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Loose Women’s Kéllé Bryan on her troubled history, her fears for her family and her bright future…
Singer turned TV presenter Kéllé Bryan left Loose Women viewers feeling emotional recently. She opened up about her own experiences of domestic abuse to support ITV’s Facing It Together campaign, which hopes to shine a light on the topic.
The 49-year-old star, who found fame as a member of girl band Eternal, fought back the tears as she explained how a former partner would restrain her by the wrists on a regular basis and that the relationship almost destroyed her financially.
Since she made the admission, the actress and presenter admits that the reaction of both the public and her family and friends has been ‘incredible’. As she joins best for a chat, Kéllé reveals her fears about opening up and why life is now better than ever…
How has the reaction been to what you told the public on Loose Women?
The impact has been so farreaching, from my own family – who didn’t know or weren’t aware of the extent of the abuse – through to people contacting me on social media saying, ‘I recognise that in me, I didn’t know that it was abuse, or that I could do anything about it’. My dad in particular was like, ‘You’ve been through so much’. It’s been great to open up those kinds of conversations. Even my bestie, who I mentioned on the show, said to me, ‘I actually didn’t realise it was that bad, even though it was me talking to you at the time about getting out’.
Were you nervous about speaking out?
I was so scared for many reasons. Him coming out of the woodwork and that kind of backlash you might get from the abuser themselves. Also, I didn’t want any negativity towards my children with other people mentioning things. I’m always mindful because my children and our friends and family are public-facing, they might have to do public jobs, and they could receive comments. You want to protect your family, especially your children, from that. So, it’s been hard, but worth it.
Do you enjoy that Loose Women gives you a platform to shine a light on issues?
Loose Women doesn’t feel like a job to me, it really feels like an opportunity to make social changes and influence positive changes on my community. While I’m having a lot of fun, of course!
Talking of fun, how was the live tour last year when you were all out on the road together?
Oh my goodness, it was absolutely incredible. We experience quite a lot of trolling and it can be quite hideous sometimes. Denise in particular has had some really difficult troubles. Sometimes you forget that there are people out there who really enjoy what you’re doing, because it’s the negative people that shout t
