Eternal legend Kéllé Bryan has opened up about her time in the chart-topping band at the height of their fame and claimed that everything they ate was controlled
Kéllé Bryan claims that people voiced concerns about her weight during Eternal’s heyday. The singer, who joins a string of fellow girlband stars in a new BBC documentary, has opened up about her experience in the chart-topping band.
The likes of Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah, Perrie Edwards, Kerry Katona, Natasha Hamilton and Melanie Blatt are to all open up about their time in the industry, when girl groups dominated the charts.
But while the all-female group were riding high on their success, Kéllé has now revealed that behind the scenes, there were conversations about her weight. “People were always voicing concern about my weight, about our weight as a band,” she told the Mirror.
She went on to add: “Stylists would come along and say ‘this doesn’t fit you’, we’re talking about an era where size zero was popular. They sent us away to this place in the countryside where they were controlling what we ate. When I look back on it, you think that was crazy, but it’s what they did.”
Kéllé was just 15 when she signed her first record deal, alongside pal Louise (Nurding) Redknapp and the pair thought they’d won the lottery. She said: “I was hugely excited, you were 15, you were being paid £300 a week. I just thought I’d made it £300 a week, what! And it was going to be with Louise, it was your dream job with your best friend.”
Shortly after Louise and Kéllé were official members of Eternal, they were paired with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett. But just three years after their debut, Louise made the decision to leave the group.
At the time, she stated she wanted to pursue a solo career, but later said she felt “lost” and had low self-esteem while in the group. But Kéllé knew that the band would struggle without Redknapp, who went on to achieve success on her own.
She said: “I knew that Lou was struggling. I remember her saying to me, ‘I don’t think I can do this anymore.’ I knew it would change the band, it would never be the same without Louise.”
The documentary for BBC Two, follows the success of Boybands Forever and has been created by veteran broadcaster Louis Theroux. As well as interviews with girl bands over the course of the 90s and beyond, the likes of Clara Amfo, Lucie Cave, MNEK, Pete Tong, Nicki Chapman, Scott Mills and Tulisa will also feature.
Louis Theroux, executive producer for production company Mindhouse, said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of making this wonderful series. I well remember when the Spice Girls, Eternal and All Saints burst on the scene in the 90s. It was a special time in pop music and British culture generally.
“Then in their wake came a parade of girlbands, made up of girls who were all in different ways beautiful, talented and often very funny. Going back and rediscovering all that music and those videos and the interviews they did has been an absolute pleasure.
“There was pain behind the music, too, and as is so often the case there was price to be paid for that level of young fame. But mainly we wanted this to be a celebration of a time of very special music and talent.”
Jonathan Rothery, head of BBC popular music TV, added: “Following the fantastic, headline-grabbing Boybands Forever series from Louis Theroux and Nancy Strang at Mindhouse, the focus now turns to the stories of some of the UK’s most influential girl groups.
“Girlbands Forever promises a nostalgic trip through that time in pop music history, as well as an exploration into the truth of being a young woman thrust into the spotlight, the lived experiences and the lessons learnt.”
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