Jo Wood interview: it's not all over now

Published on Monday 10 November 2008 22:15

When Rolling Stone husband Ronnie ditched her for a 20-year-old, Jo Wood could have wallowed in loss. Instead she's setting an example to women everywhere, writes Fiona MacGregor

IT COULD be all those organic veggies she's been guzzling, or simply the thought of a rumoured 50 million settlement, but something's certainly been putting a spring in Jo Wood's step recently.The Rolling Stone's wife may have dedicated 31 years to a man with a face like a geriatric crow and a serious issue with the bottle, only for him to run off with a 20-year-old Russian "waitress" (2. noun: tip-seeking hostess in cocktail bar of questionable repute), but she appears to have no intention of crying over spilled vodka.

Instead, just four months after her husband Ronnie's alleged affair with Ekaterina Ivanova made headline news, Jo, 53, has been enjoying nights out on the town with girlfriends including Kate Moss and another Stone ex, Jerry Hall, has started promoting her range of organic body treatments, and now she's even found herself a new boyfriend.

Earlier this week she revealed she's been dating Trinny Woodall's estranged husband, 48-year-old financier, Johnny Elichaoff.

"I met him and he was very charming and then he phoned me. I didn't actively decide to start dating, but I have to keep busy and get on with my life. I was flattered he called," she said.

Her response to her husband's betrayal is very different from that of many women abandoned in their fifties for a younger model.

She's said nothing nasty about him in public nor revealed marital secrets. Nor has she played the tragic victim allowing herself to be photographed unkempt or in tears. Rather she has retained a remarkable degree of dignity. Initially she displayed genuine concern about Wood's drinking when he first took up with Ivanova and encouraged him to return to the family home, but when she realised that was not going to happen she was wise enough to say "enough is enough" and let him go his own way.

"I'm a survivor and don't want to be the victim," she said last week. "I had a great life with Ronnie, but obviously he's made other choices. For me it's about moving forward. I'm having too much fun to think about money right now."

No doubt her thoughts will turn to money soon enough when the inevitable divorce proceedings (predicted to rival the McCartney settlement) begin, but so far Jo appears to be avoiding the path of bitterness down which so many divorces lead.

She may have spent her youth caring for Wood – she did everything from choose his outfits to looking after their finances as well as supporting him through his drink and drug binges – but she also had a lot of fun along the way.

In her younger days Jo's stamina for partying was legendary, even among the Stones, but her past hedonism has left no trace on her still-beautiful face – which is more than can be said for her husband.

The couple also had two children together and Jo seems to feel no need to sever the ties that still connect her and Wood. "We've been through too much together not to stay as friends whatever happens next. I'm still in touch with him and I've seen him and despite everything I still really care for Ronnie," she said recently.

Indeed, earlier this month she said that she's been having dreams about him. "Lately I've been dreaming of Ronnie. I miss his presence in the home; after 31 years together, I'm bound to need time to get him out of my system."

Yet despite recognising her loss, she's not allowed herself to be soppy or maudlin about her relationship.

By recognising their marriage was far from perfect, she's approached her newly single status with optimism rather than despair.

"It's now my time and I'm loving it," is how she has described her current situation.

"I feel free now, for years I have been at home cooking, cleaning and listening to moaning. But now I have so much work on and my family have been so strong, so it's been easier to get through everything."

And she has declared: "Everything is fine, and everything is going to be fine. The thing is, I spent so many years concentrating on Ronnie, dressing Ronnie, and looking after Ronnie, that suddenly I can now concentrate on me. So for example I have been dressing differently recently." When Jo was seriously ill for a while almost two decades ago, she responded by adopting an organic lifestyle. It led to her growing her own vegetables, making her own organic beauty products, which she developed into a business a couple of years ago, and becoming, what she has described herself as "extreme organic".

It was a typically positive response to a difficult and potentially depressing situation.

In a recent interview she was asked what her greatest regret was. She responded: "My greatest regret … I only have lessons in life. Every day you face challenges; it's how you deal with them that makes you stronger."

In dealing with the challenge of her marriage breakdown, Jo has shown acceptance for what cannot be changed, compassion for her troubled husband, respect for herself, and a positive attitude to her future.

It's a response that can only serve as inspiration for those in similar circumstances. She may have spent the past 30 years in the background – she doesn't even have her own Wikipedia entry – but it seems likely we're going to be hearing a lot more from Jo Wood in the future.