Charles Dance’s fitness secrets as actor goes naked at beach aged 77

Over the course of his 40 year career, he’s bagged starring roles in James Bond, Game of Thrones and The Crown and performed for thousands of adoring fans with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

And this weekend, Charles Dance proved that he’s no shrinking violet when he’s off-screen too.

The actor, 77, was pictured soaking up the sun on a nudist beach on the Spanish island of Formentera with his girlfriend Alessandra Masi, 55.

The father-of-three – who was married to Joanna Haythorn for 34 years until 2004 – proudly showcased his toned physique as he strolled along the beach before enjoying a dip in the sea.

Considering the star’s fitness regime, it’s hardly surprising that The Crown actor still has the confidence to strip off into his seventies.

Here FEMAIL reveals how Charles still looks as trim as when he made his big screen debut in 1981 – after admitting that ‘it’s better to be looked over than overlooked’ and still ‘feels 25’.

‘Obsessed’ with swimming   

In various interviews over the years, Charles revealed that he tries to go for daily swims to maintain his slim build. 

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2021, the star said: ‘My obsession is swimming. For the last five or six years I’ve tried to swim [in the Lido, a public pool on the Heath] every morning.’

The star said that his local lido is a ‘great place to think’ and joked that he follows the workout with a ‘cardiac-arrest breakfast’.

Elsewhere, Charles did reveal that he hasn’t always be happy with physique in recent years.

He added: ‘You get something called ‘love handles’, which are not nice. Either I go on a very strict diet, or I have to change my swimming apparel!’ 

In an interview with The Mirror last year, Charles revealed he goes wild swimming at Hampstead Heath in north London for much of the year because he is able to stand the cold temperature.

He said: ‘I’ve managed March until November, but there’s a point… six degrees is about my limit. It’s quite cold, it takes you a long time to warm up. But you feel great afterwards […].’

Discussing the attention his trim physique has garnered in recent years, Charles said: ‘It’s better to be looked over than overlooked.’ 

Talking about his daily swims with the Evening Standard, Charles added: ‘I was in the showers last week and an old chap, one of the regulars, turned to me while soaping up and said: ‘So, Charles, are you going to swim right through the year this year?’ 

‘I said I’d try and asked him what the lowest temperature he’d ever swum in was and he said 0C. Now, I happen to know that the Lido’s thermometer doesn’t register anything below zero, so it could have been -20C for all he knew.’ 

Love of Cycling 

What’s more, Charles has also previously discussed how he cycles everyday too. 

In 2012, Charles told the Evening Standard that he cycles to and from his London home for his morning swim.

He explained: ‘After my swim it’s a five-minute cycle ride back home for the full cardiac-arrest breakfast.’ 

The star has been pictured cycling around London several times over the years – including nipping around Camden on his bike in June 2019.

Speaking to Prostate Cancer UK in 2013, Charles said: ‘I am health conscious, an actor has to be. 

‘There’s no sick pay, it’s up to us to look after our bodies, stay healthy and keep working so I have regular check ups. I ride a bike, I swim, if I’m going to have to take my shirt off in a film, increasingly rare, thank goodness, then I pump some iron. 

In an interview with The Guardian last year, Charles revealed that his Italian producer girlfriend Alessandra Masi is also a keen cyclist.

He gushed: ‘She has a bike and goes everywhere on it.’

Yoga, Pilates and Weight-Lifting

When he’s not swimming or cycling, Charles has also revealed that he enjoys keeping active with yoga, pilates and weight-lifting.

In June 2010, he told Staysure magazine: ‘I do something every day, a bit of yoga, pilates and a bit of military stuff.’ 

Acknowledging that he is lucky he has been blessed with good genes, he told The Mirror last year: ‘I try to eat sensibly and I do a range of basic weightlifting exercises to work on different bits of your body, but I’m not bodybuilding.’ 

Speaking to The Times in 2022, Charles revealed that he prefers to do his pilates and yoga at home.

He joked: ‘I hate gyms, you walk in and it’s all, “Hi! Have a good workout.” F*** off.’

As The Daily Mail reported in 2008, Charles’ daily fitness routine involves a swim, followed by a hot shower and a cycle home.

After this, he reportedly spends an ‘hour and ten minutes of pumping iron, yoga and Pilates’. 

In March, Charles revealed that his marriage to Joanne Haythorn broke down after he came clean about ‘succumbing to some temptations’. 

Appearing on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, the veteran actor told of his ‘huge regret’ that his relationship with sculptor Joanne Haythorn came to an end when they divorced in 2004 after he admitted he had cheated on her.

The couple – who had two children together, son Oliver, 50, and Rebecca, 44 – wed in 1970.

The charismatic Dance blamed his behaviour on becoming an unlikely sex symbol after starring in the 1984 TV drama The Jewel in the Crown as he admitted he succumbed to his libido.

But he said he is grateful his ex-wife was able to forgive him 18 months after he destroyed their three decade marriage and are now ‘best friends’. 

Earlier this year, Charles revealed he is ‘lucky to find love again’ with Alessandra Masi, who is 22 years his junior. 

While promoting the film The Book of Vision, Charles said his highlight from filming was meeting producer Alessandra.

He said: ‘Alessandra’s fantastic. I’m very, very lucky.’

Discussing how his divorce has affected his life, he added: ‘I feel 35. I probably behave 25. It’s certainly been a period of change for me.

‘Some of the time I handled it well and some of the time I didn’t. It was difficult to get back into family life after being away.’

Following the divorce, Charles dated actress Sophia Myles, then in her 20s, who has starred in films including Thunderbirds. 

In October 2012, Charles split from his ex-fiance Eleanor Boorman – just months after she gave birth to their daughter Rose.

Dance missed the birth and jetted off to South Africa to film days later. At the time, Miss Boorman said: ‘Charles was filming, but he came down straight away.’

In 2022, he told The Guardian: ‘I don’t see much of Rose, unfortunately, but that’s just the way it is.’