Stop climbing the mountain and admire the view: Loose Women presenter KAYE ADAMS reveals the one lesson she’s learned from life

Broadcaster Kaye Adams, 60, is the longest-serving presenter on ITV’s Loose Women and hosts a weekly podcast. She lives in Glasgow with her partner, tennis coach Ian Campbell, and their daughters Charley, 21, and Bonnie, 16. 

STOP CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN AND ADMIRE THE VIEW

For goodness knows how long I’ve had an annual meeting with my financial adviser and he’ll ask: ‘No plans for retirement?’ And I’ll reply: ‘No. Business as usual.’ But this year, for the first time, I said: ‘Actually, I really want to work less.’

I also told him we’ve decided to sell the family home in the next two years and get a smaller house. Like a lot of people, my house is my pension.

For most of my life I was a typical Capricorn — head down, working hard, climbing up the hill, without necessarily thinking why I was doing it, where I was going, what the point of it was and whether I was enjoying it. It’s taken me many years to learn, but there comes a time to stop climbing the mountain and start enjoying the view.

I’ve been hugely fortunate and really enjoyed my working life, but at times I’ve got worked up about it and put myself under stress.

I’ve tried to do too many things and been overly tense, which has spilled out on the people around me, particularly Ian, who has got ‘grumpy Kaye’ more than he should.

Reaching 60 and starting my podcast last year were turning points. Interviewing guests the same age made me stop and think. I found I wanted to spend less time climbing and more time growing.

I’ve always been ambitious, competitive and driven. My parents were working class — Dad was a mechanic and Mum was a nurse — and they believed it was important to ‘better yourself’.

They had their own business and worked into their mid-70s. Dad would say: ‘Hard work never killed anyone.’ They brought me up to believe there was a virtue in ascending and I did it on autopilot, without asking if it made me happy.

How To Be 60 With Kaye Adams is available on all podcast providers. The Loose Women presenter says: ‘I’ve been hugely fortunate and really enjoyed my working life, but at times I’ve got worked up about it and put myself under stress’

Kaye says that after years of hard work, she’s now committed to ‘doing less’ and enjoying some rest. Stock image used 

I love my work and won’t give up completely, but from now on I’ll be doing less. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t work during a weekend or on holiday.

I enjoy it, so it’s not like I’ve been suffering, but it will be nice to have some genuinely free time where I wake up and think: ‘what I am going to do today?’

How To Be 60 With Kaye Adams is available on all podcast providers.