‘i was starstruck meeting janet’

Brenda

She burst on to the Loose Women panel in 2019, and singer Brenda Edwards quickly won over viewers with her infectious laugh and larger-than-life personality.

Yet behind her smiles, the former X Factor contestant, 54, has endured unimaginable grief. She lost her music mogul son Jamal Edwards, 31, to a heart attack in February last year and both her parents died in a car crash three days before Christmas when she was just four years old – she and her brother were raised by their grandmother in Luton. Amazingly, the West End star – who is also mum to Tanisha, 30 – still sees the goodness in life, and since beating breast cancer in 2016, she is adamant that she wants to make every day count.

Since joining Loose Women, have you ever been starstruck?

I’ve had a couple of starstruck moments, and one was when American pop star will.i.am appeared on the show – that was absolutely amazing! The other was Janet [Street-Porter]. I used to watch Loose Women before I became one, and I still do. I come from a family full of strong women, including my grandma and my aunts, so Janet is a big icon in our household. Plus, I’m quite a feely person and on my first visit to Loose Women I was told, “Do not touch Janet,” so I was pleasantly surprised when she gave me a big hug.

You tragically lost both your parents at a young age. How was life for you growing up in Luton?

I grew up in the church from the age of four until I was 18 years old. I was raised in a strict Pentecostal family and my grandmother always said to me, ‘Never kiss a boy because you’ll end up getting pregnant,’ and I believed her because I didn’t know any different. I finally got my first boyfriend when I was 18, and that’s when I had my first kiss, although it took him six months to get that first kiss!

Did your grandmother ever find out?

Funnily, one night he was walking me home through this tunnel and it started to rain, and it was one of those dreamy, romantic moments where we were staring into each other’s eyes, and getting closer and closer. Then suddenly I felt a whack in my back with an umbrella, and it was my aunty Pam. She started yelling, “What are you doing? You should get yourself home!” And she hit me with her umbrella all the way home.

You were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 – can you tell us a bit about it?

It was