Musician, businesswoman, mum of three - and now, Myleene Klass is adding Legend of the Savannah onto that list.
As this season's winner of I’m A Celeb Legends, the 45-year-old wowed fans by smashing every single trial that was thrown her way. But during her time in South Africa, Myleene got honest about her own experiences with body shaming – and now, she tells Grazia that she’s far from finished when it comes to changing the narrative around women’s bodies.
Whilst so much of the show seemed ‘like a homecoming', Myleene also admits that her return to the show marked a very different time in her life.
‘It was 17 years ago since I first went into the outback,’ she shares, ‘and I feel like I’ve lived 100 lifetimes since then. I went in this time as a mum, and as a real businesswoman. Life has completely taken a turn, and I owe so much to the jungle for how it kickstarted everything.'
And kickstart, it did. Myleene may not have been crowned Queen of the Jungle back in 2006, but after a certain teeny white bikini went viral (‘I was told it’s a pop culture moment’ she laughs) Myleene went on to build an empire based off her swimwear choices. Now a global fashion brand, Myleene Klass Clothing is sold in 33 countries across the world, with one item sold every 45 seconds.
Upon her jungle return, Myleene took the chance to recreate the infamous shot (although not with the same bikini, might we add, after the original two-piece was auctioned off for over £7000). And, whilst many took to slapping the two shots next to each other in an attempted spot-the-difference of the star’s physique, Myleene laughs, ‘What’s super interesting is that people think I’m offended that I’m compared to myself from 20 years ago and those photos are lined up next to each other. I’m like, it’s still me!’
Whilst sleeping with the spiders and tackling the tallest trial in I’m A Celeb history might not seem like everyone’s cup of tea, Myleene’s mirrorless jungle adventure came as a ‘refreshing’ escape from everyday pressures.
‘The reason we all look so ridiculous is because you don't have mirrors and have to become each other’s eyes,’ Myleene explains. ‘I mean, I shaved Paul Burrell and popped Helen Flanagan’s spots! You’re a little bit like chimpanzee’s, all preening each other.'
During their time on the show, mum-of-three Myleene and fellow campmate Carol Vorderman hit headlines over their frank conversations – including more than one on body image. During one discussion, the two women revealed how they had both thrown out their bathroom scales in a bid to ‘not to be ruled by a number.’
And now, Myleene tells us that becoming a parent marked a changing point in her life – saying ‘it’s helped me with who I am as a woman.’
‘I spend a lot of time looking in mirrors,’ she explains. ‘When my girls come to work with me – they’re basically dressing room babies – and they see me in front of a mirror getting my hair and makeup done. I have become so aware of little eyes on me, and it made me think a lot about what my role was.’
Ever aware of her children in the room with her, Myleene found herself turning complaints and criticisms into playful quips. And after flicking on the positivity switch for her three children – especially daughters Ava, now 15, and Hero, now 12 – Myleene began soaking up her own self love.
"You do not sit at my kitchen table and take yourself down"
‘I found myself saying things that, as a woman, we don’t say to ourselves,' she says, adding 'We are so critical, and that internal dialogue is not kind! Little eyes see big things, and I wanted to make sure that the things my children see are interpreted in a way that will always empower them.'
And once the dressing room doors are shut and the makeup is packed away, that empowerment seeps its way into Myleene’s home – from her kitchen table to the drinks in her fridge.
'I won’t allow the word diet in the house,' insists Myleene. 'From a very young age, my children called Diet Coke’s DCs. I do not want to hear people use the word diet – and I’m known for it! You do not sit at my kitchen table and take yourself down. You can cry, you can talk about your relationship falling apart, you can open up about the difficult times you’re having, but you do not take chunks out of yourself because of your genetic makeup.'
Born to an Austrian father and a Filipino mother, Myleene admits that she struggled to see other women who looked like her whilst growing up in Norfolk. She reflects, ‘I’ve been critiqued for my weight and imagine in so many guises, from being a mixed-race girl and not knowing how Asian I looked or how white I looked, to then working in the West End where weight was really monitored because you’re replacing a role.’
But it was only after joining pop band Hear’Say in 2001 that Myleene ‘really felt’ the weight of the world’s comments.
‘I was always talking about whether my performance was any good when I was in music college, and I always felt like I was in control because I would practise my way to different achievements, but suddenly, being in the band, it didn’t matter if I could play piano or not. It became entirely about what I looked like,’ she shares, adding ‘It all just felt so low and needless, in a way.’
‘What was difficult at the time was the people who were saying these things were my peers that I respected. You know, “yeah she can play piano, but if she just lost a few pounds she’d be so much better.” People would juxtapose pictures of us next to Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell, and I’d think, I’m a pianist. I never set myself up to be on the page opposite a model.’
"We're now raising a generation to be really embracing of themselves"
‘If somebody said the comments I used to hear to my own daughter – and she’s nearly the age I was when I first started out – I would step in,’ says Myleene, ‘And not just as her mother, but as a woman. It’s our job as the more seasoned veterans, shall we say, to make the changes for them. I never had anybody speak up and go, “Whoa, who do you think you are talking to her in that way?”’
And society’s reaction in 2006 would certainly not slide in 2023. No matter positive praise or negative critiques, any unsolicited comments on women’s bodies are a simple no.
‘There were publications that were allowed, and in fact were encouraged to shame you. There were platforms that drew circles around my body alongside headlines like “Myleene doesn’t seem to mind that she’s got a hairy armpit,” or “Myleene doesn’t care that she has stretch marks on show.” The fact we don’t tolerate that now is so indicative of how far we’ve come,’ she says, 'but it also says a lot for why we are the way we are. Those who grew up with a mum who was always yo-yo dieting or who went to dance school and was pressured into being a certain shape, we’re now raising another generation to be really embracing of themselves.’
Indeed, Myleene has turned body positivity into her own brand – having released a best-selling book of life hacks entitled They Don’t Teach This At School in 2022, as well as working hard to make sure her own clothing brand is as size inclusive as possible.
‘I look at so many designers who say they’re a friend to women,’ she says, ‘but then they use a 15-year-old muse and leave women feeling invisible. These guys are literally living in their Italian villas and making money off our insecurities. I don’t want to treat clothes as camouflage. I want women to put on my items and go, here I am. Stop making women shrink all the time.’
But body positivity isn’t a one-woman mission - and when it comes to the millions of women unashamedly setting the tone for generations to come, Myleene says 'Oh my God, we’ve got Lizzo! I mean, my girls have Beyonce, and Lana Del Rey, and Billie Eilish. And hopefully, they’ve also got me, who can sit in a jungle and say, “you know what, 20 years ago it was like this, but we’ve made sure that won’t happen again on our watch.” Because we’ve changed it – and we’ve changed it for you.'
And when asked about what advice she’d give her former self, Myleene shares, ‘I want to say thank you to that 27 year-old who went into the jungle brave enough to do it. I owe her a massive thank you, because she was fearless. She put on that white bikini not knowing the power of it, and then harvested it onto something amazing.’
‘And 44-year-old Myleene? She’s helping to change miscarriage laws in parliament, she’s got a business, and she’s raising three children. Underestimate me at your own peril, because I can play the sonatas, I can win trials, and I can do it all in a bikini! All I want to say to both Myleene’s is holy shit, babe. Thank you.'
Myleene’s new swimwear range for Next is out now.