Nicola Griffin: What happened after the 56-year-old's Sports Illustrated shoot went viral

Griffin talks to The Independent about life, health, happiness and being recognised on the Tube

Nicola Griffin on life after going viral (Milk Management )

Three years ago, Nicola Griffin was queuing up in her local bank in Nottingham when someone tapped on her shoulder and asked if she would consider being a model. A company selling grey hair products was looking for a new face and Griffin, 56, had stopped dying her hair over a decade before. The scout who spotted Griffin thought she would be the perfect model for their brand.

At the time, Griffin's twin daughters were preparing to leave for university and she was worried empty nest syndrome was about to hit her hard. So, after some persuasion from her children and thinking it might provide a welcome distraction, she rang the number she was given and agreed to be a model. Griffin didn't think too much of it until a few months later when she walked past a post box and saw her image splashed across it.

Griffin subsequently signed with an agency and was cast in bigger projects and a fashion campaign for a high-end designer. Then the call from Sports Illustrated arrived, and Griffin watched her profile explode. Her name was quickly trending and appeared in headlines internationally as outlets excitedly profiled the oldest bikini model to ever grace the magazine’s swimsuit issue.

You may remember the arresting image of Griffin emerging from the sea, resplendent in a gold bikini. That shoot was just the tip of the iceberg. In a conversation with The Independent, Griffin reflects on life after going viral.

The best thing about the shoot was how it made other women of a similar age feel

I feel great because of the feedback. It’s the other women who make me feel good. They are inspired and feel like they can put a bikini on without going to a plastic surgeon. I can feel ok and accept myself for who I am with all the flaws. There is nothing wrong with flaws. That is the best thing to have come out of it. If you have some stretch marks, it's ok. So what? I do feel good in that respect. I think when you get into your 50s and 60s you don’t have anything to prove to anyone.

Women of my age are saying ‘if you can do it, I can do it’. I’ve had lots of emails and lots of feedback on social media saying that it's about time we, women of different sizes, different shapes and ages, are represented. It was good for them to see someone else their own age who they could relate to, somebody who is normal, an everyday woman of a certain age without having been on a diet or had any surgery. An everyday mum. I think that was really why I had so much good feedback. It’s refreshing to see someone that is as they are, as nature intended. Someone who is a real woman.

I've got more exciting (but top secret projects) in the pipeline

I’ve been to some very interesting castings. I’m waiting to hear from some big clients. That’s really exciting. I can't tell you who yet. They also requested to see me, which is even more exciting.

I'm now recognised in public, especially in the US

Somebody tried to take a picture of me on the tube and I nearly died. I looked around and realised it was me and I felt my face going red. I went for a coffee yesterday and these women walked along and my girlfriend said, ‘did you see the way they looked at you?’ I didn’t see anything! I was giggling and thinking they must be looking for the loo. We are very laid back here but in America I had people asking for my autograph. I just couldn’t do it - I felt like I was a fraud! This man said to me, ‘I’ve never met anyone in Sports Illustrated before'. For me, I thought it was crazy that some of the men were so excited. One said he couldn’t go home to tell his wife, and I thought, tell her what? It is funny.

My daughters have set up an Instagram account called ‘Our Mum Still Has It’

The girls are incredibly supportive. They send me cards telling me how proud they are of me. They are both blogging about me - it’s amazing. I feel really special that that has happened.

Size has never mattered to me, but health and living an active lifestyle is important and always has been

You can’t just lie on the sofa and eat pizza all day. You have to get up and live a healthy lifestyle. Even on miserable, cold days, you have to walk the dog around the park. I think that’s why I feel good. I have a mindset. I want to be well, and I want to be well so when my daughters have children I can be a grandmother that is able to hold them and be helpful. To be well you have to not drink yourself silly, not smoke cigarettes, not eat horrible, nasty junk food. You have to be strong in your mind and think, 'I will have a green juice instead of a gin and tonic'. It’s an easy life to have all the bad stuff and treat yourself to lots of rubbish. It’s quite difficult to be strong-minded. I tell myself that I’m not going to have a glass of wine, I’ll have a green tea. But I don’t have a horrible life - I’m quite happy drinking green tea. I just don't want to put chemicals and poisonous foods in my body. I’m happy to be a size 16 or 18, but what I don’t want to feel is tired and grumpy and have a spotty face.

So is teaching healthy habits to children by leading by example

I’ve sort of really always had that attitude. Setting an example to the children was always a big plan in my head. Instead of lecturing children, you show them the way quietly. When I go and visit them at university and they cook for me, I think to myself, ‘this is what I would cook’. So they copy me. And if they go out for dinner and there were no vegetables they complain after about it, and I think that sounds like me.

But at the same time, it’s important to let your hair down occasionally

Life is short, enjoy occasions. I'll still have a glass of wine or two sometimes, but you don’t have to be stupid about it and take it to the max. I want to live happily and I want to be there when my children have children.

Features such as the Sports Illustrated bikini campaign send an important message to girls who are obsessing about photoshopped pictures on social media and thinking they aren’t good enough

I think that what the future holds is when they look in magazines, they will see curvy girls their shape and their size. At school, I was very tall and long-legged - 'ironing board', they used to call me. At school, my friends were pear-shaped and curvy, Whatever shape you are you have to embrace it. You have to dress for your shape. That is you, you are not going to be 6 ft 4 or size 0, you don't have to think that. Everyone is born a different shape. One of my girlfriends has no hips but she has a big bust. She was born that way, that is how she is, you have to accept who are you. You find your best bits and you have to go with the good bits.

Young girls have to remember that youth is a beautiful thing. They are beautiful. You have to think this is how I am and you have to think this is the best of it. Focusing on health is the best way forward and a nice shapely young body is beautiful.