Jamelia now - Loose Women backlash, mystery spouse, MOBO wins and 'miracle baby'
Jamelia released her debut album, Drama, in 2000 - and the name couldn't have been more apt.
The BRIT Award-nominated star has battled some controversies and heartbreaks in the years since she burst onto the scene with her single So High, before landing a top-three hit with Superstar, which went platinum. The 43-year-old singer has many legendary hits including See It In A Boy's Eyes, Money and Thank You.
All three tracks won her four MOBO Awards. In 2004, she won Best British Female, Best Single for Thank You and Best Video for See It In A Boy's Eyes. She also took home the award for Best Video for Money in 2000. Along with a successful music career, she landed many modelling contracts with the likes of BMW, Jaguar, Pretty Polly and Reebok.
At the height of her fame, Jamelia had her line of perfumes and hair products, performed for Nelson Mandela twice and was a regular on the catwalk for Naomi Campbell's annual Fashion for Relief show.
Jamelia has won four MOBO Awards and was nominated for another (Press Association)
Jamelia married Darren Byfield in 2008, but they split a year later (Getty Images)In 2015, she tried her hand at Strictly Come Dancing and was partnered up with professional dancer Tristan MacManus. Jamelia survived until week nine of the dance competition after landing in the bottom two with Peter Andre and his dance partner Janette Manrara.
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Not only is she good at dancing, but she also starred in the BBC soap Doctors and in Richard Osman's House of Games. Most recently, she joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Sharon Bailey. The multi-talented star also starred as Kate Williams in the miniseries Little Darlings. Last year also saw her appear on Celebrity MasterChef.
When she's not busy with work, she's busy with her family. The star has four children including daughters Teja, 22, Tiani, 18, and True, six - who she once described as a 'miracle baby'. Her water broke when she was only 23 weeks pregnant. She said at the time: "There are so many problems that come along with that happening. I was 100 per cent bed rest."
Despite that, the star managed to last through to 36 weeks and gave birth to her little girl in December. "It was a really scary time for all of us," she said. "They keep calling my daughter a miracle baby. Going through something like that really opens your eyes." Teja's father is Jamelia's music manager ex Terry Wallen, who she says inspired her cutting break-up song Thank You, and Tiani's dad is the singer's ex-husband Darren Byfield, a footballer-turned-manager whom Jamelia was married to for a year in 2008.
After splitting from Walsall Wood manager Darren, Jamelia stayed single while devoting herself to raising her daughters. However, as they both approached university age and Jamelia faced an empty nest, she began dating again - and fell in love. True's father is Jamelia's mysterious husband whose identity she hasn't revealed. He stole her heart in 2017 and the duo "ran away" and got married within months.
Jamelia has kept the identity of her husband a mystery (Offical Jamelia/Instagram)She announced she was pregnant with her fourth child in 2022. Jamelia gave birth to her fourth daughter, Jream, at 36 weeks through an emergency caesarean in October that same year.
Towards the end of the 2000s, Birmingham-born Jamelia slowly moved away from music into TV, becoming a judge on Move It Like Michael Jackson in 2009 and fronting powerful documentaries including The House That Made Me and Shame About Single Mums. She landed a regular slot on Loose Women but wasn't invited back in 2017 after a backlash against her comments about plus-sized clothes.
Outrage ensued when the star said she didn't think it was responsible for shops to stock clothes in larger sizes, claiming that it helped "facilitate people living an unhealthy lifestyle."
Jamelia competed on Strictly in 2015 (BBC)
The singer has three daughters, Teja, Tiani and True (Instagram)She explained: "In the same way I don't believe that a size zero should be available - it's not a healthy size for an average woman to be. I don't believe they [high street stores] should be providing clothes for below that range or above that range. Yes, have specialist shops, but you should feel uncomfortable if you are unhealthy... to be available in every High Street store, I don't think that's right."
Speaking out about her departure from the show, Jamelia told the Birmingham Mail she hadn't been "formerly sacked" but said she doubted she would be returning. "The show is going in a different direction at the moment and I don’t seem to be a part of that narrative," she said.
Despite the uproar, Jamelia has stood by her comments, insisting she didn't say anything different to what was being said by the rest of the panel and stating she felt the backlash was directed at her because of the colour of her skin.
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Jamelia wasn't invited back to Loose Women after her comments about plus-sized clothes (ITV)She told Heart Online: "I'm not going to beat around the bush, I think when you are black and you are in the public eye and you are being vocal and speaking out on issues - you are not ordinarily allowed to have certain conversations.
"[But] it's very important to be bold and brave, in particular as a mother of daughters, I want to teach them that they have to say what they think even if it affects them adversely. I don't mind that it's affected me financially because emotionally I feel as though I'm living in my truth."
It wasn't her only controversy as Jamelia angered people when she suggested people over the age of 75 should be stripped of their right to vote and shouldn't have had a say in the Brexit referendum. "I just don't think it's fair that you have a vote when you're not going to experience the consequences of that vote," she said on The Jeremy Vine Show.
"And you've had 50-60 years of voting," she added. Her comments led to accusations she was being "ageist" and "disrespectful", but Jamelia didn't comment further on the matter.
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