Obese, homeless and slowed down by age? Not images usually associated with millionaire Body Shop founder and tireless international activist Anita Roddick.
All three, however, were guises donned by the cosmetic entrepreneur for a series of Discovery Channel documentaries. In them, Anita, who co-founded homeless mag The Big Issue, sleeps rough in the capital's streets, dons a fat suit to test prejudice against the overweight and is made up to resemble an elderly pensioner.
"There are half a million homeless people in this country," she explains. "More than 500 people sleep outside every night." And for one week, the 60-year-old businesswoman joined them, sleeping in the street and living off what she could make by begging.
The latter proved no easy task for the fiercely independent Anita. "I hated it. I couldn't do it. I absolutely failed. I couldn't do it because I just didn't need it. I was so utterly, utterly embarrassed. I was having fights with the director."
While it was always clear that she had her luxurious Sussex home to return to after the experiment was over, Anita was adamant that she didn't skive off during her week on the streets.
"I never went home," she stresses. "It may be phoney, but whatever you think, living in a comfortable, middle-class environment corrodes your sense of empathy with the human condition. So putting yourself out there into these areas is a reminder that, 'There but by the grace of God...'."
It proved a challenging experience, but an eye-opening one also. "It's the lack of spontaneous kindness. That's the most shocking thing," she reveals. "People don't care. They don't give a fart."
Skin Deep kicks off on Discovery Channel on November 25.
