As a 55-year-old woman with short legs, scars across my stomach from childhood surgery and a bosom so generous it can make me look dumpy, I never dreamed that one day I’d be parading around in a swimming costume on national television.

Yet as a contestant on ITV’s reality diving show Splash!, I’m doing just that – and couldn’t be more terrified. Ever since I agreed to be in the show, I’ve been petrified at the thought of exposing my physique in a swimming costume.

Yes, I try to keep fit and I’m a size ten, but I’m only 5ft 1in, and my body confidence is so low that I never go on beach holidays. The thought of walking down the sands showing off so much skin makes me feel ill with nerves. I haven’t worn a bikini since I was a teen – and even the swimming costume I wear to the local pool has a skirt attached to cover my legs up.

Despite this, I’m a devoted swimmer, and have always wanted to improve my diving, so I couldn’t turn down the chance to appear on the show.

But how to cope with revealing my body to five million viewers? Well, a flattering swimming costume to replace my usual baggy old pink-skirted one was a good start.

With this in mind, I enlisted swimwear designer Melissa Odabash — whose beachwear is worn by stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Moss — to help me find the figure-fixing swimsuits that could make even a flawed fifty-something like me look utterly fabulous.

If you’re thinking of escaping for some winter sun, there could be a costume for you — and, best of all, there’s not an itsy-bitsy bikini in sight!

• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.