How does she look? That was the question friends, colleagues and my daughter-n-law asked when I said I was talking to Kirstie Alley. And the answer is that Kirstie, 62, looks good, curvy but trim, and the TV favorite who has had her shares of ups and downs appears definitely on an upswing these days.
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Currently she is appearing as the Poise Fairy (Mother: Tooth Fairy, Father: Wood Nymph, Best Friend: Santa) who, in a series of lighthearted commercials, is trying to educate women about LBL (light bladder leakage.) Outfitted with lavender wings, the Fairy advises "Don't get freakin 'cause your leakin.'" And sprinkles (pun intended) some advice on picking the right pads, not period pads but Poise brand products that quickly absorb wetness and odor.
"I do not suffer from LBL," Kirstie admits. "In fact, when my girlfriends would say they laugh so hard when they are with me they wet their pants, I thought it was because they thought I was so funny." Previous Poise spokeswoman Kris Jenner confessed she shared the problem that one out of three women has. She even had an accident during an intentionally hilarious episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians. " Whoopi Goldberg, who also did a series of commercials for Poise, just won't tell.
Kirstie said, "When I was offered the project I did some research and called some friends and half of them said, yes, they sometimes leaked when they laughed or sneezed. And it was women of all ages, women whether or not they had children." Kirstie thinks maybe she has escaped this all-too-familiar experience "because I do my Kegel exercises all the time." Doctors advise that Kegel exercises can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and can help alleviate the problem.
Besides being the Poise Fairy, Kirstie says she is non-stop busy with a variety of projects including "Organic Liaison," her diet food company that she believes helps her keep her weight under control. The "DWTS" runner-up is also still dancing every day and posting the results on her 100 Days of Dance Challenge," a grassroots web campaign to get everyone up and cha-cha-cha-ing, though, she says, "it is almost killing me." She also has a TV pilot in the works, a possible Broadway show, and a book, she says, she should be writing right now, which is due out in the fall.
Kirstie acknowledge that she has reinvented, even, she says, "resurrected" herself several times in the past years. "I have been lucky," she says. "I set goals for myself, achieve them and then I want to go on to something else. And I also know I sometimes create chaos, get myself in trouble and have to figure out how to get out. When I do, it feels glorious."
Who will she be cheering for during this season's "Dancing WithThe Stars?" "I know Melissa Gilbert and Sherri Shepherd," she says, "And I am really happy Gladys Knight is on the show." She also says she is grateful that she was such a favorite last season. "It was an adventure. I guess people tuned in to see if I could really do it." And she acknowledges that many have told her they found her inspiring. "Great," she says with a bit of a wry smile, "to be an inspiration."
For Kirstie's Poise Fairy interview, click here.
Myrna Blyth is Editor-In-Chief of ThirdAge.
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