A Life in the Day: Alexa Chung
The 24-year-old former model landed her first TV job two years ago. Now she presents Freshly Squeezed and Frock Me for C4. She live with her boyfriend, the Arctic Monkeys frontman, Alex Turner, in East London.
I naturally wake up early, maybe 9am, and the first thing I do is kiss my boyfriend. I’ve just moved into a really sweet house with Alex. He’s a very neat, clean boy and I’m a really messy girl. My clothes are strewn everywhere. I have so many, it’s disgusting. The other day I bought a trunk to keep them all in, but already it’s totally filled with bags of deliveries. I get goodies every week, and it’s dreamy, but I’m given so much I feel guilty. Cosmetics companies usually get it right — I get lots of black eyeliner. But it’s not all good. Sometimes I open a bag and it’s full of diamanté jeans Victoria Beckham would love, and I think: “Why do you hate me?” Then the other day I got a whole load of stuff from Moschino and it was like the best day of my life. When I was modelling I used to lust after things I could never afford, and I used to think: “Imagine being Keira Knightley and getting sent all this stuff…” So when I open my door and there’s a Louis Vuitton bag, I’m like: “Yes!”
I have a bath every morning, but I’m not a girlie girl — I like plain soap and water and I get ready really quickly. If I’m going to the studio, I wear a smock and my new ankle boots. I got sent some really high patent shoes recently. I didn’t know if they were cool, then I saw Lou Doillon in them and I thought: “Wow, maybe they’re really nice.”
I have a stylist, Steph Stevens, but I always decide what I wear. I love vintage. Beyond Retro is good, on Great Marlborough Street, and Relic, in west London. There’s loads of great places on Brick Lane. My favourite is This Shop Rocks. And it does. I do seem to have a problem with shopping. I’m trying to cut down. I don’t need anything else. The house is literally brimming with things.
My weight is dwindling as I don’t have time to go to the supermarket. I speak to my mum most days and she always asks what I’ve had to eat. She gets very upset when I say: “Uh, I forgot.” My dream breakfast is eggs florentine or almond croissants, but I never get it. I’m thinner now than I’ve ever been because I’m working so hard. I carry around birthday cards I’ve made but haven’t had time to send, bills I need to pay. I’m rubbish at all that.
I’m always worried about upsetting people, so when my car arrives in the morning I’m generally on time. I film Freshly Squeezed every Wednesday and I’ve spent every other day in the studio with Henry [Holland]. I’m naturally quite outspoken. I loathed modelling. It was all about my body, I was always suppressing my opinion. There’s probably a tape somewhere waiting to be uploaded to YouTube, full of outtakes of me being incredibly rude. I might be inside a studio all day or on a freezing location doing my make-up in a Portaloo. There’s a lot of hanging about, so I e-mail friends on my BlackBerry or work on the next link. It’s hard work and can be boring. An entire day of vox-pop interviews ends up as two minutes of TV. But we have a laugh. I’ve known my Freshly Squeezed co-presenter, Rick Edwards, since swimming club when I was a kid and Henry since modelling days, so it feels a bit like a school trip.
I drink cappuccinos all day. TV studios have the worst food. I’m a vegetarian and the crew are always eating meat. I’d love someone to get me muesli and a cupcake, but it doesn’t feel right asking runners to get things for me. At the end of the day Alexander picks me up in Floyd, the Mini, and we usually go to the cinema. I love Alex, he’s the most affable person ever. But then, what’s there to be grumpy about? He’s got the nicest life. He’s young, he’s in a great band and he’s living with me! I get 15 invitations a week to go to parties and premieres. Mostly, I don’t go to them, I meet friends at Bungalow 8 instead. My mates are all really mature. Daisy [Lowe] is incredibly level-headed, Pixie [Geldof] is like 45 in her head. I try and look after Pix and pass on what little advice I can. She’s younger than us but she’s super-smart. It’s a shame she gets such a bad rep.
I’ve got a sister and two brothers and my parents were pretty blasé about what we all did. We were all creative — I was forever drawing and making things. But I wasn’t a confident child. My friends at school were the fit ones, who were always putting out while I was busy mucking out my pony. I still don’t like to look overtly sexy. I love east London — there’s a certain look: skinny jeans, skanky band T-shirt, Converse. It’s like everyone’s gone and bought a leotard and they want to wear it.
I’m going to have the nicest house — I’m planning it all in my head. Alex and I have just moved in, so we seem not to have the right things. We lack a masher, sieve, colander... Once I’ve got all that, may the cooking commence! In the meantime the pub across the road does great food or we get a pizza in. I get very tired — I like to say I’m broken by work.
If we’re out I’m always the party pooper. I like to be in bed by 10pm. Sometimes I take my computer, which isn’t very sexy, is it? I’m obsessed with Facebook. Alex and I like to chill out to a record ­­— Burt Bacharach or Roy Orbison —­ and we fall asleep with our arms round each other. He’s really little and so am I, so no one gets a dead arm. Sometimes we wake up in the same position. It’s the best thing ever.
Frock Me is on C4 on Sundays
Interview by Caroline Scott. Photograph by Will Sanders
Frock Me is on tomorrow morning.
She never seems to come across very well.