Helen Mirren praises Kim Kardashian West

Helen Mirren has praised Kim Kardashian West for showing women they can be curvy and sexy.

While the 70-year-old actress is not a fan of the 35-year-old star’s reality TV show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’, she admires Kim for promoting body positivity.

She said: "I’m not into the Kardashians, it’s a phenomenon I just don’t find interesting, but – and this is the big word: B-U-T-T – it’s wonderful that you’re allowed to have a butt nowadays! Thanks to Madame Kardashian, and before her, J-Lo. We’re also allowed to have thighs now, which is great too. It’s very positive."

And Helen revealed she has a special admiration for "shameless" women who are pushing boundaries.

She explained: "When I was growing up, it was thought to be unbelievably sluttish to even have a bra strap showing. Everything was about women conforming. I love shameless women. Shameless and proud!

"Women were controlled by being shamed, so I love women who have claimed their own bodies: Madonna, Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, Bonnie Raitt. I love Pussy Riot more than anything in the world. They all raise their middle fingers to this epithet of ‘sl*t’ They wear what they want to wear, behave as they want to behave."

Meanwhile, Helen – who has been married to Taylor Hackford for 19 years – has no regrets about her life and even has fond memories of all of her past loves.

She said: "I have lived the life I wanted. You never know because it’s all a crap shoot – terrible things can happen to knock you off your perch and make life hard, so I fully understand how fortunate I have been.

"And I have had a series of very, very good men in my life. My husband, obviously, is the uber good man, but all the men I had relationships with brought something positive to my life."