Kiki Dee: ‘Elton knows he can be funny with me because he knows me from so long ago’

How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Kiki Dee

9am 

I’m not a morning person. I didn’t have children, so I never got used to getting up at 7am. I’ll make a cappuccino, take my time and stay in bed for an hour to read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It’s taught me about staying in the present.

10am 

I have porridge with blueberries and strawberries and make family phone calls. I speak to my brother but I lost my sister two years ago and I miss our Saturday morning chats. I find that really hard. 

11am 

I live in a village in Hertfordshire and there’s a 50-minute walk I used to do, but I’m 77 – I can’t quite believe it – and my legs have gone a bit weak. I’ve got a cross-trainer in the garden so I do strengthening exercises.

12pm 

I tidy up my little garden. I’m a neat freak, I hate chaos.

1pm 

I’m not a cook but I am an eater. Lunch is something I can throw together, like a tuna niçoise. I grew up in Yorkshire and we didn’t have a lot of money but we ate like kings. I love the odd doughnut but I try to eat healthily. Luckily enough, as I’ve gotten older, I don’t know why but I’m slim. In the 1960s in London, I was always on a diet.

2pm 

I’m absolutely technophobic but I’ll scroll on my phone as I have to keep on top of social media to communicate with people. I quite like being a little bit behind. I say to my audience, ‘If you send me an email, don’t expect a reply any time soon.’

4pm 

I’ve got an Alexa and I’ll say, ‘Play me a new artist.’ I don’t see a lot of live music, I’m dead lazy, really. I’m still gigging with the guitarist Carmelo Luggeri and we’re performing in Tuscany for Rock & Roll Holidays in September. I’ve had worse jobs.  

7pm 

I love eating out and being with people I love. My friends are a huge part of my life. I don’t see Elton John much but, like with any good friendship, we pick up where we left off. Elton is amusing. He knows he can be funny with me because he knows me from so long ago. 

But I don’t hang out with famous people much. Dusty Springfield said she’d like to spend the last 10 years of her life being a normal person, I found that moving. I’ve been able to do that for years and I’m grateful – I can put my Kiki Dee hat on or not.

9pm 

I’m watching The Mentalist again. I’ll have one glass of red wine. I buy those mini bottles, it’s pathetic really, but drinking alone gets you going – you want to talk, and then there’s no one there.

11pm 

I joke with my rock ’n’ roll friends that we all have a herbal tea and go to bed these days. Sleep is my thing. I love 10 hours.

As told to Lara Kilner