While Madonna spends four hours a day slogging it out in the gym trying to keep her youthful appearance, Gloria Estefan’s beauty regime is a little simpler – she shaves her legs everyday.
The stunning 50-year-old had just celebrated her 30th wedding anniversary with husband Emilio, and believes this little ritual is the secret to a happy marriage.
But that is Gloria all over, while she may have spent a quarter of a century riding high in the charts and sold over 90 million albums worldwide, the Miami beauty still has her feet firmly on the ground.
Over the last few years she has taken time out from touring to spend quality time with her two children, and she has kept herself in such great shape that she’s side-stepped the plastic surgery road.
Now ready to start touring again, the queen of Latin pop will be stopping off in Ireland this September with her Greatest Hits show.
But instead of leaving the kids at home wiht a nanny, the hands-on mother-of-two will be bringing them with her.
“I’ve always taken my family on tour. Before, when my son Nayib was about five, he wanted to stay at home because he had just started little league baseball, so I left him with my husband for six months,” says Gloria in her Latino lilt.
“I missed out on so much that I wouldn’t do it again, so since that time the whoole family comes with me when I tour.
“In the last few years though I did cut down on touring because my daughter, Emily, became really involved in school, and I wanted to enjoy it – I want to be ther to take her to school, to pick her up, to go to her games”.
Ireland holds many fond memories for the Rhythm is Gonna Get You singer.
“Emily had her second birthday there when I was touring 11 years ago. This year she’ll have a special appearance in my show playing drums on stage with me.
“And we hope to spend a couple of days sightseeing in Ireland. I try to do this each place we go to broaden the children’s educations. I won’t be visiting any Irish bars though, they are far too noisy. I need to rest my voice”.
While she has cut back on touring, Gloria had kept her creative juices flowing by writing children’s books, and admits she finds reading to a small group of children every bit as satisfying as singing to packed stadiums.
“I love to inspire kids because children are where we can change the world,” she says.
“You have to get them while they are young and plant the seeds in their head.
“I read to children in hospital and I read to the families of troupes over seas”.
Gloria is involved in the United Through Reading association, which allows US military parents to stay in contact with their children by recording themselves reading books on video and sending these tapes home to their young children.
As a kid Gloria used to record herself singing and send the tapes to her father serving in Vietnam, and he’d reply with tapes of his own.
“Everyday I would run to the mailbox hoping for another tape,” she says, “I loved the sound of my Dad’s voice”.
The other male hero in the singer’s life is her husband Emilio. The solid pair have been going strong since 1978.
“Every marriage is different but I have two pieces of advice for women: keep shaving your legs to show that you care, and my husband says for men ‘always do what your wife tells you’,” laughs Gloria.
“You should make sure that the feeling you have is not ‘Oh, I’m gonna get married and see if it works out, and if it doesn’t I’ll get divorced’, because if you start with that feeling, then you don’t believe that you want to be with this person for your whole life”.
And while our favourite stars are getting more plastic by the minute, the Latino lady is happy to age gracefully.
“There are some things that you can do nowadays that can help you out,” giggles Gloria.
“But to cut into your face, to have your ears on a table…I couldn’t do that.
“I like my face, even as it has aged. I think I’d freak out if it was not that same face looking at me in the mirror.
“You’ve got to get older. That’s the way of life. I really don’t have a problem with age, I think each day you’re either old or you’re dead.”
