It was a hit makeover reality show that ran for seven series, but What Not to Wear would not get commissioned today because people no longer enjoy being told what to do, the TV fashion guru Susannah Constantine has said.
The BBC programme brought Constantine and her co-host, Trinny Woodall, to national prominence when it aired in 2001, introducing audiences to the pair’s straight-talking style advice and trademark boob-grabbing.
“It was of its time and came along at the right moment, but it wouldn’t work today and I can understand why,” Constantine said in an interview with Radio Times. “People are fed up of being told what to do.”
The presenter also described the modern need to be aware of potentially causing offence as “exhausting”. She said she didn’t feel discomfort about how harshly she and Woodall critiqued the wardrobes of those who appeared on the programme, but there was one particular moment with the comedian Jo Brand that she regretted.
“Both Trinny and I say this – there’s not one person who regretted coming on our show, not one,” Constantine said. “The one thing I do regret was when Jo Brand did our show. I’m really ashamed, looking back. I have little whiskers on my chin, which I pluck, and she had a little whisker on her chin, which I plucked and it really offended her. I felt terrible about that.”
Constantine and Woodall won a Royal Television Society award in 2002 for best factual presenters. They also co-authored several fashion books based on their show, which was nominated for the features award at the Baftas in 2002 and 2003.
Constantine also recalled attending parties with Ghislaine Maxwell in her 20s, when Constantine was the long-term girlfriend of Viscount David Linley, the son of Princess Margaret. Maxwell was last year sentenced to 20 years in prison for procuring teenage girls for the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.
“To have known someone or met someone, and then to wind the movie forward and for this [to be] happening is really shocking,” she told Radio Times. “She seemed like a sweet person, and quite insecure, but there’s almost a sense of guilt in a way. It’s like: ‘Did I miss something?’ But, no, there was nothing.”
The final two seasons of What Not to Wear were presented by Lisa Butcher and Mica Paris, after Constantine and Woodall signed a contract with ITV to host Trinny & Susannah Undress. The pair were also frequent guest fashion and makeover experts on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the US.
