Celebrity Interview - Kelly Brook - Comments

Kelly Brook

Poster: Justin Power and Ivana Sloane 01/08/2007

BORN IN ROCHESTER ON 23 NOVEMBER 1979, KELLY BROOK QUIT THE BIG BREAKFAST IN 1992 AFTER THE TABLOIDS PUBLISHED RUMOURS SHE WAS TO BE FIRED FOR BEING TOO "DUMB", BUT SHE BOUNCED BACK TO FORGE A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN MODELLING, FASHION DESIGN AND FILMS - AND IS NOW EVEN WRITING A BOOK.

What do you look for in a man?
Someone with a good sense of humour and who is confident. Someone who likes to live life to the fullest.

What about the physical aspect? What do you go for?
Probably eyes. You can tell a lot about someone through their eyes.

How does Billy Zane feel about your pin-up pictures?
I think he likes it. I suppose when he's away from me he Googles my pictures, which is quite sweet actually. He's very supportive and not too embarrassed about my past (laughs).

Newspapers have said things are not great in your household and that the marriage is off...
I don't know where they get these things from because it's completely untrue. Everything is great and there are no problems. How do they know - they're not in my household! I love it when they say, "a source says" or "friends allegedly think". What friends? What source? That's how they get away with writing these things.

Do you ever just say, "I've had enough of this"?
Yeah, we do. Quite recently a big newspaper apologised. But the front cover is always very huge and the apology is always very small, so what can you do.

How do you feel about the whole zero size debate?
I don't know why it keeps going on and on. I don't know why every interview I do with a girlie magazine, they say, 'What do you think of size zero?' And I say, 'Why do you keep writing about it if it is so bad.' Start talking about girls eating, getting curvy and healthy.

You have a healthy appetite?
Basically, yes. I like my food.

What have you made of Kate Moss and Lily Allen launching clothes lines?
Well, I was the first person at New Look.

So do you feel that they've copied you?
They are doing dresses and stuff. I have got a clothing line at New Look. I have been selling swimwear and lingerie out of there for the last two years, so...

How much input do you have when it comes to your clothes lines?
Well, I kind of created it, kind of like from scratch really, started it all and then approached New Look. So, I mean, they have taken it over and they kind of manage the whole thing but when it comes to design and the creative side I am 100 per cent involved. I don't make it, I don't stitch it together.

Where are you based at the moment?
I go between Hollywood and the UK.

So is your allegiance still with this country?
Yes, absolutely. More so now as I'm getting older. I'm an aunty now and have nieces and nephews to think about. I can't be completely selfish. I need to spend a lot more time back in the UK than I have done. I'm really enjoying it.

And you've just bought a lovely new house, haven't you?
Yeah, I've just bought a place down in the country. It's a big change from Hollywood. It's gorgeous and I love it. It's nice to have fresh air and a garden. I'm growing herbs and vegetables and have a greenhouse (laughs). It's hilarious. I have someone helping me. I'm learning. It's a new hobby.

So has Billy spent any time in the British countryside before?
I think he has spent a little bit of time in the English countryside. But this is a whole new experience for both of us and we're loving it. It's something we can do together. It's nice being out of the city. We can relax and unwind and do normal things like go to the pub and cook. It's lovely.

How do you think Victoria and David will get on in LA?
I'm not sure. LA's great for shopping so if she loves that I'm sure she'll have a great time there. It is a working town that is very much movie and TV-orientated. Who knows. It's a very healthy place. There are a lot of great gyms and if you are into yoga and eating healthily, it offers all of that. I'm sure she'll love it.

Are there places you'd recommend they should go?
No! Because then they'll go (laughs). I have my little spots in LA that I love to go to and they are usually down by the beach in the middle of nowhere. I try not to tell anyone about them because they are my private sanctuaries.

They are obviously very family-orientated. Do you think LA is a good place to raise kids?
I don't think I would want to bring up children in LA purely because it is tricky to walk anywhere. You always have to get in your car because everything is so spread out. But if you are wealthy in LA you don't really have to leave your house because you have gardens and a gym and a pool, which is a bit strange because you want to mix in with the local people and be a community. It is a strange place but I live in a great neighbourhood that is family-orientated.

What do you prefer, acting or presenting?
Probably making films because it always looks better, its shot on 35 mm and you know people take time over lighting it; it looks fabulous and TV, you know, is quite disposable really, especially reality television. I've always wanted to make movies ever since I was younger. I went to drama school and that was always really my dream. Then I fell into television after I did modelling.

You were successful straight away...
It was really like overnight, so it was a real lesson in the media and how fickle that can be, you know the rise and fall of fame in the UK; that was quite an interesting time. But what it did was it made me kind of pick myself up and go, "Right, okay, I want to go and try somewhere else", and I moved to Hollywood and made a few films and was able to come back and do a little bit of television as well, which was kind of like my backbone really. Come home, secure a good job, and it paid for me to be in Hollywood and striving for these other little independent films that were really my passion. So I'm really grateful for my TV career and it never really put me off the industry or anything. No, it put me off people (laughing).

You always play glamorous roles. Ever thought of "going ugly" on screen?
I was thinking about that last night. It is very brave for actresses to expose themselves and be traumatised and look so dishevelled, but I would much rather kind of have a laugh and have fun in a film.

And look pretty?
Yes, look pretty. I don't mind having egg on my face; that's the whole thing with presenting, you know. You are there, sometimes the straight person to the guy who is making all the jazz and you are the brunt of the joke, which is kind of a job as well. So I am really happy with that. That really doesn't bother me. So, I don't know, I would much rather do something comedic and entertaining.

That's your forté?
I don't think it's a forté but it's what I enjoy. I'd much rather make people leave the cinema on a high.

What are you working on at the moment?
I am writing a book.

What's it about?
It's kind of like a style and fashion book. It's semi-autobiographical, but kind of more charting fashion and style, what is good and bad.

Is it your book or part of someone else's?
It's my book; I have had help in writing it. We just finished it on Friday so when I get back I will be designing it and doing photos. It's a lifestyle book. So it starts in the very beginning about how I first started out, how I started out in the industry, talking a little bit about the Big Breakfast; I talked about MTV, why I went to Hollywood, my experiences in Hollywood, discovering my style.

Do you talk about the people you don't like?
No, it's nothing like that. I didn't want to do an exposé on my private life or people that have wronged me, or whatever. I think that is not very elegant. It's horrible, there are so many celebrities doing that. Do you know what was actually nice? I found that there were so many things to talk about. I found it more interesting and I think people will find it more interesting. It's a really sweet, girly book and it's got a lot about the history of the bikini, and all men and women will love where that came from.

Do you still get asked to do covers of lads' mags in the UK?
They have been big supporters of mine over the last 10 years and I have no problem with that. If anything they celebrate curvy women and voluptuous women, and I think the women's magazines a lot of the time don't; they celebrate the neurosis of skinny ladies and I don't think that's very attractive or positive. So I have nothing against men's magazines, some of them can be quite supportive.

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