Kelly Brook reflects on being sexualised aged 16 after swimsuit photoshoot launched her glamour modelling career: ‘It was very uncomfortable’

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Oh my gosh, I just read that Kelly Brook said she felt so uncomfortable being seen as a sex symbol since she was only sixteen! Apparently, a swimsuit shoot basically launched her modeling career, and it all just felt…wrong to her. It’s heartbreaking, honestly, because she was just a kid, and the world immediately focused on how she looked instead of her. I feel so protective of her thinking about it! It’s awful that something that started her career also made her feel so uneasy. I just want her to be happy and know we appreciate her for everything she is, not just her looks!

The 45-year-old radio host, who will be appearing on I’m A Celebrity, began her career as a model as a teenager and quickly became a popular ‘Page Three’ model in the UK.

Kelly shared on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast that her first job was a swimsuit photoshoot in Portugal. She explained that starting her career at a young age forced her to mature rapidly.

Kelly shared that her first job was as a glamour model. She described it as a swimwear photoshoot in Portugal, working with amateur photographers who paid to take pictures of her in a bikini. She simply referred to it as ‘a job’.

When Elizabeth asked how it made her feel, Kelly said it was ‘quite strange’. 

I had to become independent at a young age. I started boarding in London when I was eleven, and I felt very mature for my age, traveling to school on the train every day.

I didn’t really experience a typical childhood. Going to school in London felt like a huge responsibility at a young age, and I didn’t have much supervision. Because of that, I always felt older and more mature than kids my age.

Being treated as a sexual object when I was young was really upsetting. I’ve never felt comfortable with being seen as ‘sexy.’ I’m much more comfortable being funny and making people laugh – I feel more like a clown than a glamorous woman.

I’m comfortable being a bit unconventional, and it felt odd to be treated as a sex symbol. It just didn’t feel authentic to who I am inside. I see a real difference between how I look and who I am as a person.

Kelly admitted she never actively set out to have a career in glamour modelling but fell into it. 

It all started when she won a beauty pageant her mother signed her up for. She quickly became motivated to make money, hoping it would improve things at home.

Kelly admits she used to believe that achieving success and earning money would solve her parents’ problems with arguing and excessive drinking.

I didn’t actually seek out the swimsuit modeling job myself. It came about because someone my mother knew connected me with the opportunity.

I started working with a model agent when I was sixteen. Her name was Samantha Bond, and she represented many glamour models.

Back then, it was hard to get signed with a modeling agency because I was curvier than the typical model. I went to an agency while still in school and made it clear I wasn’t interested in certain types of work. I told them I was happy to model lingerie and swimwear, but I wouldn’t do nude or suggestive photoshoots.

I was thrilled with how things were going and quickly started getting booked for a wide variety of jobs, including music videos and commercials. I spent a couple of years working consistently, having a great time, and doing really well for myself.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Kelly revealed the reason she split ex-fiancé Jason Statham.

The model and the 58-year-old movie star started dating in 1997 and were even engaged to be married, but they ended their relationship in 2004.

Kelly revealed that during her seven-year relationship with Jason, she paused her own career to support his success.

She admitted that her first relationship had unhealthy aspects of co-dependency, and she sacrificed her career and personal life for it.

I enjoyed a great job at MTV, hosting a daily show. It came after I left ‘The Big Breakfast,’ and I worked there for about a year. At the time, my partner was an actor.

I recall him being offered small parts, like a security guard on EastEnders, but he was so talented and had such a great personality that I felt we needed to move to America. I really believed it would be the key to our success.

After she moved to Los Angeles, Jason’s acting career took off, and he quickly became a major action star in Hollywood. She was a constant source of support for him throughout his rise to fame.

She admitted that while his career was taking off, hers was struggling. She felt overlooked and unsupported, especially because she had always been there for him.

I remember having a great job, but we were really struggling financially. I ended up leaving that job to support my partner and help them build their career. While they thrived, my own career stalled a bit because I didn’t have the same chances to advance.

Traveling constantly between the UK and Los Angeles was really draining, both physically and financially. It left me feeling completely exhausted.

His career really took off, and I threw myself into supporting him, but I completely neglected my own needs. I felt increasingly overlooked and unsupported in the relationship, and eventually, I fell out of love with him because he didn’t reciprocate my efforts. I just felt unseen and unheard.

She ended things with Jason because she felt like he’d lost touch with who she was as a person. She admitted it was a hard choice, but ultimately believed it was the right one.

Kelly explained that when they broke up, he was shocked and asked her why, pointing out his fame and wealth as if that should have changed her mind.

I told him he didn’t understand what I was going through because he hadn’t been there for me. I explained that I was in the process of finding myself as a woman, and he didn’t seem to recognize the person I had become. He only remembered me as the girl who left MTV and followed him, not the woman I was now.

It was a difficult period, but I realized it was the first time I’d truly prioritized my own needs, and it turned out to be the right choice.

Kelly hinted at who her ex-boyfriend was, and then confirmed to Elizabeth that it was Jason.

In 2010, Jason began a relationship with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. They later became engaged and now have two children: eight-year-old Jack and three-year-old Isabella.

Kelly, meanwhile, married her model boyfriend Jeremy Parisi, 40, in 2022. 

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2025-11-13 01:06