Hilary's heroes 'I'VE HAD MY EYES OPENED'

The TV presenter is spreading the joy to 1000 women in need

When the Weekly catches up with broadcaster Hilary Barry, she doesn’t have a tiara on her head. Nor is she wearing her 7th Form ball dress. Which is mildly disappointing because anyone who follows the star’s social-media platforms will be familiar with her famous Formal Friday dress-ups during Covid lockdown, where she urged people to have fun with their wardrobe.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” whispers Hilary, 52. “I held on to that dress because it was the fi rst one that was made for me by a proper seamstress. Mum sewed me beautiful clothes, but for my ball, she took me to a proper dressmaker and I felt very special.

“When I got it out for Formal Friday, I couldn’t do up the zip, but as was the fashion in those days, it had a massive red sash which formed a huge bow, so I just wrapped that around and around me to cover the gaping hole,” she laughs.

There’s a spark and a sense of joy about Hilary these days as she seems determined to cheer the nation up, and not miss any opportunity to have a laugh. It’s something, she says, to do with being the age she is and loving her cohosting role on Seven Sharp.

“I think probably for most of my career, I’ve been like this Champagne bottle with all these bubbles inside of me,” she explains. “And now the cork is out and I can’t put it back in.”

Hilary admits she is finally able to just be herself.

“You get to an age where you just go, ‘You know what? This is me, unprompted.’ Sometimes I’ll get the giggles, sometimes I’ll have a cry, but this is who I really am.”