The interview

Tess Daly is the supremely beautiful and talented presenter of Strictly Come Dancing. It\'s the biggest show on a Saturday night and standing alongside the king of entertainment Mr Bruce Forsyth, Tess is the charming and gorgeous host who helps the couples cope with the terror of dancing a foxtrot live in front of millions of viewers.
 

To be totally frank, Tess looks utterly brilliant all of the time - whether wearing a scarlet ball gown or jeans and no make up. I can vouch for the latter as I see her at rehearsals. She\'s married to the extremely funny and handsome Vernon Kay and they have a daughter, Phoebe.

Bowls of M&M\'s?

I host the sister show to Strictly Come Dancing and so have known Tess for five years. I am not just saying this but she is extremely sweet and genuine and is the opposite of starry. She has never once asked someone to put a bowl of blue M and M\'s in her dressing room.

We always get quite giddy towards the end of the series because we talk about going away so I know she likes travel but we\'ve never discussed details. And as part of my exclusive series of celebrity interviews with BAA, Tess was a natural choice for me to quiz about her travel and shopping habits...

The travel bug

I have got a total bug for travelling. I\'ve got a wanderlust for it. Truly, I think it\'s because in my past life as a model I travelled all over the world and was on a plane at least 3 times a week. I lived in Paris for 5 years and my week would just be full of travel. One day I\'d be in Denmark for a shoot and then it would be straight to Munich for another one and then I\'d go back to Paris, have a sleep and then go to Sweden for a day. I was constantly hopping around and popping into new places so travel remains everything to me.

Why do you love it so much?

I think because you see life from another perspective and you can embrace a new culture, even if you\'re not somewhere that long. When I was a model I lived in Toyko and Paris and Barcelona and Madrid and New York. And in some of these places like Paris and New York I properly lived. I had the social security number and the apartment and the bike. And in that order. I love being nomadic and I enjoyed having no roots.

Power trip?

In your family who chooses where to go?
Me.

That\'s the quickest answer ever. I love it. Really you? Always you?
Totally. I\'m a bit of a geek when it comes to travel and I do loads and loads of research. I\'m always on tripadvisor.com - it\'s a brilliant website and I find out absolutely everything about the place I\'m going. And I really focus on the reviews - it can be the greatest hotel in the world but if I read something that turns me off, like someone found beard hair in the sink then that\'s it and I can\'t go.

If you fancy Austria and Vernon fancies Australia then who wins?
Me. Every time. I always get my own way when it comes to travel and I think he quite likes it in a way. Only problem is that then there\'s pressure when we get there. If it\'s not great then it will be all my fault.

Sleepless nights

What\'s your preferred reading material, books or magazines?

Usually magazines but some with a bit of content. I adore Vanity Fair and I also love Condé Nast Traveller. I\'d probably prefer to be reading a book but when you\'re travelling with a little one it\'s extremely hard to focus in on a book for just a couple of minutes. At least with a magazine you can dip in and out.

How excited do you get before a holiday? I, for example start acting like a 12 year old the night before

I get totally excited and then I\'m useless at sleeping the night before a flight. When I go long haul I know I\'m looking after our baby I really try to sleep beforehand. I mean I know there are two of us but I spend a lot of the flight looking over at Vernon. He\'s usually got a nice glass of red wine and his headphones on and he\'s laughing at the film he\'s watching. Bless, I don\'t mean it - he does try but I think the little ones want often want mummy when they\'re on the flight sometimes.

Shopoholics anonymous

When does your holiday begin - when you leave home, when you arrive at the airport or as you arrive at your destination?

It begins for me when I arrive at airport mainly because of the fabulous shopping. The second I\'ve checked in my holiday begins. What\'s great is it\'s free time - there\'s nothing else to do with it.

Which brands in particular do you look out for when shopping at the airport?

The only time I\'ve ever found Victoria\'s Secret beauty products were at the airport. I love their lip gloss and they do brilliant body creams.  Terminal 5 totally blows my mind. Now, even if I\'m just flying to Glasgow I\'ll get there a couple of hours early. They\'ve got Gordon Ramsay and Wagamama and then these amazing shops like Tiffany & Co. I need to eat and then I need to shop. In fact, it\'s worth flying just to enjoy Terminal 5. I found Marc Jacobs and Paul and Joe and I couldn\'t believe it.

