Now you're a busy girl racing around the world into the jungle
Heart radio. But can we talk about the jungle
for a moment? Yeah, we can.
I was a bit panicked because whenever I said to anybody I was
doing the jungle, they were like, oh, with the shower scene,
what are you going to wear? It, it is almost traumatic if
you're coming from that world of ballet dancing and then suddenly
your body, it becomes this different.
Yeah, as occasionally. What was your light bulb moment
between developing the boobs and the curves to thinking actually
this is great. I think that took me a long
time. I think for many years I've
wanted to it not be about my looks or my body.
And you know, I wanted to be a serious actress or a
broadcaster. I've always kind of fought
against it in a way. You have this extraordinary
confidence. Where does that come from, do
you think? Oh, I don't think so.
I think I always suffer a bit of imposter syndrome in everything
I do. I think so.
I mean, especially when I'm on a panel like Loose Women and
you've got, you know, Jay Moore and Janet St.
Porter and all these incredible journalists.
And they're such, you know, brilliant women and they're
clever writers and they're so informed.
And you think, God, am I going to make myself look silly?
Or do you know, do I belong here?
I think there's always that element.
Embraced the 2010 September cover of American Playboy.
I mean, wow. How do you feel about the aging
process? Today I'm going on a style
journey with the English TV and radio presenter, actress and
model. The gorgeous, glamorous and very
down to earth Kelly Brown. Thank you.
Hello. Welcome, Kelly.
It's very beautiful here. Thank you for having me.
I'm so envious of your apartment.
This is stunning. It's a good view.
It's never the same twice.
It really it all the time, as we do as human beings.
Yes, we do. Which is a good thing.
Now you're a busy girl racing around the world into the
jungle. Heart radio, the list goes on.
But can we talk about the jungle for a moment?
Yeah, we can. I mean, the clothing in the
jungle is a uniform. It is.
Actually that's that's kind of the joy of the jungle is that
all the things that we worry about in day-to-day life, like
what we're going to wear and how we're going to be seen, all goes
out the windows. So for kind of three weeks,
you're not really thinking about your appearance.
There's no mirrors in the jungle.
So and everyone's wearing the same.
So it is a little bit like going back to school where there is a
uniform and everyone's treated the same and everyone looks the
same. But what was really interesting
about the kind of jungle outfits that we wore is that everyone
would customise them to suit their own personality.
Like we would get a bandana and whether you wore it as like a
headscarf or or a bandana around your neck as a little kind of
necktie, it was kind of funny how people would like, yeah,
just kind of kind of like just it all up a little bit.
But your bikini? Yes.
Was your choice. Yes, I, there was a lot of
emphasis on this kind of whole shower scene in the jungle.
I know that Mylene Klass made this very famous with her white
bikini. And and I was a bit panicked
because whenever I said to anybody I was doing the jungle,
they were like, oh, with the shower scene, what are you going
to wear? And I hadn't really thought
about it that much. And what really kind of struck
me was the lack of amazing swimwear on the market for curvy
girls. There really isn't that much.
And I found it really hard to find anything that I felt really
comfortable with because I wasn't just laying on a beach.
You know, I'm in the jungle trying to survive.
I'm going down getting water out of the out of the stream.
I'm, I'm cooking over an open fire.
You know, I'm around people I don't know that well.
So it's, you know, that that kind of element of wanting to
feel confident and comfortable, but it also having to, you know,
be, I don't know, like functionable really.
So I bought like a bunch of different outfits and I had a
big try on and I found. Jeremy, your husband?
With not with Jeremy, he didn't get involved in this.
And and I found that the most comfortable ones that I found
was on next the, you know, the retailer next.
They had some great swimwear and I just took a bunch of those and
and they worked perfectly. But I don't think they've got
shown as much as I thought they would because I think I think
time's moved on. And I think a lot of people used
to watch the jungle for that shower scene and to see the
girls in the bikinis. But I think what, what I've kind
of taken from our jungle experience is just how everyone
got on really well and how such a mix of people ended up having
such nice relationships with one another.
And actually it was less about what we were wearing in the
shower and more about our kind of unlikely friendships that
were that were formed in there. And I thought, that's so
interesting how kind of times moved on to maybe when Myleene
did it back in the day when the whole focus was on female, the
female body. It's it's refreshing, isn't it?
You've just done this swimwear edit now for next.
Was that as a result of you thinking, what am I going to
wear for my bikini scene in the jungle or how did that come
about? I mean, if I was to tell you the
story, like going way back when I was a model, I again in my
early 20s, found it really hard to find fashionable swimwear and
lingerie. And during that time I was
hosting a show called Love Island.
And when we were putting together the the outfits for
that show, it was a brand new show.
No one knew what Love Island was.
It was like the first series. I found that going to vintage
stores, I would find that all the 1950s and 60s clothes were
fitting me perfectly. And a lot of the outfits that I
was wearing with like Jean shorts or like little skirts
were all 50s. And they were like kind of
structured and they were had corseting and they really
supported me. And I loved the style.
And I remember meeting with some designers and saying, look,
think we should create something here.
Like, I think we could do like a swimwear line, maybe for the
High Street, you know, maybe have a little play around with
some designs, watch the show, see what I'm wearing and what
I've sourced as my wardrobe for being the host of Love Island.
So you were. Sourcing your own wardrobe.
For that, yeah. My God.
Times have changed, haven't. They Yeah, yeah.
So I was going to, I mean, I was going to all different like
vintage shops and I was travelling between here and LA a
lot and there was lots of great vintage shops in LA as well that
I was like, and things from. And, and we ended up putting
together this like incredible wardrobe of like vintage jewelry
and you know, gorgeous, just gorgeous outfits.
Really. The designers were watching the
show. When I came back, we kind of sat
down and they'd created this beautiful range of swimwear and
we actually pitched it to some High Street shops.
