About Helvin

(...) Marie Helvin started modelling as a teenager and has worked non-stop ever since on catwalks, on the pages - and covers - of every magazine imaginable, and on television. She published three books and designed her own line of clothes before returning to modelling at 50, proving that not only wine and cheese improve with age. But she's bought a ranch in a tiny Hawaiian town with a hitching post outside the grocery shop, so you can tie up your transport while doing the weekly shop. (....)

Helvin takes a lot of flak for her honesty because she's open about enjoying sex and romance without any urge to cohabit or remarry. Her beaux make an impressive list, from a pre-Withnail Bruce Robinson to Peter Gabriel and Eric Clapton. She turned down Warren Beatty, and succumbed to Jack Nicholson after many years, only to find it a let-down. Mark Shand proposed, but she turned him down. "The last thing I wanted to do was get married again. I was free. I am spoiled, and back then I was even more so. I missed out on a chance to be with somebody great. I can't regret these things, I can only explain how it happens. It doesn't work for me to say, 'Oh, I'm so sad.' I was in love with two really great guys but I was not able to keep them. It's my fault." (....)

LEE RANDALL