Dear Barbara,

I am so glad that Getting Physical was an inspiration for you! Unfortunately, the only copies I have found are on amazon and they are very expensive. I only have an old copy recorded from the television! Coincidentally, I responded to a similar question 2 years ago. That tv movie must have made quite an impression on many women. Working out regularly, and with weights, was a relatively phenomenon back in 1985. You can find a clip of me from that movie at http://www.veoh.com/videos/v756393kBT9YxkB. Disclaimer: that is not I in the long shots, only the closeups, as I am not a dancer.

I hope you are still maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle. I myself just got back from the gym, as I still lift weights. It is interesting, because when my first season on Baywatch I was not lifting, and then in my 3rd season I started again, and I can really see a difference, an improvement, in my body, because even though I always did at least an hour of cardio a day, the addition of weights seems to have sculpted and leaned me out better.

Best,

Alexandra

Chere Helene,

Thank you for writing to my brother in prison. I am very appreciative, and I know he is also.

How wonderful that you are a twin! Having Caroline as my twin has been the most defining thing in my life in terms of who I am as a person. She has been a terrific influence and inspiration to me, as well as my younger brother, Jonathan. I am two minutes older than she. In fact, since we were born in 1963 when there was no ultrasound, no one knew my mother was having twins until I was already out and the doctor said, “Mrs Paul, there is another one in there”. We went nameless for several days – Baby A and Baby B – until my parents decided to name us Caroline and Alexandra.

I lived in Paris when I was 8 and 9 years old. We lived in the 16th arrondissement, at the end of a dead end street, at 30 Villa Dupont. It was a crazy house with velvet walls and statues in the yard. I went to a French Catholic school (even though I was not Catholic) called La Providence, and that is how I learned to speak French – necessity, since no one spoke to me in English! But it was a blessing, as I retain much of it today, even though I don’t speak it often.

Thank you for writing,

Alexandra

We had a lovely Christmas: Ian and I shared the holiday at our family home up north with my mother, Ian’s mother and her beau, my sister, her girlfriend Wendy and our friend Jason . My mother is an excellent cook, so she did all the cooking and I helped shop for food and cleaned up after each meal. We played games like “Dictionary” in front of a fire and walked on the beach, even in the rain. It was wonderful and I feel blessed to have such a close family and great friends.

Happy New Year to you also!

Alexandra