Jennifer Grey - Still having the time of her life!

THE NEWLY SINGLE STAR OPENS UP ABOUT THE DIRTY DANCING SEQUEL – AND WHY SHE’S DONE CARING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF HER

It’s been 33 years since Jennifer Grey first flung herself into the arms of Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing – and the actress has faced her share of dramatic ups and downs since playing wideeyed romantic Baby Houseman in the hit film. After rhinoplasty surgeries in the early ’90s changed her look, she says casting directors stopped calling. “I went in the operating room a celebrity and came out anonymous,” she has said of the effect on her career.

But no-one puts Baby in the corner for long! In 2010 she recaptured the hearts of millions by winning season 11 of Dancing with the Stars, not long after having a cancerous growth on her thyroid removed. Now she’s newly divorced from actor Clark Gregg after a 19-year marriage (they share daughter Stella, 19), and she’s reprising her role as Baby in a much-anticipated sequel to Dirty Dancing.

She has no regrets about her past. “Your self-esteem shouldn’t be attached to being perfect or judged,” she says of what she’s learned with age. “What if we all just did what makes us happy?”

You were 27 when you filmed Dirty Dancing, 50 when you won Dancing with the Stars and you turned 60 last year. How has your perspective changed on getting older?

I really don’t give too much weight to chronological age, even though the world wants to tell you it means something. But to me it’s as abstract and random as anything, because I know a million people who are very young who behave like they’re ancient. I know my grandmother, who was 93 when she died, was dancing and making art and walking and living independently. I think that it’s all about how you live, not how long you live.