Martha Stewart told PEOPLE she’s vastly happier as a single gal just out there having fun with younger dudes as she turned 85
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Stewart said “The older you get, the less you really need a mate, I think. I wouldn’t want to be beleaguered with an older, ill person.”
Martha Stewart used to envy her married friends after her marriage fell apart in 1990, but now she says the joke’s on them because she’s got no stone around her neck.
The businesswoman and media personality recreated her iconic 1995 PEOPLE cover
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She showed up single and glowing.
She assured that she goes out plenty—maybe not on official dates, but she’s enjoying herself and says she got “lots of friends.”
On her living situation, Stewart doubled down on what she’s willing—and unwilling—to do for her appearance.
The mogul, who just turned 85, explained her philosophy by saying “The older you get, the less you really need a mate. I wouldn’t want to be beleaguered with an older, ill person.”
When pressed about her approach to aging and cosmetic procedures in the PEOPLE interview, Stewart emphasized restraint over reinvention.
Stewart was clear: she’s maintaining, not overhauling.
She told PEOPLE “Everybody insists that I’ve had plastic surgery and I have not ever had plastic surgery. The 84-year-old adds that a plastic surgeon did in fact do some reparative work on her face after suffering an injury a decade ago, but the homemaker doesn’t consider that to be plastic surgery.
“I’m the most honest person on earth — but if they won’t take my word for it, I don’t know. How can they not take my word for it? That’s the truth!”
She laid out the facts on that accident she’s mentioned before.
“I had to be at Today at 7 a.m. and there was a big blizzard. I leaned down in my dark kitchen to kiss the dogs goodbye. I put my head down to one of my French bulldogs and I frightened her and she bolted up.”
“She bashed my lip into my tooth and split it from my lip almost all the way to my nose and blood started gushing out all over the dog. I get to the hospital and I think they did 16 stitches in my lip. I can’t call that plastic surgery, that is a repair. It’s a terrible, terrible, terrible split lip… you cannot see. I healed so well. That is the extent of a plastic surgeon working on my face.”
She went on to address her wellness philosophy, which she’s discussed publicly on her podcast with dermatologist Daniel Belkin.
“My eyebrows kind of go up in a V,” Martha told her dermatologist Daniel Belkin on the Feb. 2024 episode of The Martha Stewart Podcast on iHeartMedia, explaining she doesn’t like when Botox is placed in the upper-half of her face. “That looks so unnatural.”
“The wellness mogul also shared that she’s undergone various body treatments, specifically across her chest and décolletage area. But her biggest secret to that youthful glow is a healthy diet and commitment to regular exercise.”
In a February 2024 conversation with Belkin, she clarified the procedures she does embrace—but within limits.
“Additionally, Stewart uses a combination of hyaluronic acid–based fillers as well as biostimulatory fillers, such as Radiesse and Sculptra, in her cheeks to restore volume via her own collagen production. She also does laser skin resurfacing, such as Fraxel.”
Her point was clear: maintenance, not major reconstruction.
“Then there are the skin-tightening procedures; Dr. Belkin recalls using both Sofwave and Ulthera, which use ultrasound technology to tighten skin, on Stewart.”
“We did do Ulthera, I remember that,” she says.
When it comes to bigger interventions like breast implants or buttock enhancements, Stewart made her stance unmistakable during this week’s PEOPLE chat about her aging without dramatic surgery.
She summed it up with characteristic bluntness: she’s not getting “boobs done and hips and butts.”
“I don’t think a lot about age,” she said, “but I don’t want to look my age.”
Her regimen includes the fundamentals she’s touted for years.
“I’ve had absolutely no plastic surgery whatsoever. I have very healthy, good hair. I drink green juice every day. I take my vitamins. I eat very healthfully. I have very good skin doctors. I’m very careful in the sun. I wear hats and I wear sunblock every single day. She added that she even stays away from Botox.”
One recent addition to her beauty arsenal is her own skincare line.
“The beauty entrepreneur, meanwhile, says her diligent skincare routine, which includes her recently-released A3O™ Elemental Night Cream ($165), is why she has such glowing skin now. The Elm Biosciences product is a third from the brand, which launched in September 2025.”
“She even referred to an Instagram selfie posted on Jan. 12 to prove that her skin has benefitted from the product—as well as her healthy lifestyle, which includes diet and working out. I took that picture right at the reservoir that adjoins my property and the light was so beautiful, that’s just daylight and it looks so good. But no retouching. You can’t see any scar and no lines. I mean, hardly any imperfections in my skin.”
Still, skeptics abound online, with some beauty professionals questioning whether her appearance is truly the product of lifestyle alone.
“Registered nurse Dana Omari-Harrell (who runs the social media account @IGFamousbyDana) is one of many who question Stewart’s claims, breaking them down in an Instagram Reel. In it, she shares side-by-side photos of Stewart, both 10 and 25 years apart, pointing out how her brows and lips are higher and her eyelids more visible.”
Stewart has not wavered in response to such scrutiny.
Her birthday this year fell on August 3, marked by a viral hot tub moment and a return to celebrating her status as a single woman on her own terms.