Marilyn Monroe was, let's face it, an absolute beauty. The screen icon was famed for her amazing smile, for her presence on the silver screen, for that oh-so-sexy voice and, perhaps most of all, for her enviable figure.
And now we know how The Prince And The Showgirl actress maintained her curves.
In a September 1952 interview with now-defunct Pageant Magazine, she explained that she used a series of WEIGHT-LIFTING exercises to keep herself in shape.
She said: "Frankly, I’ve never considered my own figure so exceptional. Until quite recently, I seldom gave it any thought at all.
"Each morning… I lie down on the floor beside my bed and begin my first exercise. It is a simple bust-firming routine which consists of lifting five-pound weights from a spread-eagle position to a point directly above my head.
"I do this 15 times, slowly. I repeat the exercise another 15 times from a position with my arms above my head.
"Then, with my arms at a 45 degree angle from the floor, I move my weight in circles until I'm tired."
She insisted she wasn't a fitness freak, adding: "I don’t count rhythmically like the exercise people on the radio; I couldn’t stand exercise if I had to feel regimented about it."
The actress went on to detail her diet, revealing she had a glass of warm milk, an egg and a multi-vitamin pill for breakfast, doubting if a "doctor could recommend a more nourishing breakfast for a working girl in a hurry."
For dinner, Marilyn opted for a protein-rich meat, such as "steak, lamb chops or some liver", with a side of carrots.
But the actress didn't say no to desserts: "developed the habit of stopping off at Wil Wright’s ice cream parlour for a hot fudge sundae on my way home from my evening drama classes."
So there we have it. Hot fudge sundaes, protein, carrots and weight-lifting exercises.
Would you be tempted to try out Marilyn Monroe's exercise and diet regime for yourself?