And at the time, New Look were kind of looking for something
and there wasn't really a lot of kind of celebrity fashion
collaborations at that time. And they hopped on board and
they produced a very small capsule collection that we
launched, I think it was back in 2004 or five, and it sold out.
And then from that moment on, you know, for seven years, I was
kind of designing swimwear and lingerie for curvy girls, and it
was really, really successful. And then I think with like some
of these things, you know, you just kind of fall out of love
with that whole process or, you know, life moves on and you want
to do other things. And, and I just stopped doing
it. And then I think revisiting in
it now like at 46 and seeing that nothing's really replaced
it, Like there's no, there's nobody out there that's really
representing curvy women in that marketplace.
I thought, you know, maybe this is a great time to revisit and
so trying on all the all the kind of swimwear from next, I
kind of thought, God, this is similar to what I used to design
back in the day. Maybe I should revisit this and
maybe collaborate with them and and do this again.
Because if I'm finding it hard to find lingerie and swimwear,
I'm sure other women my shape and size are as well.
So that's kind of a rough story and evolution of where I'm at
now with it. So is it an edit or are these
specifically specific pieces that you've designed?
This is an edit, so I didn't design these pieces.
I would love to design some pieces because I've got some
great ideas of how I would like it to go.
But at the moment it's an edit because obviously I'm just fresh
out the jungle. You know, I kind of contacted
next and said, you know, I love your product.
I, you know, I've worn it, it works.
You know, is there a way that I can kind of be involved in this?
And, and luckily enough, they said yes.
So it's a, it's in the early these stages, let's say.
This episode is supported by Renu and Me, the next generation
teledermatology brand from the makers of Skin and Me.
If your skin feels like it's changed overnight, you're not
alone. What used to work suddenly
doesn't, and new concerns like fine lines, dark spots, or
breakouts appear. Our skin evolves and our
routines should too. Renew and Me creates
dermatologist designed, personalized treatments that
adapt monthly to your skin's needs.
Their advanced retinoid works 20 times harder than High Street
retinols to accelerate cellular renewal, smooth fine lines, even
skin tone and boost collagen, all precisely dosed in a
dermatologist approved formula. Paired with a smart base cream
tailored to your skin type, it maximizes results while
protecting your skin barrier. Expect smoother, firmer, more
radiant skin in as little as 12 weeks, all with ongoing guidance
from their UK licensed dermatology team.
Start your consultation today and get your first month of
nightly active treatment for just £4.99 with code Style DNA.
So we've got this lingerie collection launching with Next
Yes on the 4th of Feb. Yes, and then swimwear will
follow end of February. So February is going to be very
exciting. All the swimwear and all the
lingerie will be up sale. So watch this space.
Absolutely. And and I read that you are in
the process of creating your Italian brand.
Yes, yeah. This is the really well, this is
really kind of, you know, we've started this from like, you
know, grassroots. This is Jeremies family have
farmed olive oil for 600 years in Italy.
So generation after generation they have a factory there, a
beautiful farm. So the family all have different
kind of houses on the farm, people that live there.
Obviously the houses are nice. Our house is a little bit run
down that's very rustic, needs a bit of work, but but we go like
a few times a year and you can see that Jeremy's generation are
not going to be olive oil farmers.
They all want to kind of all the kids want to move out.
They all want to live in the cities.
They're not going to be there cultivating olives.
And you do wonder like what's going to happen to this farm and
to you? Well, and I've I'm in love with
it, but obviously to them, they've just grown up with it.
So they don't see the beauty like I see it and just how
authentic and real and unusual this whole setup is for me being
English going there, I just, it's like a fairy tale and, and
I just think I fell in love with the story.
And, you know, I think being a storyteller, being a
broadcaster, being an actress over the years, you know, I do
romanticize things because obviously being a farmer is not
romantic at all. It's hard work, really hard, but
we kind of have kind of romanticized it.
And I think the DNA of the the history of the farm is within
our brand. But we're starting with homeware
and we're developing fragrance. We've got a preview this weekend
and we're going to be showing product for the first time.
And we're really proud of it. You know, we've got beautiful
tablescapes. Go back to food.
It all starts with family being together around a table and
eating together. So of course we had to start
with plates and table runners and tablecloths and things like
that. And anyone listening to this,
where can they go to have a look at it?
Well, hopefully it will be everywhere, you know, Hopefully
it'll be available to everybody. You know, we want to make sure
that it's accessible. If you think of Italian brands,
you think of luxury brands which are not that accessible to many
people. And I think, you know, we just
want to make it affordable. We want to make it, you know,
for everybody, really. And it will be direct to
consumer. At the moment we're going to be
partnering up with different retailers.
I think so. Now today we're on going on a
style journey together, your style journey.
So let's start by you telling me what you're wearing.
Oh, this dress is from me and M I love me and him.
It's a lovely brand. I think it's really wearable.
After the podcast today, I'll be going to Heart Radio to do my
radio show. So I'm always very aware of kind
of not being too dressed up, but I always want to be kind of
formal when I'm, when I'm hosting.
We interview different kinds of people and it's an office
corporate environment. So I'm always quite aware of
that. So, yeah, so, you know, I just
like the pattern. I think I've got this in the
sale actually. Good girl.
Yeah, and the boot. These I actually pinched off a
job. I actually don't know where
these are from. This is a very stylist Jennifer
great. She she's brilliant.
Yeah, she's fantastic. She she styles like Catherine
Ryan and like like some really stylish and she's been on your
podcast. Catherine hasn't.
She she has, yes. So yeah, I pinched these off of
a job that she did for me before Christmas, so she let me have
them. I know that's the great thing
about doing shoots. I've always kind of got my eye
out on things. I think where are they going to
end up? Hopefully in my wardrobe home
with. Me now You grew up in Kent, yes?
Were you very aware of your parents style?
Well, my dad was a scaffolder, so not so much.
