"I love a sense of humour, but money has never been a big thing for me, and I've never had anybody look after me. I've always paid my own rent, except when I was married to Bailey.

"But sometimes I think I'm asking for too much. I'm not somebody who would ever, in a million years, consider going on a dating app. I have always been introduced to men by a friend, and that way I've always felt safe.

"For some reason I'm more attractive to younger men. I don't understand it, but I'm not going to complain. Sadly, though, I'm at that age where my friends don't do those kinds of introductions any more."

However, Marie - who has dated the likes of Eric Clapton, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson - insists that she will always be a "sexual person", regardless of whether she has another romance.

She said: "I still feel very much a sexual person - I think I will probably always feel that way, whether I'm having sex or not."

Helvin underwent a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and admits that adjusting to life after the operation was more difficult than the procedure itself.

She said: "The good news was that they were able to keep my nipple and my skin, and I only have a tiny scar underneath.

"Before the operation, I thought maybe I should show my surgeon what I normally look like and what I do for a job, so I took him some of my modelling pictures."

Marie continued: "The odd thing is that the mastectomy was the easy part, because once you've dealt with that emotionally and physically, it's done. But when you get back to actually living your life, that completely changes."

She now has to take drugs suppressing her hormones for five years to stop the cancer from returning, which has been "diabolical" for her wellbeing.

Helvin explained: "At my age, I've gone through the menopause, so the tiny bit of oestrogen I had was for my hair, my skin, my wellbeing and mental health, and to have all of that taken away is just diabolical.

"I had hot flushes, depression, night sweats, insomnia and pain in my body. Because of my size, I was able to switch to a half dose of Tamoxifen, and I'm trying to balance the hair loss, dry skin and loss of libido with supplements, good food and trying to stay empowered and focused."