Lessons learnt from Jamaican grandma helped Naomi Campbell in lockdown

Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell

(Jamaica Gleaner) Naomi Campbell has enjoyed being on her own during the lockdown.

The 50-year-old model has been spending time at home by herself amid the coronavirus pandemic, but said she was more than happy to do so because she knows how to take care of herself as an independent woman.

She said: “I was quite happy to be on my own. I know how to cook. I know how to clean. It’s actually good to get to really know every nook and cranny of your home. I mean, I have to be really honest.”

Campbell also managed to give up smoking whilst in quarantine, but admitted that she was almost pushed to relapse when a friend of hers took his own life.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell and her late grandmother, Ruby Louise Campbell Russel.

“I stopped smoking during quarantine, but a friend of mine killed himself, and it really affected me. I called my guy in Israel – he’s great for sugar and cigarettes and addiction stuff – and we’re going to do a session. He told me to just get through this week first,” she shared.

The supermodel suffered further hardship when her grandmother, Ruby, passed away at the age of 77 over the summer.

Campbell was “panicked” about flying from her home in New York to London — where she grew up — for Ruby’s funeral because of the ongoing pandemic, but knew she had to do whatever it took to be there.

“I just knew I needed to get to her. I was panicked to fly over, but I’m so grateful that I decided to [go],” she explained.

The star was raised by her grandmother, and praised her for teaching her the valuable skills she put into good use whilst on her own this year.

Speaking to Vogue magazine, she said: “Grandma was six feet tall, from a farming community in Jamaica. I don’t know those families where they put a man at the head. Grandma was the head of our family. A lot of the things Grandma taught me as a child came into play in [the] lockdown.”