As she hits our shores, Florence Henderson tells how she’s hoping for an Aussie romance.
She may be 78 years old, but Florence Henderson, who played all-American mum Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch, says you’re never too old for love, and will be looking for romance on her latest trip to Australia. “I would like to find a man to share my life with again, because I am a romantic,” she says in an exclusive interview with Woman’s Day. “I like to dance, I like to travel and to have fun, so you can see why I’m looking forward to coming to Australia.”
Florence arrives in Sydney this week for what will be her 10th visit to Australia since she found fame in the 1970s playing mum to the six Brady kids. “I do date, but haven’t found the perfect man yet,” admits the beautiful blonde actress, here to promote a new Ardmona tomato product, Duo. Florence, who hosted a cooking variety show in the US and has two cookbooks to her name, says she didn’t find much time to cook for her own four children due to the demands of being the most famous TV mum in the world, but likes to get creative in the kitchen these days.
“Tomatoes are probably my favourite thing to eat,” says Florence, who’s the youngest of 10. “I grew up very poor on a small tobacco farm in outhern Indiana, and my fondest memory is going to the tomato patch with a salt shaker… to pick a tomato was a treat.” It’s more than 40 years since The Brady Bunch first took the world by storm, but Florence remains as fit as when she shot to fame, thanks to a healthy diet and zest for life.
“I’ve got abs of steel. You can punch me in the stomach if you don’t believe me,” she jokes. “I try to eat healthily. When you’re on your own, it’s important to make proper meals and not just eat a bag of potato chips or a bit of cheese on toast. There are a lot of pasta dishes and salads that work very well for one person. “Unhealthy eating has led us down a path of obesity and heart disease, and I think that being on your own, you have to make sure those things don’t happen to you. It also means I can eat a lot of garlic, which I love, and which is very good for you – so, there is an upside to cooking for one.”
Read more about Florence and her healthy lifestyle in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday June 25, 2012.