CELEBRITY INTERVIEW
MY LIFE IN HEALTH
Recently crowned I’m A Celeb... Legend, Myleene Klass, 45, knows a thing or two about survival. Here, the multi-talented musician, presenter and mum-of-three talks to Joanna Ebsworth about the importance of facing fears, staying strong, and showing gratitude for the body you have.
I went into the I’m A Celeb… jungle this year for my kids. I wanted them to see that when I’m scared, I lean into it. And if there’s something I don’t want to do – whether that’s taking part in the highest ever trial in the show’s history or breaking a record by eating 60 mice tails and 40 pieces of fermented tofu – I will go for it instead of run from it, because life throws so much at you.
I’ve been through a lot of really testing life situations, and I very much feel that the life experiences I’ve had, and the things I’ve had to endure and find a way through, have given me the tools to say, “well, what kind of person am I? Do I rise to the challenge of this? Or do I get destroyed by it?”. I choose to lean into the challenges.
My approach to fitness has varied at different points in my life. In my 20s, I was performing in the West End so I was extremely fit, could eat what I wanted, and survived on very little sleep. But when I was in a pop band (Hear’Say), I was always travelling around or in the studio so I couldn’t just drop everything and go to a dance class.
Now that I’m a mum with responsibilities, my awareness of how I look after myself is completely different because I’ve got two girls and I want them to see how I look at myself in the mirror, how I hold myself, and how I treat my body. It’s about showing them how to look after themselves rather than saying “be fit, go and run”.
My body changed when I had children. I’ve been pregnant seven times, which is a lot on a person’s body, and during my last pregnancy, I put on four and a half stone because I’d taken so many hormones. It was awful – I went through so much physically and emotionally. But when you push your body to the max, you also see what your body can achieve, so I’ve got a great deal of respect for this body, and I’m going to be extremely kind to it because it has seen me through the toughest days.
I get very tired from organising my life and the lives of those I look after. I try to remember to take iron supplements because I’ve had moments in my life where I’ve been quite anaemic, but I also think it’s okay to admit that you’re tired and say to your kids “I’m just going to take a rest now”. It shows them that it’s okay to have “weaknesses”, as they would put it, and helps them realise that you’re hum
