Trinny Woodall used her “habit of nakedness” to promote her early career on the London Underground.
The 60-year-old businesswoman skyrocketed to fame with Susannah Constatine following the success of their Ready to Wear column which dished out much-needed fashion advice. She reached global star status in 2001 when they appeared on BBC’s hit show What Not to Wear.
But before Trinny found fame, she used some controversial business tactics to help her succeed. During an appearance on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, the TV favourite opened up about the extreme lengths she went to in order to make a name for herself.
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The mum-of-one confessed that she used a picture of herself naked from the waist up to boost the sales of her first book in 2000, Ready 2 Dress. She even used a cheeky topless snap as her business card for several months.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The entrepreneur told the Made In Chelsea star: “We’d done a book before we did telly and the book was based on this image we used on the tube for advertising Ready 2 Dress and it was about everyone is different.
“So Susannah was there naked – we have a habit of nakendess – but naked from the waist up with melons on her breasts and there was a picture of me looking a bit scrawny with fried eggs on my breasts and it was everywhere.”
The idea to bare all came from their ad agency, she explained. And the ‘naked’ picture wasn’t just for the posters. She transformed the jaw-dropping snap into a business card.
(Image: PA)
Trinny went on: “We even had cards. That was my business card, the melon and the fried eggs. So we had this whole campaign and it was fantastic.”
And her savvy business ploy worked like a dream as the image eventually became the cover of Trinny and Susannah’s book. According to the author, the book only told 13,000 copies, which stopped them from securing the advance they needed for a sequel.
Determined to change this, they negotiated a deal to receive a higher percentage of sales instead of the advance payment. Thankfully, their sequel, What Not to Wear, sold over a million copies thanks to the help of their hugely successful TV show.
(Image: Instagram)
Elsewhere on the podcast, Trinny opened up about the death of her late husband Johnny Elichaoff and admitted his tragic passing “made her stronger” for their daughter Lyla. The businessman, who was married to Trinny from 1999 to 2009, committed suicide in 2014.
However, Trinny admitted that the tragedy pushed her to succeed with her beauty firm. She told listeners: “Death is terrible and final. But suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It’s like that tsunami that comes and it kind of pulls the guts out of you.”
She went on: “But also, I have got inner strength, I needed to be the one who would look after everyone. When you are faced with the worst thing you think could happen.
(Image: Richard Young/ Shutterstock)
“There was this feeling I had, of ‘Nothing worse can happen now’. So I should take the greatest risk.” As well as Lyla, Trinny is also a stepmum to Johnny’s son Zak, and admitted that “emotionally, I couldn’t have lost more than to lose my daughter’s father, for her.”
She went on to admit that the tragedy made her stronger and that she “didn’t grieve for many, many years” due to dealing with the “fallout” of his passing. Trinny confessed she “was a bit angry” at first, but shortly after missed him dearly.
This November will be 10 years on from the tragedy – and Lyla, 20, will join her family to celebrate and remember her late father. Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
