She hasn’t aged much since the 80s (although there’s less backcombing and she’s lost the fingerless gloves (Picture: Juliette Neel)

Tess Christian is 50-years-old and claims she hasn’t smiled for nearly 40 years – because she wants to avoid wrinkles.

Despite having a GSOH, Tess says she’s made a conscious decision not to smile, calling it her natural alternative to Botox.

‘I don’t have wrinkles because I have trained myself to control my facial muscles,’ Tess told MailOnline, adding ‘Everyone asks if I’ve had Botox, but I haven’t, and I know that it’s thanks to the fact I haven’t laughed or smiled since I was a teenager. My dedication has paid off, I don’t have a single line on my face.’



This comes after Kim Kardashian’s konfession last month that she doesn’t often smile in selfies because she’s worried about wrinkles (we’re presuming the same goes for Kanye).


Tess goes on: ‘Yes, I am vain and want to remain youthful. My strategy is more natural than Botox and more effective than any expensive beauty cream or facial.’

According to some skin experts, she might not be as cray-cray as she sounds either. Dermatologist Dr Nick Lowe said: ‘It can be an effective anti-ageing technique. Undoubtedly, there are some actresses who have retrained their facial expressions to this end.

‘Wrinkles happen because of the constant creasing of smile and forehead lines by the muscles in your face, which fold the connective tissue under the skin. If you can train yourself to minimise your facial expressions, you won’t get as many lines.’

Victoria Beckham says she’s ‘smiling on the inside’ (Picture: Neil Hall/Reuters)

While Tess admits it can sometimes be hard to remain tight-lipped at times, she has perfected her poker face. ‘My friends have nicknamed me Mona Lisa, after the da Vinci painting,’ she says. ‘Mona Lisa was said to have been quietly amused, as am I. I just won’t show it.’

Although her pet hate is men who tell her to ‘cheer up love, it might never happen’.

And London psychologist Amanda Hills argues that the more you smile, the happier you feel. ‘When you smile you release endorphins, known as “happy hormones” that make you feel good,’ she explains.

‘Not smiling, meanwhile, has the opposite effect. A resting face with no emotion won’t allow your brain to pick up the signal that you are happy. And just as smiling attracts people, looking miserable is likely to deter them — which obviously risks making you feel miserable, even if you were happy in the first place.’

Or, as Shakespeare put it: ‘With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.’

MORE: Gwyneth Paltrow steams her vagina to get an ‘energetic release’

MORE: Celebrity weight loss: Watch stars go ‘to fat and back’ before your very eyes

MORE: Size 28 woman lost 10st after her sofa buckled under her weight

Advertisement Advertisement