Yeah, not really. My mum is a tomboy, so I never
remember my mother like having manicures or facials or massages
or anything like that. You know, I come from a very, a
very working class family, so there wasn't a lot of emphasis
on clothes and style and beauty and appearance and things like
that. Coming back to growing up, what
what was your earliest memory of putting Bring something on that
just made you feel that little bit taller, more grown up, more
at home in your clothes? Well, I would say going back to
my grandma, she was the one that had, you know, all the kind of
amazing, you know, clothes in her wardrobe, like amazing coats
and jewellery and things like that.
So I always felt like my grandma was the glamorous 1, whereas my
mother was more kind of a tomboy and not so much into clothes and
fashion. And so I would always stay with
my grandma at weekends and she would let me put make up on and
dress up. And so during the 80s, I was
obsessed with Madonna. So I would have like the side
ponytail. I had a really bad perm, black
eyeliner, like tights, loads of crosses and crucifixes, like
very 80s, you know, the lace gloves.
So that was kind of as a child, like when I first remember
playing around with like, you know, my looks and, and what I
love. So that kind of whole pop rock
kind of era was what I loved. And do you think there's
something in you that still reaches back to that glam rock
era? I think once my body started
developing and I started to become, I mean, I wanted, I
wanted to be a ballet dancer. I would, Can you imagine not
with these boots, It's never going to happen.
So I think the things that I wanted to do as a kid, I think
once my body started just becoming what it is now, I it
just all my dreams and aspirations went out the window
and I thought, oh, OK, I guess my future is going to be glamour
modelling. How did you handle that at the
time I? Think it was really difficult.
I think it's really difficult. I was at a performing arts
school in London. I was at Italia Conti and I
remember I'd been there for like 2 years and you know, I was in
ballet class every day at like, you know, 8:00 AM.
And then with my little fun and, you know, doing, you know, and,
and just, I just love dance so much.
And then all of a sudden I hit like 12/13 and started
developing boobs. And then you'd, the boys would
like look through the window be watching me in the dance class
because I have boobs that all make fun of me.
And I was mortified. I was so embarrassed of my body
because it was just developing quicker than the other girls.
And it was just all of a sudden I had this like womanly body at
the age of like 1314. And it was just, it was really
difficult. But obviously now I love it but.
It is almost traumatic if you're coming from that world of ballet
dancing and then suddenly your body, it becomes this different.
Yeah. Physicality.
What was your light bulb moment between developing the boobs and
the curves to thinking actually this is great.
I think that took me a long time.
I think it was my mother really that kind of looked at me and
was like, I think you should be a model because my older sister
Sasha was a model. She was a fashion model.
She was 5 foot 9. She had a cropped like kind of
really short hair, really kind of grungy looking, but she had
an incredible body. And my mum would kind of look at
Sasha's life flying around the world, you know, working for
Vogue, you know, she was signed with models one and she had this
really amazing, like high fashion life.
And my mum kind of looked at me. She was like, well, I think you
could kind of do something like that.
You could be a model, but I just didn't want to be, I was like,
no mum, you know, I want to be a dancer or I want to be an
actress. I might perform in arts school,
but it was really my mum that kind of encouraged me to, to try
modelling and, and she would like, you know, take me around
to agencies and try to get me signed up really young.
And she really wanted that life for me because my sister just
had such an incredible life being a model.
So I think it was really kind of my mum's influence that ended up
making me kind of choose that path in the beginning once I
kind of left school. But in terms of, you know, me
embracing it and coming to terms with it, I would say now I think
for many years I've wanted to it not be about my looks or my
body. And you know, I wanted to be a
serious actress or a broadcaster.
I've always kind of fought against it in a way and wanted
to do other things because maybe I could have just been a model
and been very successful as a model.
But I always wanted to do a bit more and say, you know, there's
a bit more to me than that. You know, I do have a brain and
I do have other interests and other things I want to do and
something to say. So I think it probably, I think
now when I get asked to do a modelling job, I'm delighted.
I'm like, wow, amazing. Like, you know, I really embrace
it much more So because, you know, you think it's because
it's rare now, whereas back then I guess you're just like, well,
that's easy to do that. I mean, you have this
extraordinary confidence. Where does that come from, do
you think? Oh, I don't think so.
I think I always suffer a bit of imposter syndrome in everything
I do. I think so.
I think that's part of the I
don't know. I think you just, you know, you
put your lipstick on and, you know, you curl your hair and
you're out the door and you just put on a face, don't you?
I think there's a lot of times where you think, can I do this?
And we're actually, I mean, especially when I'm on a panel
like Loose Women and you've got, you know, Jay Moore and Janet
St. Porter and all these incredible
journalists and they're such, you know, brilliant women and
they're clever writers and they're so informed.
And you sometimes feel sometimes like, well, you know, they have
so much to say and you think, God, am I going to make myself
look silly or, you know, do I belong here?
I think there's there's always that element, I think.
I think it would be strange if you didn't feel that sometimes.
That's that's healthy. That's toes to the fire, as I
call it. Yeah, I never think I'm the
finished article and I always think I'm probably the most
stupid in the room and there's more I could learn so and I
don't mind that, you know? And your body confidence, where
does that come from? I would say a lot of it is from
relationships as well. You know, I think if you, you
know, if you love somebody and they love how you look, you
know, my husband loves my body. He loves my curves.
He's never made me feel. We've been together 11 years.
He's, he's never made me feel insecure.
I think when we met, I was maybe a size 8 to 10 dress and now I'm
a, you know, 12 to 14. So I've definitely changed.
But he's never acknowledged that or noticed that.
I think he loves it and I think that so that that helps.
But I think, I don't know. I think I have to.
I think I feel a responsibility to feel confident.
I do feel that. I feel like I'm in the public
eye and I see women, I won't say who, but I showed, you know,
some of my lingerie and swimwear pictures that I just shot for
next to some women that I work with who are in the public eye.
And I said, I don't really want them heavily retouched.
I think it's important to see a little roll over the OR a little
bit of a crease there or something.
And what do you think? And they said, oh, you're really
brave. I wouldn't be able to do that.
I'd have to, you know, because it's so easy to tweak pictures.
