Dick Van Dyke, 97, says ‘beautiful young wife half my age’ keeps me going

Dick Van Dyke is set to celebrate his 98th birthday later this year, and the Hollywood veteran shows no signs of slowing down.

The “Mary Poppins” legend — who recently wowed crowds with a live performance on “The Masked Singer” — spoke out about defying the aging process in an interview with Yahoo, saying there are four things that help him maintain his youthful vigor.

Van Dyke first credited his good genes for the fact he feels fabulous at the age of 97.

Secondly, the actor said that his 51-year-old wife, Arlene Silver, was instrumental in helping him feel young.

“Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me [helps],” the actor gushed over his spouse of 11 years.

Meanwhile, Van Dyke added that a “positive attitude” was key to keeping healthy, stating: “I get that from my wife.”

Lastly, the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star said exercise was important for people of all ages — but particularly for those in their older years.

“I wrote a book called ‘Keep Moving‘: I still go to the gym three days a week and work out.,” he declared.

“I advise everybody to do that, because that’s what ages people — it’s just a stiffening up and not exercising their muscles and their lungs,” he added. “Exercise is the answer.”

Last year, the actor was photographed looking fit and fabulous as he left his local gym in California.

Back in 2019, he told Closer: “I’ve always been an exerciser and still am … I get in the pool and exercise. At my age, they say to keep moving. Put me on solid ground and I’ll start tapping.”

Van Dyke revealed he does water aerobics, lifts weights and walks on a treadmill.

Elsewhere in his interview with Yahoo, Van Dyke spoke out about how Brits slammed him for the UK accent he adopted in “Mary Poppins.”

“Americans really weren’t too critical of it,” he stated. ” But the British have never let me off the hook to this day about my terrible Cockney accent.”

The actor revealed that Disney even sent a dialect coach to teach him how to speak in the distinctive voice and and that his co-stars never critiqued him about the twang.

“Here I was, I was surrounded by actors who were all British, and nobody had ever said anything about my accent,” said Van Dyke.” I just did the best I could. But the British, they’re still kidding me like, “Um, what part of England were you supposed to be from, again?”

During his recent appearance on “The Masked Singer,” Van Dyke was praised by the show’s judges.

“I love you so much, we love you, the whole world loves you so much. It’s an honor to have you on our show,” gushed Nicole Scherzinger. “I can’t believe you’re here, I’m trying to play it cool. You look so gorgeous, you look so handsome.”

“This is the most seasoned and most decorated we’ve had on our show, ladies and gentlemen,” hos Nick Cannon added.