Trinny Woodall



Trinny (Sarah-Jane) Woodall (born 8 February 1964, in London) is a British fashion and make-over advisor, designer, television presenter and author. She was privately educated. After ten years working in marketing – Woodall met Susannah Constantine in 1994, whom she joined to write a weekly fashion column for The Daily Telegraph. This led to the launch of their own internet fashion-advice business and the release of their first fashion-advice book.

They were commissioned by the BBC to host What Not to Wear in 2001. The following year Woodall and Constantine released their second book, What Not to Wear, which gained them a British Book Award and sold over 670,000 copies. The pair co-wrote 11 fashion advice books, several of which became best-sellers in the United Kingdom and the United States, and have now sold over 3 million copies worldwide. In 2003 they launched their shapewear range Trinny & Susannah's Original Magic Knickers, which are sold in 30 countries around the world.

After co-hosting What Not to Wear for five series and appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show as style and make-over advisors, Woodall and Constantine moved to ITV to host Trinny & Susannah Undress... in 2006, and Undress the Nation. After becoming the faces of Littlewoods Direct, they released their own Littlewoods clothing range along with their 5th fashion advice book, The Body Shape Bible, in 2007. In 2009, they launched their International Makeover Mission series. They have filmed over 20 series in nine countries including Norway, Sweden, Israel, Denmark, Australia, India, Netherlands, Poland and the USA. They have been viewed by over 30 million women in over 31 countries.

In 2016, Woodall began regular appearances on ITV's This Morning show as their fashion style expert.

Background
Woodall is the youngest of six children, including three half-siblings from her father's first marriage. Her father was a banker, while her maternal grandfather was Sir John Duncanson, controller of the British steel industry in the last two years of the war, who went on to become managing director of the British Iron and Steel Federation (BISF) in August 1945 and then managing director of Lithgows in 1949.

Early career
Woodall and Susannah Constantine first collaborated in 1996 on Ready to Wear, a weekly style guide for The Daily Telegraph which ran for seven years. The style guide highlighted affordable high-street fashion, with the pair using themselves to demonstrate clothing that suited different figures. Woodall assumed the role of stylist and made the duo's business decisions. She and Constantine later became co-founders of Ready2shop.com, a dot-com fashion advice business. The business dissolved in July 2001.

Woodall's first chance to work on television came about when Granada Sky Broadcasting signed her and Constantine to host a daytime shopping show, also called Ready to Wear. Soon after their television debut, they were given a recurring makeover slot on Richard & Judy. This gained them crucial exposure and attention from Jane Root, controller of BBC Two, who signed them to the channel encouraged by their tenacity and their book and internet business.

Television
Woodall came to prominence as co-host and fashion advisor for five series of the BBC television series What Not to Wear. She and Constantine worked on the show from 2001 to 2005, combining their knowledge of fashion to improve the dress sense of the candidates selected for the show. What Not to Wear made Woodall a household name, and she and Constantine became jointly known as Trinny and Susannah. They became infamous for their straight-talking advice. The New York Times wrote "Trinny Woodall, one of the upper-crusty and scathingly blunt hosts of What Not to Wear, a hugely popular fashion makeover show on the BBC, does not mince words." Woodall has been spoofed on many comedy-themed television shows, including Big Impression, on which impressionist Alistair McGowan took to spoofing her presenting techniques on What Not to Wear.

In 2002, Woodall and Constantine won a Royal Television Society Award for their work on What Not to Wear, in the category of best factual presenter. The show itself was nominated for the Features Award at the BAFTAS in both 2002 and 2003. The pair have given makeovers to various celebrities in What Not to Wear specials, including Jeremy Clarkson in 2002, who later commented "I'd rather eat my own hair than shop with these two again". After success with viewing figures on BBC Two, the show was promoted to the more mainstream BBC One in 2004. The show has also been broadcast internationally in over 20 countries.

With What Not to Wear proving popular on BBC America, Woodall worked frequently as a makeover and fashion expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Constantine, where they gave fashion advice and tips on how to improve overall appearance, often using themselves to illustrate the guidelines. They appeared on NBC's The Today Show in 2006, and returned to America in late 2007 appearing on Good Morning America to perform makeovers on different shaped women. They also reported for Good Morning America on the fashion at the 80th Academy Awards' red carpet event in February 2008. In 2009 they went on to make a series in the US for TLC called "Making over America".



After What Not to Wear, Woodall and Constantine transferred from the BBC to ITV for a deal worth £1.2 million. Woodall and Constantine began their new television show, Trinny & Susannah Undress..., in 2006. The first two series saw them helping couples who were experiencing difficulties in their marriages, by giving advice and a fashion makeover to increase confidence. In 2007, the third series on ITV took a different format, tackling the main fashion issues present in Britain, under the new name of Trinny & Susannah Undress The Nation.

