Fabulous at 55: celebs show off their bikini bodies

Famous women over 50 are shrugging off the idea that menopause means becoming invisible and that bikinis are the domain of the under-40 brigade.

This week, Big Brother host Sonia Kruger, 55, shared a photograph of herself on Instagram wearing a blue bikini, with the caption, “Staycation mode on!”

The post sent social media into a frenzy, with comments that Kruger had the physique of a woman half her age. She credits her toned figure to twice-weekly personal training sessions.

“Things like pull-downs, push-ups [and] pull-ups are all go-to moves,” Kruger explained.

The presenter also loves dance and music-based workouts, which she devised for her personal website Strictly You.

While she doesn't follow a strict diet, Kruger tries to avoid carbs, especially processed ones like pasta, bread, and white rice.

Elizabeth Hurley, 55, and older sister Kate, 57, modelled bikinis from the Elizabeth Hurley Beach collection earlier this month, which received a similar positive reaction on social media. 

Hurley has admitted she finds the gym "loathsome", but she loves Pilates and yoga.

"I think it's important to stay sort of firm and to do a reasonable amount of walking and exercise," she told E! News. "I don't go to the gym, but I'm quite active. I don't really sit still. I don't lie around on the sofa."

Brooke Shields (pictured main, left) is another 55-year-old who isn't afraid to show skin on social media.

“I was wearing those big bathing suits that had as much fabric as possible,” Shields told People. “My daughters were like, ‘Mom, it’s ridiculous.’ It was sort of seeing myself through their eyes and just celebrating things like my butt. Things I just would never want to focus on in my life. Being 55 and saying ‘Wait a minute, women over 50 are not done.'

“If you’re that age, especially if you are an actress, it’s like ‘you’ve had your career, relax,’ but I think I’m just starting.”

Carla Marie Manly, a clinical psychologist and author of Aging Joyfully, told Yahoo Life that the trend is empowering. 

“We were used to women, once they were mothers and once they were certainly in their forties being told, ‘Cover it up and act your age. Don't wear a bikini, wear a one-piece. Don't wear one-piece, wear a muumuu,’” she recalls. “As women come out, stand solid with each other, then we create a different culture.”