It's so easy to edit pictures and it takes a second and it
still looks like you, but it's not quite you and I really don't
want that. I really think it's important to
show who I am now and who what my body is and I am scared about
it, but I also think it's important to do that.
I think that's where I think that's where we're at and that's
how we move things along. I love that.
So I think it's important. But what advice would you have
to those women who just aren't fully comfortable in their body?
Oh, my God, Do we know enough of them?
Yeah. I mean.
I don't think I have advice. I think, I think by putting out
pictures of real bodies and and having real women's bodies
represented in campaigns and in fashion and on the catwalk and
on magazines, women of all shapes and sizes and of all
ages. I think that's how we move it
along. I don't think you can give women
advice. I think they're not seeing it
and that's why they feel insecure, because they don't
feel represented. And I think that's how we're
doing it. So that's why I want to be
Alondra's swimmer model at 46, that's a size 4, you know, 14,
because I don't see it anywhere. So maybe if they see it, they
won't feel so insecure because they'll realise that they're
normal. That's really beautiful and
really generous and I love that. I think it's to be applauded, I
really do. Would you say you've got a style
icon? I think it's more the lifestyle
really, that I aspire to. Brigitte Bardeau, who?
You remind me. Of she's Oh, you are.
Is that Bridget there? The Terry?
Yeah, Yeah, it's the Terry. Raquel Welch.
You know, everyone that Terry O'Neill photographs.
So Raquel Welch, Brigitte Bardeau, all those women.
I mean, I love those, that 70s bohemian kind of Sancha Pay kind
of vibes. But I also love, you know,
Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinelli.
I love the 50s. Gina Lola Brigitta, I see, I see
you. I see you in a Dolce campaign.
I just. Love it.
Well, Maya Jammer in the new in the Dolce campaign.
Like she's got such a beautiful body.
She's such a beautiful woman. Like I just love that whole.
But I think it's the essence of it and the lifestyle that I'm
drawn to. It's not just the, the, you
know, the physical beauty, it's just everything they embody.
I just love it. It's the storytelling it.
Is. I think so.
I think it remember. You as you as the producer.
Absolutely. Yeah.
I love it. I love that.
Do you think about the stories that your outfits will tell when
you put them on? Are you conscious of who you're
dressing for? I don't think you are in the
moment. I think in hindsight you look
back and you think, oh, that was a real moment.
I think if I look back over my career to some maybe red carpet
moments, I remember when I put on like this kind of pink kind
of bias cut Julia McDonald dress for the premiere of Snatch in
London. And it was, you know, a real
kind of moment in time when there was a lot of focus on, you
know, those guys and what films they were making.
And that whole kind of, it wasn't like a kind of, I mean,
it didn't really have, I mean, it had stripper vibes, but it
wasn't it was, it was like stripper couture.
Do you know what I mean? Because it was it was, yeah, it
was very much, you know, cut up the bomb and, you know, you're
kind of revealing everything. And it was a real moment.
But I think it was off the back of Liz Hurley wearing those kind
of safety pin Versace dresses. So I think at the time I was
experimenting a lot with that kind of, you know, being just
really confident and, you know, showing a lot of skin.
And I think that was very timely.
So when I look back, I think that kind of tells us the story
of that time because I don't think you'd see that on the red
carpet now. So it's really hard to know in
the moment that you're creating a moment because you're in the
moment. Does that make sense?
That makes sense. I mean, I, I, I know that you've
talked about your, your sort of style journey.
It's sort of almost chapters you just run me through.
Teenage Kelly was who? I mean the street trav like
gold, gold hoops, scrunchies, track suits, like I was very
like juicy kind of well, that was a bit late.
I was definitely a juicy kind of Ugg boot girl.
When I moved to LA. That was very much that
lifestyle kind of running around, you know, getting, you
know, at Fred Siegel's very much T-shirt culture.
But I think as a teenager, very kind of St. girl council kind of
estate like style. And then it kind of moved into a
little bit of an element of that kind of St. wear, but a bit more
elevated because it was more expensive, obviously in Ugg boot
and a juicy tracksuit was, you know, a bit more expensive, but
definitely lending. And then I think when I went
into my Love Island era, that's when I started getting into the
more period corseted 50s. And I remember Julia MacDonald
saying this suits you like when I started turning up to
premieres in vintage dresses. And it was really, but then
that's when I met Billy Zane, who was an actor and he was a
bit older than me. And he would introduce me to a
lot of movies that hadn't seen. And he would kind of say to me,
you really look like these actresses back from this time.
And so he really helped me. I was kind of his muse for like
a few years. And he would really help with my
style. And, you know, I remember him
kind of like throwing out all my juicy track suits going, you
can't be wearing this anymore. You need to put some like
something nicer on. And I was kind of upset and all
my friends were like, Oh my God, he's really controlling.
But actually I'm, I appreciated it because it was time that I
kind of moved on. So he was really, he kind of
really helped in terms of all of that, I think.
And was there any stylist in particular that you had worked
with during through the years that that you felt was sort of
really helped evolve you or would that have been Julian, for
example? Not a designer, Marcella
Martinelli, who's Italian. I mean, she worked with me when
I was, you know, modelling lingerie for the Daily Star
newspaper right up until I was hosting TV shows in my 30s on
ITV. And I was wearing a lot of kind
of Herve Leisure and Balmain and, you know, and, you know,
also very sexy figure hugging. But what I love about Marcella
is she never shield away from, you know, dressing my body.
You know, she didn't. A lot of stylists I've worked
with I've really struggled with over the years because I do
think there's that element of curvy women not really being
represented in fashion that much.
And for that reason, you don't really find clothes that really
kind of suit your body. And I think Marcella always kind
of found things that really suited my body.
And so I work with her quite a lot.
But yeah, it's been really hard actually to to find my person.