Its all about the cashmere

Describe a usual outfit for the plane. Do you ever do little dress and heels or are you keener on a tracksuit?

I pack a separate outfit for on board.

Come again?

I know. Seriously, I\'m a pro. I take cashmere leggings and some cashmere socks and a cashmere sweater. Cashmere regulates your temperature and you know what flying can be like - either it is freezing or boiling hot so with the cashmere I\'m always at the right temperature. I don\'t like to travel in anything that isn\'t a natural fibre because your skin can\'t breathe otherwise.

For Christmas I got the BEST present ever - it came in a Harrods gift box and it contained a cashmere eye mask and cashmere slippers. Isn\'t that amazing? Talk about the last word in luxury. They\'re purse size so I will always take them now. You can call me the cashmere queen and I\'ll probably look like a giant teddy bear. I always take cashmere throw for Phoebe too because they\'re so cosy and warm.

Cleanse, tone, moisturise

What\'s the best journey of your life?

I love that question - I need to think. The best journey of my life would have to be going to New Zealand when I took my mum to see my sister\'s home out there and for her to meet her grandchild. We\'d flown for 27 hours and we felt all wobbly and our legs were jelly and then we came out of arrivals and my mum met her 6 month old grandchild for the first time and I got to meet my nephew. That was really special - the jelly legs disappeared.

Name three songs on your iPod that would relax you during a flight.

Candy Staton - You Got The Love. Somebody Else\'s Guy by Joceyln Brown and something by Andrea Bocelli.

What\'s your pre-flight beauty regime? Which beauty items can\'t you fly without?

Moisturiser - tons of it. I slap 8 hour cream on my hands, my lips, my eyes and even my cuticles. I think skin gets battered on a flight so I put on as much as possible. I also wander round the World Duty Free store and buy eye creams that say they deal with puffiness.

Genius

License to thrill

Which celebrity, past or present, would you be excited to find sitting next to you on the plane?
It\'s already happened to me. And I\'m not kidding. My absolute idol, my life idol was at an airport and then he sat next to my husband on the plane. There he was at the airport and I was walking back from the loo and I saw him. Just sitting there next to Vernon. I went bright red and had to run back to the loo. He\'s Sean Connery and he\'s my idol and THERE HE WAS. Then we get on the plane and he\'s sitting with us! I couldn\'t speak to him because I would totally embarrass myself. He was my ‘dream love to meet\'. All I could say was ohmigod ogmigod ohmigod and my little girl was saying "Mummy, what\'s wrong?"  I was shaking the whole flight, I couldn\'t even look at him. I just thought he\'d see it all when he looked into my eyes. I put my blanket over my head and just tried not to look him in the eye. What\'s wonderful is Vernon and I told Pheobe what had happened after and now she sometimes just shouts out SEAN CONNERY just to see my reaction. Hilarious.

Beach seeker...

Which of these best describes you: beach bum, culture vulture, or thrill seeker?

Beach bum with a hint of thrill seeker. Basically I love the beach - everything about it is just what a holiday should be. I love the sunshine and the sea. I don\'t want to be dressed up at all as I like wearing a flip flop and a vest and skirt. That\'s total freedom to me. But I do like a fast jet ski!

What are your packing rituals? Any tips?

I would say I\'m a good packer and I never take too much really. The one thing I am pretty fanatical about is toiletries. My idea of hell is to be somewhere without a Boots so I always stock up at the airport. I\'ve also learned the hard way about losing luggage so now I label up and make sure my information is on all the suitcases.

Don\'t forget the conditioner

Have you ever used tissue paper when packing? And could you trust someone who did?
No. Never. Life\'s too short.

Is there something you always forget to pack?
Hair conditioner. Then I get weird semi pubic humidity hair.

What helps you to relax while travelling?
I\'ve never taken a nanny with me but I do wish someone would invent plane a baby sitter service so I could have a meal. That would be fantastic.

The perfect trip

If you could go anywhere now where would it be and who would you take?

I\'d go long haul to Thailand and I\'d take my husband who has so far refused to go with me but I\'m bringing him round. I love the food and the culture there so much so I\'d go with Vernon and our little girl. Failing that I\'d nip to St Tropez for a long lunch and a bit of people watching.

So Tess loves travel and she loves shopping. If Vernon doesn\'t fancy Thailand I\'ll go with her.

 To find out more about shopping at baa airports go to:

www.baa.com/shopping