Woodall and Constantine have revealed that they have dressed in excess of 5,000 women over the course of their career. They have adopted the attitude that dressing to compliment body shape is important, on which subject Woodall has commented "If you want to make the best of yourself you don't necessarily need to diet – you need to wear the right stuff."

Guest appearances
During the BBC's 2002 Children in Need appeal, Woodall and Constantine sang their own version of Madonna's "Vogue" in front of celebrity backing singers. Children in Need 2004 saw them giving EastEnders characters Little Mo and Mo Harris a makeover à la What Not to Wear. Also in 2005, Woodall voiced a robot version of herself in the well-known science fiction series Doctor Who, in episode "Bad Wolf".

In 2007, Woodall appeared on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in order to raise money for Comic Relief. The show required celebrities to sell tickets to a fun fair they had organised, with Woodall selling a ticket to a friend for £150,000. The Times wrote "Trinny Woodall is a prime-time star, but is proper posh with mighty connections, as demonstrated by the six-figure sums she blagged from richer friends on Comic Relief does the Apprentice."

Woodall and Constantine have appeared on Parkinson three times together. Their first appearance in 2003 coincided with the host's now infamous interview with Meg Ryan. Parkinson said that he felt Ryan's behaviour towards his fellow guests, Woodall and Constantine – whom Ryan turned her back on – was "unforgivable". Woodall has made appearances on numerous other chat shows and on Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car, a recurring segment on the BBC Two motoring programme Top Gear.

Advertising campaigns
Woodall and Constantine became the faces of Nescafé in 2003, featuring in advertisements promoting the brand of coffee.

The duo also became the faces of the home shopping company, Littlewoods Direct, when orders rose thirty percent during its sponsorship of their ITV programme Trinny & Susannah Undress in 2006. The £12m television and print advertising campaign featuring Woodall and Constantine is one of largest ever seen for a home shopping and internet-based company. Since the advertisements were launched, Littlewoods' brand awareness, sales and website traffic have increased significantly.

Woodall and Constantine embarked upon a tour to New Zealand and Australia, between 2006 and 2008, where they made a series of public appearances at shopping centres and adverts for the Westfield Group. They performed popular live styling sessions for customers.

Books and merchandise
Woodall and Constantine have co-written numerous fashion advice books, which have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Their style advice books have proceeded to become number one bestsellers in Britain and the United States, have been translated throughout the world, and have placed them number one on both The Sunday Times best-seller list and The New York Times best-seller list.



Their first major book, What Not to Wear, was published in 2002. It gained them a British Book Award in 2003 for The TV & Film Book of the Year. The book outsold popular television chefs Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson when sale figures reached a total of 670,000 copies, selling 300,000 copies in just fifteen weeks. It was also selling 45,000 copies a week at one point, and had sold 250,000 copies before the peak book selling season had even begun. What Not to Wear made sales worth £8.7 million which led to a £2 million book deal to produce more of their fashion books.

In 2006, Woodall and Constantine launched their own underwear range "Trinny and Susannah Magic Pants" which are made from nylon to flatten the tummy, buttocks and thighs, in order to make the areas appear slimmer. The fashion duo launched their own clothing range exclusively for Littlewoods Direct on 20 September 2007.

Their ninth book, The Body Shape Bible, was published in 2007. Prior to writing The Body Shape Bible, Woodall and Constantine conducted a survey on women that helped them to identify the twelve most common body shapes. The book aims to help women decide which their body shape, or "work out whether you're 'cornet', 'apple', 'skittle' or 'goblet', according to Barbara Ellen, and advises on fashion accordingly.

In 2012 Woodall and Constantine launched a range of Bodyshape Clothing for QVC UK.

Personal life
Woodall has one daughter, Lyla (born 28 October 2003), and is stepmother to her ex-husband's son, Zak.

She married musician turned company director Johnny Elichaoff in 1999, at her family church, St Columba's, situated in Pont Street, Knightsbridge. The church was the venue for her parents' wedding, Woodall's christening, and her Scottish grandfather is buried there. The couple announced their separation and intention to divorce in 2008. Jonny Elichaoff died in November 2014.

Woodall formerly suffered severely from acne, which began in her early teens and stayed with her until she was twenty-nine. Her condition caused her to feel, in her own words, "unbelievably ugly for years".

Woodall has also had many problems with conceiving in the past. She underwent IVF treatment nine times and had two miscarriages before she became pregnant with Lyla. She is an avid supporter of charities, and stood as a trustee of a British charity helping those with alcohol and substance abuse issues (at the time called The Chemical Dependency Centre and later renamed Action on Addiction in 2007). She also supported the Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care and The Elton John AIDS Foundation. Criticised for being "too skinny", she responded: "I've been nine stone for 20 years, I always eat what I want, it's not an issue for me. But it pisses me off - because if people did decide that I starved myself, it would have a direct consequence on what we advocate!'".

Woodall has been linked to Charles Saatchi since 2013.