I feel like it's taken me a while to really figure out what
my own style is. And I think it has definitely
changed and evolved with whatever I'm doing in the
moment. So I've definitely changed a lot
as the decades have gone on. Have you found it hard to on the
on the fit front? Because obviously you've got
this tiny little waist and you've got curves, and a lot of
designers do not cut for real women.
Yeah, did. Yeah, did.
Did you experience that or have you experienced that?
Yes, I mean, I think that the designers that I would lean
towards would be Alexander McQueen, I thought was great.
I mean, I think he designed some incredible, incredible clothes
that used to fit me really well. Roland Murray was fantastic.
There was a time where there were that kind of style of a bit
more structured and and, you know, things that would kind of
nip you in at the waist. Vivian Westford, for example,
was great. So I would look towards those
designers that did, you know, kind of acknowledge a waste and
a curve. There wasn't many of them, but
there were a few. And I definitely think mosquito,
for example. So maybe, yeah.
So there are a few. Scrolling back to your modelling
that your early modelling days, your Page 3 modelling days, how
were you dressing then on the way to a shoot where you would
be taking off most of your clothes, if not all of them.
I was so interested because I think when I was glamour
modelling, I was still kind of a bit of a kind of young geeky
teenage girl. So even though I had this body,
I think it, it didn't represent my soul and who I was.
I was still a bit kind of preppy.
And I remember turning up with like little glasses on and hair
back and, and, you know, not glamorous at all.
I'd sit in the makeup chair and then I'd have, you know, the
hair blow dried and the makeup and put some lingerie on.
And that was, you know, that was kind of, you know, that was
that, but it wasn't who I was as a person.
So like I said, it took a while for the body and the and the
brain and the soul to all kind of connect.
It was all a bit distracted for a while.
And you it was like a child, child face and a porn star body.
It was, it was like that, you know, it just took a while for
it all to kind of fit together. And you clearly feel like it's
all fit together. Now I think so.
Now hopefully. Yeah, I think.
So, I mean, I'm 46 now, I think. Yeah, now I've just accepted
this is my body and and I love my body and you know, I just,
yeah, I think it's all kind of it all.
It all comes together in the end, doesn't it?
Totally. I mean, so if I asked you to
describe your style DNA in three words, oh gosh, 3 words, would
those be? I think confidence, I think
strong and I think fearless. Oh yeah, I.
Like that? Confidence strong and fearless.
I'd like to think that's my style.
Really, really inspiring. Now, you won FH MS-100 Sexiest
Women in the World title in 2005.
I mean, that's 21. Years.
I remind everyone at work about that and they always tell me
it's 21 years ago, get over it. Grazia's best British female
body in 2006, You graced the 2010 September cover of American
Playboy. I mean, wow.
How do you feel about the aging process?
In our industry, it's, I mean, we were talking about this
yesterday. I mean, people think we're going
to probably live to 150 at some point.
It's just, it's just, yeah, if you want to, it's kind of
extraordinary when you think, when I think about I look now at
46 to how maybe my grandma looked at 46, it's so different.
So I think, yeah, I just think there's so many things now that,
you know, I think we're obsessed with youth.
I think we're obsessed with looking young.
I'm I'm comfortable with the ageing process as long as I'm
all about quality over quantity. So as long as I feel good and I
can do what I want to do and be healthy and, and I'm still
loving life, then I'm happy. I'm happy to get older, but I
definitely feel happier as I get older for sure.
I think every decade I definitely feel more just
happier with how things are and I don't get stressed about
things that aren't working out on.
I don't, you know, just everything.
I just take everything in my stride now.
Whereas I used to get overwhelmed and it was a big
deal. Everything was a big deal.
And now it's just, yeah, duck, you know, water off a duck's
back. I don't.
I don't care as much. And that gets better.
Yeah, Oh, it does it. Really does.
Where are you at on tweakments?
I don't do a lot I'm I'm not really into invasive treatment.
So I think there's a lot you can do now.
Things like M face sculpting, which is, you know, just kind
of, I don't even know what it does, but just kind of like
toning and moisturizing hydration.
You know, I love having my eyebrows done.
I love, you know, having some colour put through my hair, but
I don't cover up greys or anything.
God, you are a poster child. Yeah, I just try to be, but I
just don't. I'm not.
I don't really have any. I've never had any surgery or
anything like that. I've had a bit of Botox here,
but that's only because I frown a lot when people are talking to
me and they think that I'm not liking what they say.
So I kind of relax that. So a little bit of a little bit
of Botox around this area and that's about it really.
Nothing else. Anything you recommend?
My God, I yeah, facelift. I don't know.
Yeah. I mean, they say just one
facelift is probably all you need if if that's what you want
like round here, but that's about it really.
And I look in the mirror and then I check.
You look fantastic. No, no, no.
You look great. Not about me.
You have a famously tight marriage.
Does your husband Jeremy have strong opinions on what you
wear? He doesn't, he doesn't.
I have strong opinions on what he wears, which I try and rein
in. No, I mean he is Italian so he
does like to look nice and he's got some lovely clothes, so.
What does he love to see you in? What's date night?
Kelly wearing date night. Kelly is, I would say just
probably or just a really elegant dress and a heel.
You know, we live in town, so we're not.
We don't really dress up, dress up.
I feel like we don't feel the need to and we and when we go
out it's usually to the local pub.
So we don't do a lot of bougie restaurants and things like
that. We're quite low key.
We're not kind of, I look at David and Victoria Beckham on
their nights out, on their date nights and they are like, it's
like they're going to a red carpet.
Like I'm not that, you know, we'll go because we take the dog
everywhere. So if we go out for dinner, it's
usually the pub. The best, the best way.
So I will dress up a bit, but not, you know, we don't really
do a lot of date nights. We should do more, actually.
That's actually made me think we'd actually don't get dressed
up enough for each other. That's terrible, isn't it?
That's what 11 years and the dorm marriage do.
Yeah. Tell me about your wedding
dress. There's a local dressmaker where
I live who's fantastic. She does a lot of alterations
for me for things. And I called her and I said,
look, I, I want to design my own wedding dress.
