Holden should inspire us to embrace ageing as a privilege

There is a trope in movies and TV that occurs so often I'm not sure we even notice it anymore: a woman stands in front of a mirror and uses the palm of her hands to lift her face. Usually, she hones in on her forehead, lifting her eyebrows and eyes to the place where they perhaps used to sit. It's a brisk, lazy way of telling an audience, "this woman is feeling haggard".

- GRACE HOLLIDAY

As a child, I never understood exactly what they were doing, these women who appeared entirely normal looking, if a little tired. Why they were dragging at their skin and seeming disappointed in their efforts? But now, as I approach my 33rd birthday, I find myself looking in my own mirror, making the same motions and tweaks and wondering when exactly the work of gravity began, and what I should be doing to stop it.

The chatter about Amanda Holden, 51, advertising lingerie from JD Williams, has me thinking of the reflections in all of these mirrors once again. The reaction on Twitter is as you'd expect; compliments peppered with nauseating "puns" about golden buzzers, and even one man informing her he "prefers Carol Voderman". Others express dismay at her gall, to be mostly undressed beyond her 20s. Being "inappropriate" is something she's been accused of before.