IT is almost 25 years since a shy teenage Kelly Brook made her modelling break-through and earned a place in men’s hearts.
She became a lads’ mag pin-up, host of cult show The Big Breakfast, has had roles on the West End, Hollywood and radio and was named the world’s sexiest woman.
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Today the green-fingered presenter, who is a gardening correspondent on TV’s This Morning, insists she won’t be shying away from the camera any time soon.
Kelly, 40, told The Sun on Sunday: “I was dirty in my thirties, I’m naughty in my forties and I’m going to be fit as f*** in my fifties.
“Obviously it’s still important for me to look as good as I can. When you’re younger everything is a bit easier, isn’t it? But now in the morning when I wake up, my lower back hurts a little bit.
“It really hurts in the morning and I need a good walk and a stretch to get going. Honestly, my back kills me.
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“I do miss being able to bounce around and not ache and feel pain when I go to the gym, but I wouldn’t want to be 20 again, no way.”
In an exclusive interview, Kelly — who launched Gardening Week last Sunday — opened up about her heartbreaking attempts to become a mum, failed relationships and the impact of her father’s death when she was 27.
She also told how she was frightened of Paul Hollywood during her recent stint on Celebrity Bake Off and might have performed better had competitor and Countdown legend Carol Vorderman not got her drunk.
Kelly had created a champagne sponge cake topped with a marzipan female figurine hanging out of a bath tub. Judge Paul rather crudely sliced the cake between its legs.
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She said: “That was a bit brutal, he’s a bit scary. But they were all lovely, actually, and I know I didn’t win the show but I blame Carol Vorderman for that.
“She got me drunk. She was like, ‘Come on Kelly, we’re making champagne cakes, let’s drink the champagne’.
“So most of the champagne got drunk before the cake was finished, which was probably why they didn’t turn out that great.”
On turning 40 last year, Kelly said: “I’ve had such an extraordinary life and I’ve learned so much. I’ve been through some real hardships.”
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Winning a local modelling competition when she was 16 put her on the path to stardom. Born Kelly Parsons in Rochester, Kent, her mother Sandra had entered her photograph into the contest on a whim.
It led to countless swimwear and lingerie photoshoots and two years later Kelly became a household name when she landed a job co-hosting Channel 4’s live morning show, The Big Breakfast, alongside Johnny Vaughan.
But she resigned after six months, citing her young age and the constant scrutiny for her decision.
At the time, she was in a relationship with hardman actor Jason Statham, who went on to propose, but the couple split up in 2004 before making it down the aisle.
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A small role as a shipwreck survivor in thriller Three led her to second fiance and co-star, American Billy Zane, but they called time on their engagement in 2008.
Kelly’s stint in Hollywood also saw her play an actress in 2010 horror film Piranha 3D.
Meanwhile, she was named FHM’s sexiest woman in the world in 2005 and graced the Top 100 for 15 consecutive years until the lads’ mag closed.
There were more career highs but some inevitable lows. Kelly had her West End debut in 2009 as Celia in Calendar Girls and later that year she was hired as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.
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But she was left humiliated when show boss Simon Cowell sacked her after three days on the panel. Kelly’s love life was also a rollercoaster in her early thirties.
She had an on/off romance with bad boy rugby star Danny Cipriani and dated fellow ace Thom Evans for three years, during which time she suffered a miscarriage at six months. They split up in 2013.
A shortlived relationship with Gladiators star David McIntosh saw him pop the question in March 2014 after just 11 weeks.
The most heartbreaking time in Kelly’s personal life, though, came in 2007 when she lost her 57-year-old dad Ken to lung cancer.
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She said: “I’ve been through some real hardships. I’ve lost a parent to cancer. I’ve had a miscarriage. I’ve been publicly sacked and I was even burgled a few weeks ago.
“But those moments make you a better person because you have more empathy for people — because you’ve been there and you’ve experienced it.
“From the moment I lost my dad I really realised how precious life is. It’s not a guarantee that we’re going to live to be old, it’s a privilege if you do. My dad was only 57 when he died.
“He wasn’t an old man. He was still working as a scaffolder and I realised — and I know it’s a cliché — but you really have to live every day and really try to be in the present, and just enjoy life.”
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Kelly is certainly loving life now — after getting together with French model and actor Jeremy Parisi, 34, five years ago.
The couple had been living in the Kent countryside, revelling in its peace and quiet, until last year when they moved back to London so Kelly could co-host a weekday Heart FM radio show with Jason King.
She is now presenting from her home and believes lockdown has not been too different to living out in the sticks. Kelly explained: “Living in the countryside, you do end up weirdly self-isolating because there’s nobody around.
“When lockdown happened, initially it was kind of a shock because I’ve been living in London for the past year, but it reminded me of living back down in Kent on my farm.
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“I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve done this before. I know how to cook and how to not go to the shop all the time and not see my family or friends’. It was still an adjustment but it wasn’t a huge shock to the system.”
The couple have been showing their support for our tireless frontline workers by joining the Clap For Carers each week. She said: “We’re out on our doorstep every Thursday clapping for the NHS staff.
“We live on a massive street in London and it’s very multicultural. I walk from here to the shop and you hear about six languages. We’ve got French, Italian, Russian . . .”
But Kelly admitted the pandemic has led her to suffer with anxiety for the first time in her life.
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She said: “When coronavirus first arrived I had a bit of a tight chest and I was thinking, ‘Oh God, I’ve got coronavirus’ but then I was like, ‘No, I haven’t, it’s grief. This is me grieving my life’. I had it for about three weeks and it was really quite difficult.
“In the day I was still working from home and cooking and keeping myself busy, but at night you’re conscious of your breathing and making sure that everything’s normal.
“Those negative thoughts start coming in, like, ‘Are we going to get out of this? Is this life for ever?’
“I’ve never really suffered from anxiety before. I would get out of bed and just sit in my kitchen.”
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Working from home has brought surreal moments for the radio DJ as she has had to interview A-list guests including singer Justin Timberlake via video chat from her lounge.
She said: “It was a bit weird as Justin was saying, ‘Oh, I like that plant behind you’, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so weird that Justin has seen inside my living room’.
“But he really opened up because of it, he was on top form and we had a great laugh. I was hoping to spot his wife Jessica Biel in the background.”
Kelly, who has recently lost 2st and is now a size 12, continues to focus on her fitness despite lockdown.
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She said: “It’s part of my job and I feel like I want to be the best version of myself. I want to stay fit and healthy but I’m never going to have that body I had when I was 20 because my metabolism is slower.”
Now in her fifth decade, Kelly’s biggest hobby is tending to the garden, which features heavily on her social media.
She said: “Gardening can be glamorous and gardening is sexy. How is gardening sexy? Because you get all covered in dirt, don’t you. You’re down on all fours, so it can be quite sexy.”
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