So she took me to this beautiful, I think it's called
Joel and Sons. Do you know this place?
OK, so we went to Joel and sons. So we started experimenting with
like lots of like Italian lace and we made a few kind of like,
we made like a lovely little kind of shirt dress with a
beautiful lace kind of sleeves. And So what I was making like
different things, not really knowing what I wanted to wear
because I thought it was going to be a really small wedding.
It was supposed to be a small wedding.
But my husband being Italian, it kind of, it just got a little
bit out of hand. And so instead of just being
like 15 of us, it turned out to be like 100 people.
And it was a big Italian wedding and it all in Italy, in Italy.
And it all got a bit much and I realised I needed a proper
Italian wedding dress that obviously I don't have the
experience to design anything like that.
I'm really good friends with Savannah Miller and she
contacted me. She said I would love to make
your wedding dress and she and her team made my beautiful
wedding dress so. Yeah, so describe it.
So it was corseted, it had lots of like beautiful kind of
ruffles here, beautiful veil. It had lots of Italian lace,
really delicate lace around. It was high cut here, so lace
around the chest. It kind of was inspired, I
think, by Sophia Loren's wedding dress that she wore in a movie
that I'd seen, and a bit kind of Grace Kelly as well when she got
married in Monaco. So it kind of had that very
classic, timeless feel to it, but it was very heavy.
And obviously Italy is very hot, so I just do remember it being
quite heavy in me, just sweating a lot.
So I wore it for the ceremony and then I changed into some of
the other dresses that I designed.
OK, so then what? I had, yeah.
So I had like three other changes.
So I went for this kind of little kind of blazer which had
a shorter veil for the party the night before the welcome dinner.
I had like some white trousers which had, I can't remember that
I had like a kind of, I think it had like a kind of veil on the
back that was attached. I can't remember.
Lots of different changes. It was when you get, when you
get married aboard, it's like, it's not one day, is it?
It's just like multiple changes multiple.
Events. Yeah, it was fun though.
I just remember experimenting a lot and having a lot of fun with
it, but my wedding was quite traumatic.
I don't know if have you been married.
Yes, twice. Yeah.
Oh, my God. You did it.
I could only. I could do it again.
I found it so stressful, the whole thing.
I don't even remember. I don't even remember what I
ate. Everyone says, Oh my God, the
desserts at your wedding were unbel.
I don't even remember. It was such a blur.
I found it quite overwhelming, getting married.
Did you? Yeah, the whole thing, even
talking about it now, it's making me hot.
It was a lot. I don't ever want to do anything
like that again. Have you ever been a bridesmaid?
I have when I was a kid, yeah, that was much better to be a
bridesmaid, not the bride. No.
No traumatic bridesmaids dresses.
No. Not at all.
What do you think is the most important event that you've ever
had to dress for? I think my wedding definitely my
wedding. You know, we were talking about
red carpets earlier. How do you go about choosing
your red carpet look? Well, it all depends on the time
of year, obviously. Yeah, I think a lot of red
carpets, unfortunately, in the UK.
Oh, wet, wet red carpets. Yeah.
I mean, I love Ala red carpet because it's always sunny and
you feel fabulous. But it all depends, you know?
It depends, you know, if I'm at the Cannes Film Festival, for
example, depends what designers are there and who's showing and
you know, who's willing to dress me.
Really. I mean, it is about that.
I mean, a lot of designers want to dress you.
Some don't. It all depends.
It's not always your choice. Do you ever take that personally
when a designer says no, I'm not dressing you?
Well, it's just depends on what you know, what you're doing and
if if what they want, how they see their brand, if it's a line
in with your brand. I mean, it's all about that,
isn't it? Especially with fashion, I
think, you know, I would imagine, I mean, you're a
fashion designer. Was there people that you wanted
to dress and people you didn't want to dress?
I mean if you dress Princess Diana, are you then going to
address the page three girl for the for the same red carpet?
You know, it's it's all dependent on sort of where
you're taking the the brand. Yeah, really.
But I I feel like that has all all those edges have been
blurred now. I feel it's a different era now.
Yeah, I really do. You know, where content creators
are really being taken seriously by the fashion world?
Yeah, when they weren't 10 years ago.
Do you know who who never is never snobby and who loves
everyone and celebrates everyone is Philip Tracy.
I always found him to be so lovely.
I feel like he treated me the same that how he treats the
royal family when he dresses them for Ascot.
That's how he treated me. And, you know, I think that says
a lot for their confidence in their craft and what they they
do, that actually their work speaks for itself.
And it actually is irrelevant who it's sitting on.
He makes hats for everybody. And actually, that's my point.
I I just think we're, we're in a different era now.
Yeah. Who are your favorite designers
of the moment, or brands or High Street stores?
Where do you really enjoy going into?
I just think and the French brands for me that what I shop
and what I live in day-to-day are those kind of mid brands.
I love the bash, the Sandro, the Marge, the me and Ember.
You know, those brands for me are great if I'm, if I'm kind of
walking the dog and I'm out and about, I love Valley.
I think that as terms of leisure, where I think Valley's
like fantastic. And I always feel a kind of
smarter version of, you know, dog mum or someone that's, you
know, meeting a friend for coffee that's just like run out
the gym. I think there's, I think the
brands, those that really kind of capture your lifestyle in
terms of like luxury brands. And with money was absolutely no
object. I think Chanel.
I do think Chanel. I just think I just love
everything they do. I love their bags, I love their.
I love their shows that they put on.
I just think, I just think they have that really good kind of
balance of that kind of French chic with that kind of rock
edge, that rock'n'roll edge. It's just cool.
It never feels mumsy. It's just, I just love it.
I love Chanel. Interesting and and handbags.
Handbag wise I would probably always go for either.
Probably Chanel. Probably Chanel or a nice Hermes
Birkin. Actually should solve my Birkin
Not that long ago. Did you?
For about 5 times what I bought it for.
Go away. Yeah.
