Katherine Jenkins: fighting the Daily Mail one tweet at a time

Name: Katherine Jenkins

Age: 32.

Appearance: Perfectly groomed pin-up.

Sexist. Not according to me, mate – according to Jan Moir of the Daily Mail.

In what context, pray? The London Marathon. According to Moir, the Welsh mezzo soprano and classical crossover star ran the 26-mile course in "lashings of pink lip gloss, sooty false eyelashes and sweeping, coal black eyeliner". Also designer sunglasses and a fresh manicure.

Is that against the rules? No, but Moir hinted that Jenkins was using the marathon to publicise herself. Indeed, she implied that Jenkins' self-interest knows no bounds.

Did Jenkins have anything to say about that? Yes, she made her response via Twitter.

Well done – best to keep it brief. What did she say? "Jan (Moir), I wish you love & happiness in your life. I adore & support other women and I only wish you could do the same. I ran on Sunday in memory of my father & to raise money (£25,000) for an excellent charity (@macmillancancer) who helped him when he was dying. Yes, I twittered about it but I did so to share my progress & day with those kind people on twitter who had supported & sponsored me …"

I'm no expert, but isn't that more than 140 characters? Jenkins used a service that shortens tweets to a link, which means they can be any length.

Is there more? Oh my heavens, yes: "I ran in sunglasses because it was sunny. I tied my hair back in a pony tail because I expected to sweat. As if you had some insider knowledge you wrote I was wearing eye shadow, eye liner & lip gloss. Wrong again – none of the above – I had Vaseline on my lips, handed to us by St Johns Ambulance on our way round the route …"

Ouch! Take that, Jan Moir! Hang on, we're not done yet: "Next time you run a marathon Jan, I will be the first to sponsor you, because I know how much guts, hard work & determination it takes."

It did get a little self-interested there at the end, didn't it? Maybe a little.

Do say: "With her incredibly long tweet, Jenkins struck a blow for any woman who has ever been criticised for her looks by the Daily Mail."

Don't say: "That tweet got u 1000s of new followers! U go, girl!"