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Golden Globes 2024: Jeannie Mai Shares How She’s Embracing Her Body in Her 40s

On the 2024 Golden Globes red carpet, Jeannie Mai exclusively told E! News how she's embracing her age after turning 45: "Bikinis all day."

By Corinne Heller, Lindsay Weinberg Jan 07, 2024 10:17 PMTags
Watch: Jennifer Lawrence, Dua Lipa and More BEST Red Carpet Moments! | 2024 Golden Globes

Jeannie Mai is keeping it real on the Golden Globes red carpet.

The Real alum, who is cohosting WWD's awards pre-show Eye on the Red Carpet at the Golden Globes, graced the red carpet at the Jan. 7 event in a black Carolina Herrera gown. 

On the carpet, Jeannie told E! News chief correspondent Keltie Knight how she's celebrating her body with her new "forty-thrive" motto—including posting a bikini photo on her 45th birthday Jan. 4.

"Forty-thrive is all about finally doing all the things you never did before," Jeannie explained, "because you were so afraid of what people would say or how you look—and I just thought, ‘Wait I'm in my mid 40s and I can wear a bikini.'"

She also feels that she works hard on her body and wants to celebrate it.

"I always notice that whenever you look back in your pictures, you always like more how you look then than you do now," Jeannie shared. "Every second, literally right now, we're aging and we're losing this moment." 

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Inside Jeannie Mai's Travel-Themed Baby Shower

So, for her, she's realized, "If you don't grasp it now, when are you going to do it? When you're 60, looking back? So forty-thrive."

Watch more of Jeannie's interview on E! News Jan. 8.

But amid the glitz and glam of the Golden Globes, Jeannie has another sweet event to focus on this month: her daughter Monaco's second birthday.

In fact, she told E! that motherhood has completely changed her outlook on life.

"The greatest feat you could ever accomplish has already been done," the TV star noted, "and now your biggest challenge in life is making sure that little one grows up healthy and happy. Everything else doesn't matter."

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

The family affair comes amid a new chapter for Jeannie, who split from husband Jeezy last fall.

In fact, two months after the rapper—his real name is Jay Wayne Jenkinsfiled for divorce to end their marriage after two years, Jeannie reflected on how she's been doing.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

"I think I'm doing better now," the TV personality said on the Jennifer Hudson Show in December. "At the time, when I found out at the same time as the rest of the world that my marriage was ending in divorce, I was gutted. Today, it's about picking up the pieces. It's about discovering me and being a mom to the best blessing in my life, my little girl."

She added, "Even though this year I met the most broken version of me, I also met the strongest version of me today."

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And Jeannie is taking that version of herself into the new year.

"If my story were to end right now, my heart would swell with overwhelming gratitude over how much I have already lived," she wrote on Instagram Jan. 4 while reflecting on her birthday. "I thank God for the growth. The achievements. The lessons. All I have overcome. And most importantly- for having loved so deeply that I can love even better today than I ever have before."

She continued, "My superpower is my authenticity, in not allowing life's pains to shape me into someone I am not. Even when I am walking through the dark, I will myself not to hold onto it. Hullo. I thrive in light hunnnay. I am thankful for my resilience and my sharp edges that have guided me this far. And I protect my softer side, for she is to be earned. There were many days I did not believe I would see another tomorrow— yet here I stand, blessed with another year, unraveling my love, lessons, and truth knowing that while I carry them, they also carry me."

See stars arriving on the Golden Globes 2024 red carpet below: 

Florence Pugh

In custom Valentino dress and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.

Taylor Swift

In custom Gucci dress and De Beers jewelry.

Margot Robbie

In custom Giorgio Armani Privé dress and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

Oprah Winfrey

In Louis Vuitton dress and Chopard jewelry.

Emma Stone

In custom Louis Vuitton.

Timothée Chalamet

In Celine suit and Cartier jewelry.

Jennifer Lopez

In custom Nicole + Felicia Couture.

Selena Gomez

In custom Giorgio Armani Privé.

Hailee Steinfeld

In custom Prada.

Ryan Gosling

In custom Gucci.

Reese Witherspoon

In Monique Lhuillier dress, Jimmy Choo shoes and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.

Emily Blunt

In custom Alexander McQueen dress and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.

Angela Bassett

In Dolce & Gabbana dress and Lagos jewelry.

Brie Larson

In Prada dress and Kwiat jewelry.

Jennifer Lawrence

In Dior dress and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.

Dua Lipa

In Schiaparelli dress and and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.

America Ferrera

In custom Dolce & Gabbana dress and Harry Winston jewelry.

Jennifer Aniston

In Dolce & Gabbana.

Natalie Portman

In Dior dress and De Beers jewelry.

Jeremy Allen White

In Calvin Klein suit, Ferragamo shoes and Briony Raymond jewelry.

Ayo Edebiri

In custom Prada dress and Boucheron jewelry.

Naomi Watts

In Fendi dress and Harry Winston jewelry.

Amanda Seyfried

In custom Giorgio Armani Privé gown and Pomellato jewelry.

Billie Eillish

In Willy Chavarria outfit and Anita Ko jewelry.

Julia Garner

In Gucci.

Julianne Moore

In custom Bottega Veneta.

Quinta Bunson

In custom Balmain dress, Jimmy Choo shoes and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

Meryl Streep

In custom Valentino dress, Bella Rosa Collection bag and Fred Leighton jewelry.

Rachel Brosnahan

In custom Sergio Hudson dress and Swarovski jewelry.

Matt Bomer

In custom Brioni.

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View More Photos From Golden Globes 2024: Celebrity Red Carpet Fashion
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