How did you sell it? I said I sold it through a, it
wasn't versatile, but it was like a, a company like that.
I mean, it was a beautiful bag, but I'd had it and I'd used it
and I'd enjoyed it and, you know.
And now do you still buy Chanel bags, designer bags or where?
Where are you at on the designer bag front?
I mean, it's, I do, but I'm very mindful that I live in London
and I don't, no, I don't want to be targeted for my bags because
people are. So I'm very careful about, you
know, very expensive designer things and jewellery and things
like that. I don't really purchase things
like that anymore and I don't really have things like that
anymore. Let's talk about glam.
Yes, obviously. You get hair, makeup, nails, all
the rest of them done for you a lot.
Do you do your own at all? Sometimes I do, but a lot of the
time I have great girls who come and give me a blow to.
Like today, this is Mel, she came and did my hair and makeup
for you. Because sometimes it's nice and
I feel like it is kind of part of it.
That adds to your confidence, you know?
You know people are going to see you, so you want to be your best
self. And it's not my area of
expertise doing hair and makeup. I'm not.
I'm OK at doing my own, but I'm not brilliant at it.
You know, but so interestingly, you're off to heart radio next,
but you feel the need to dress for the event.
Well, radio's very much a male dominated culture, so there's a
lot of men in the office. So it is funny because I would
never go into heart like usually in a lovely dress and and hair
and makeup like this. So when I go to work today, they
will be like where have you been?
Because I go in usually a little bit kind of on the down low.
I wouldn't be like this, but I'd wear an all right dress.
But it I'm very much a corporate kind of I wouldn't.
I don't go in as like it's funny actually, because some of the
girls do. I know Amanda Holden, she's in
full glam in the morning. I don't know how she does it,
but I don't I get a little bit shy.
I like to be one of the boys, but they will, they'll all say
to me wherever you've been, what have you been doing?
You've been on TV today because they'll, they noticed the
difference straight away. That's.
So funny. Let's talk about your wardrobe.
Is it very organized? It is actually, I'm really good
at like kind of, yeah, I don't like having a lot of things and
a lot of choice. I get quite overwhelmed.
So I'm really good at having a good clear out and taking things
to charity or reselling things. I'm really, really good at that
and I've done that a lot over the years.
And for those important red carpet moments, have you, have
you kept those pieces? Are they archived or do they
just go straight back to the design?
They've all been auctioned. I've got everything auctioned.
I've been, yeah. I really feel it's really
cathartic. I, you know, I had a whole
storage unit that was full of vintage pieces, designer pieces,
and it was all kind of stored really well.
And it was all in the right paper.
And it was like, you know, as if it was in a museum and it was
just kind of sitting in a room. And I just thought, you know
what? I let me just kind of get rid of
this now. And I feel so much better for
it. I think when I got married, it
was really a turn in a page. And it was really kind of about,
you know, downsizing my life, downsizing the clutter and
letting go of things that no longer serve me.
And a part of that was getting rid of a lot of wardrobe.
And how did you actually physically do that?
Did you do it through an auction house?
Auction house yes, Hanson's auctioneers, they did a big kind
of sale and. And it was the Kelly Brook.
It was kind of like some of it was kind of related to TV shows
or some of it was things that I'd won.
Like even if it was like, you know, I'd been a showgirl at the
Crazy Horse in Paris for a minute and I had like some bosti
crystals, like bustiers and things like that.
And we, you know, we auctioned those and Strictly Come Dancing.
I had outfits from that show that I'd done back in the day.
And, you know, I just, I just sold everything.
It all just went. Over the years you've obviously
had your portrait taken a lot. So you've you've had the
modelling persona, but then you you personally have had your
portrait taken a lot as you. Are you very controlling about
that image? I, I used to be very, very
strict about who would take my picture and who the glam team
were and, and everything. And, and I think that did serve
me really well for a moment in time when I kind of knew what
was what. I think now I kind of trust
other people to tell me because I'm not, it's not really, I'm
not a model anymore. So I'm not in the game as much
as what I used to be. I work in audio now I'm a radio
presenter. So I'm not having my hair and
makeup done every day and having my picture taken every day.
So I definitely a guided a bit more.
But back in the day, like for example, when I shot Playboy, I
was very strict about who was going to take that shit.
Like who was going to photograph me for Playboy?
I thought that was very because Playboy can be many different
things to people. And I thought I wanted it to be
more of a fashion moment rather than for the male gaze, even
though it is. And so having a female
photographer like Ellen von Onworth shoot me for that was
really important because she, in my eyes, has taken pictures of
some of the most beautiful women in the world and some of the
most iconic pictures if you think of, you know, Anna Nicole
Smith in the guest campaign or Claudia Schiffer.
I remember Claudia Schiff has showed me some beautiful images
of her that Ellen had taken in San Tropez that had never been
published. And I was.
I. Was at Claudia's house and she
was like, showing me all these kind of outtakes and she'd never
published them because at the time I think she had a deal with
Revlon and they were too sexy. And she, you know, to keep all
of her commercial brand deals. They felt that it was just too
sexy. But I just remember poring over
these pictures, thinking, oh, if Ellen can take my picture one
day, I would have made it like, because, you know, they were
just the most stunning pictures of Claudia.
And so when Playboy came around, I was like, if we can get Ellen,
please, can we get Ellen? And she did it.
I was so happy. And do you have loads of
pictures of you up at home? Oh no, Not one.
Stop it. Not one, no.
I have one photo in my living room of Raquel Welch by Terry
O'Neill on the cross. That's that's the only picture.
No, I don't have any pictures of myself.
I can think of nothing worse. Oh my God.
I. Do have the magazines and
everything, but they're all in a storage unit down in Kent near
where my mum lives, locked away. Maybe I'll look at them one day.
No, once it's done, it's done. It's like gone.
That's. Fantastically refreshing.
Would you say you had a worst fashion moment?
