Kelly Brook has entered the I’m a Celebrity jungle, but she has been a mainstay of British pop culture for decades, with the reality series serving as her big comeback.
Brook began her career as a model, starting out by entering a beauty competition at the age of 16, which she won. From there, she began booking a number of advertising campaigns, including ones for Walker’s Crisps and Bravissimo, the latter of which brought her to the attention of The Daily Star, which featured her as a Page Three model.
As a result, Brook’s star began to rise, with her regularly appearing in GQ, FHM, and Loaded. It wasn’t just modelling on the cards for Brook, as she began expanding her repertoire to acting and presenting as well.
Kelly Brook’s experience with movies and TV
Kelly Brook has had a history of acting, appearing in TV series Smallville. (PA)
Brook dipped her toe into acting in the early 2000s, starring in shows like Smallville, where she played Lex Luthor’s girlfriend, Victoria Hardwick. She also picked up roles in films like Piranha 3D and the remake of The Italian Job, starring Mark Wahlberg. These tended to be small parts, though, and Brook struggled to crack Hollywood while living in LA with ex-fiancé Jason Statham at the time.
The model discussed her experience during an appearance on the podcast “How to Fail with Elizabeth Day,” admitting that her career “floundered” as a result of moving to America for her partner’s career.
“There were elements of me putting my career and my life on hold,” she explained. “I had a really good job at MTV. I remember I was hosting a daily show there, and it was just after I’d got fired off The Big Breakfast, and I got a really great show there, and I was there for about a year, and my boyfriend at the time was an actor.
Kelly Brook also starred in Piranha 3D. (PA)
“I remember he got offered a few roles in things, as like a bouncer on the door at EastEnders doing something, and he had so much talent and charisma, and I was like, ‘Do you know what? We just got to go to America. I just think it’s going to be the making of us if we just go.’
“I had this really good job and we had no money, and I quit my job and we went, and I was there as this support network for him and watched his career flourish, whereas mine floundered a bit because I didn’t have the same opportunities.”
Brook admitted that she “felt so neglected” in the relationship following their move that she ultimately “fell out of love” with Statham because he “hadn’t [shown] up” for her.
Kelly Brook tried to crack Hollywood when she moved to America with her then fiancé, Jason Statham. They are pictured together in 2004. (FilmMagic)
While acting wasn’t for her, Brook has had a much more successful career as a presenter. She first began presenting for MTV’s youth programming at the age of 18 and was tapped to replace Denise Van Outen on The Big Breakfast in 1999, before her move to America. She went on to host Celebrity Love Island, the predecessor to Love Island, in 2005.
She was also a one-time judge for Britain’s Got Talent, though for less than a week, which is why her reunion with Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly on I’m a Celebrity has been deemed rather awkward.
Throughout her career, Brook has maintained a strong standing as a model, and she plans to launch her own lifestyle brand with her husband, Jeremy Parisi.
Reality TV comeback
Kelly Brook on Britain’s Got Talent (ITV/YouTube)
The model has become a familiar face on reality TV over the years, appearing on the panels of shows like Loose Women and Celebrity Juice, and also starring in The Masked Dancer back in 2021. But Brook has found a second wind in her career thanks mainly to her appearance on Celebrity Race Across the World in 2024, in which she starred alongside her husband.
The couple won countless fans as a result of their time on the series, with their refreshingly candid approach to their relationship earning them praise.
Speaking to Yahoo UK about the BBC series, Brook shared: “Celebrity Race Across the World shows who we are, warts and all, bickering and then getting on and not letting it get in the way of the end result. That’s how we navigate life. You have your disagreements, but ultimately you’re in it together.
Kelly Brook appeared in reality series Celebrity Race Across the World with husband Jeremy Parisi. (BBC)
“We didn’t want to portray ourselves as this ideal couple that are always in love and always get on. We bicker. We disagree, and it’s just healthy. It’s healthy to say you are annoyed. It’s normal, it’s relatable.
“It would have been hard for us to put on an act. We’re not there to make headlines. It’s how we are; we always banter with each other. We always take the mickey out of each other. We’re very different personalities and very different people.”
Brook added that the experience was “challenging for us”, but stipulated it was “not in terms of our relationship because we have been together for ten years. But it doesn’t mean it was easy.”
Kelly Brook dances at photocall to launch the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour in 2010. (WireImage)
Elsewhere in the world of reality TV, Brook also previously appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, starring in the fifth series of the show, where she was paired with Brendan Cole until she was forced to withdraw from the competition in week nine.
I’m a Celebrity is her most recent foray into reality TV, but the star wasn’t always keen to appear on the programme and said in 2018 she’d never appear on I’m A Celebrity.
Ahead of the 2025 series launch, she told Elizabeth Day on the How to Fail podcast about why she had finally changed her mind about going into the jungle.
Kelly Brook is one of the 12 stars in the I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! jungle. (ITV)
She explained: “A friend of mine got asked to have a meeting with the producers of I’m A Celebrity and I said, You have to do it, I love watching it, what an incredible life experience… I was thinking, why can’t I give myself that advice?
“I realised it was basically out of fear, and I thought, it’s about time that I live my don’t give a damn era.”
Adding that she has achieved a lot in her career and wanted to do something new, she went on: “With I’m A Celebrity, it’s the right time, it’s like who cares. I’ve been in the theatre, got a great radio show, I’ve been to America, I’ve done so much that I just feel like now I want to do something for me.”
I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! airs every night at 9pm on ITV1, STV, ITVX & STV Player.