Oh, I've had. Several, I think probably
several red carpet moments. Which one sort of really sticks
in your memory? Gosh God, there's one at the
Evening Standard Awards. I've wore this beautiful, like
this beautiful dress and the wind blue and showed my knickers
and they were just the worst knickers.
And I thought, oh God, I'll never make that mistake again.
So sometimes it's not always what you wear.
It's what happens on the red carpet.
It's what you've got to worry about.
If you've 444 or flash something you shouldn't, that happens.
Oh my goodness. Let's talk about sustainable
fashion. Yeah.
What's your approach to it? I mean, I'm all for it.
I mean, I, you know, I unfortunately with what I do,
you know, there's this kind of expectation of always having to
wear a different thing every day.
But I've really found that, you know, at Loose Women and ITV,
you know, we really try and resource a lot of the fashion
and what we wear and they really encourage you.
We actually have days where you have to wear something you've
worn before. So they really encourage it.
So I'm, you know, we're all working together to try and
encourage that more and, and make it the norm to be seen in
the same dress more than once. Because, you know, in our
industry, it's not really what you used to do.
You'd always have a different outfit on every day.
But that's why I love the radio, because isn't the focus isn't
necessarily so much on what you're wearing every day.
So we can repurpose things a bit more.
But yeah, I'm more for it. I mean, you know, I take stuff
to charity or give things away to friends and family and I
don't buy that much really. I really do.
Not as much as I used. To do you get bombarded.
I don't want it. I don't, I don't ask for
freebies. I really don't want it unless
there's boots on a shoe that I like and I know I'm going to
wear, I'll take. But I, I don't give PRS my home
address. I get furious when I get sent
things. I know that's so bizarre, but I
just don't. I get so overwhelmed being sent
gifts and that expectation that you've got to post or tag or I
just don't. I'd rather just not have it and
I just don't want it in my house.
I just like what I like and I don't buy them a lot and I don't
want to be gifted a lot. No, that's fantastically
refreshing to hear. It really is.
Yeah, I see influences and they just, I just looks like their
house is just full of clothes and oh God, I.
Think no, I think I. Could bear it.
So overwhelming and and then it loses its authenticity and, and
all the rest of it. Yeah, yeah.
So in terms of charity shops, where do you do you have a
specific one that you love to give to?
Yes, there's one in Bells Eyes Park that that we give to a lot.
Was actually there two weeks ago.
It's the Marie Curie Foundation just on the corner.
They're great in there and they know me there because there's
been a few times where things have gone in the bag that
shouldn't have gone in the bag and I've had to go and buy it
back. Do you remember that?
It's like the worst thing. You're like, oh, that, that
leather jacket should not have gone in and we have to like.
Panic. Go down and be like, oh, can we
just give a little donation to get it back?
Where Amanda Holden's grandmother had taken a whole
rail of clothes in to the charity shop.
No, she'd had sort of out ready to, you know, to work with, to
style to all the rest of it. And they all got sent down to
the charity. You should have.
To go and get it. All I think so it.
Happens, yeah. Let's spin on to some quick fire
questions, fashion advice you'd give your 20 year old self.
I would say go with your own instincts and and, you know,
don't be told what to wear always, you know, kind of go
with what you know, because I definitely been coerced into
wearing things that I probably shouldn't have done or, or not
had the confidence to kind of follow my own path.
And yeah, just that influence really around you.
Fashion trend that you'd most like to see make a comeback.
I mean, I do love a juicy tracksuit, but I think they have
made a comeback. I think the 90s has definitely
made a huge comeback. Fashion or beauty trend that you
would consign to Room 101. The mullet, I think it's more of
a haircut. You.
Know just coming back from Australia on the Gold Coast,
Beautiful men. They all had mullet.
I just don't. They're all in their 20s, like
one of our drivers, gorgeous, gorgeous young man.
And I was like, what is it with the hair?
He said. This is the thing here, everyone
has mullets there. I'm just dreading it coming back
to London. Your last impulse buy?
It was Chanel. It was.
But it was, it was an investment piece.
It was a new wallet. I have it somewhere.
It was a new wallet. She justifies it, yeah.
And it's not on show, it's hidden away.
It's in my handbag, but it's a really nice wallet from Chanel.
Views on tattoos. Oh, not for me, not for me.
Beauty treatment you couldn't give up.
And lovely. Like face massage.
Like facials and face massage? High end or High Street?
I think high end quality over quantity.
Bling or bear? I do like a bit of a bling.
Summer or winter? Summer Minimalism or maximalism
I. Think maximalism.
I think you can tell about this pattern on my dress.
Couture or charity shop? I want to say charity shop.
I think I'm going to say couture.
Have you ever had anything made for you at a couture house?
No, no Crocs, cute or puke. Thank you, I love a croc.
Sneakers I. Will you live in an apartment if
you lived? It's on the ground floor.
It's like kind of take your bins out style, isn't it?
I'll give you that. Sneakers or stilettos?
Sneakers. Boyfriends or wide legs?
I'm kind of going for the wide leg only at work because all the
kids at work say that I have. If I have skinny jeans, they're
just not going to talk to me. They have to be wide legs.
Bodycon or boho? Fo ho.
Beanie or baseball cap? Beanie.
Sports Lux or Rock chick? OH.
I love this sports lux Cavalli. Red carpet or relax?
Relax. Trend or style?
Style. Experimental or uniform?
I kind of like a uniform. I haven't got to think about it
then. Cashmere or cotton Cashmere,
Hoarder or editor? Editor, shapewear or sexy
lingerie? Sexy lingerie.
Tights, stockings or hold eggs. Tights.
Bikini or one piece? I like the One Piece at the
minute. Finally, traditional last
question. At the end of the day, what do
you or don't you wear in bed? I don't wear anything.
That doesn't surprise me. Kelly, thank you so much for
coming on a style journey with me today.
So fun, I've loved it. I've learned so much about
myself doing that I never they're questions I never asked
myself or think about. Thank.
You little style therapy. Yeah, absolutely.