12 February 2024 , 14:50
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There was a very special delivery at Kelly Brook’s house this week: her new passport. After four failed engagements, and a 10-year relationship, “Kelly Brook” was no longer. There in black and white, was her new name, Kelly Parisi.
And the 44-year-old model and presenter could not be happier.
Laughing, she tells me: ”I just got my new passport in the post. I’m Mrs Kelly Parisi. It’s really weird, but it’s so cute. Kelly Parisi is a great name – very Italiano.”
It is 18 months since she married French-Italian model Jeremy Parisi, 38. Kelly says: “We’ve been together 10 years now, but being married makes a difference. I think it’s been lovely for us. Like we just feel we are family. We just feel more connected.”
Life in her Tudor farmhouse in the Kent countryside with Jeremy and dog Teddy suits the former lads mag favourite down to the ground. She says: “We’re planning a future together. It goes beyond boyfriend and girlfriend. We’ve become family.”
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Kelly Brook marries Jeremy Parisi in Italy (INSTAGRAM)
Fiance number three was rugby ace Thom Evans (Getty Images)It’s a big leap from the Kelly who once declared “I don’t want to be a wife” while engaged to actor Jason Statham in the early noughties.
After they split in 2004, she got engaged to Titanic star Billy Zane. Fiance number three was rugby ace Thom Evans, followed by Gladiator star David “Tornado” McIntosh in a whirlwind relationship that crashed and burned in 2015.
She and Jeremy married in a beautiful medieval tower in Civitavecchia, Italy on July 30, 2022. Kelly says: “I take it really seriously. I’ve committed to that. I’ve made those vows. I made that promise. For Better or Worse. Sickness and in Health.
“The difference goes beyond sex. It goes beyond normal relationships. It’s on a different level. Being married makes you feel like somebody has your back no matter what, and I think that is so beautiful.”
She knows what it is like to be involved with men who did not have her back – like rugby star Danny Cipriani, who she was with for two years before dumping him in 2010 when she found ut he had given his number to a Las Vegas stripper.
Her personal life is now settled, and so is her weight. Kelly, a SlimFast ambassador, is celebrating maintaining a 2st weight loss on its programme for five years.
She got engaged to Titanic star Billy Zane (Getty Images)
Kelly once declared “I don’t want to be a wife” while engaged to actor Jason Statham (Press Association)And she is starting the second series of her SlimFast podcast with Channel 4 rapper, chef and Bake Off star, Big Narstie, which aims to help others improve their lifestyles.
Talking of her yo-yo weight in the 2010s, Kelly says: “I wasn’t feeling happy in my body. I wanted to lose weight and now I’ve lost it. I’m maintaining it and feel really good.”
Born in Rochester, Kent, Kelly was a hit teen model, before landing a presenting job at MTV. At 19, she joined Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan.
She left the show after six months and established herself as a lads’ mags favourite before returning to presenting, becoming co-host as well as consultant producer on Celebrity Love Island in 2005.
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In 2007, Kelly was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, and she also had a stint on Celebrity Juice. She had roles in Superman show Smallville, and her movies included The Italian Job remake, House of 9 with Dennis Hopper, Three with Billy Zane and Piranha 3-D.
In recent years, she has moved into radio, co-hosting an evening show on Heart. After years in the spotlight as – in her own words – “a twig with boobs”, her changing shape as she approached her forties was a shock to everyone, including herself.
She was a size 16, when at a red carpet event in 2017, she was humiliated by a photographer who asked her to “breathe in”.
Kelly Brook admits she has never been more confident as she releases new grime collab with Big Narstie (PR image / SlimFast)Kelly, who is 5ft 6ins, says: “People in the media get used to you being a certain way.” Within a year, she had begun losing weight with SlimFast. She shed 2st and dropped from size 16 to a 12. She say: “I was quite strict initially to lose the two stone.
“Then, it became about maintenance, so I use the cookbook for low-calorie meal ideas, such as their Greek lamb burger which I love, and then use SlimFast maybe once a day, like skipping lunch for a shake.”
She has been trolled over her body and her SlimFast work, but says: “I know that when I’m healthy – fuelling my body right and doing exercise regularly – I feel happier, I’m more fun to be around. Being body confident has nothing to do with reaching a certain size or being able to fit into a particular item of clothes.
“It’s being happy and content with the people who know and love you and feeling happy and healthy. True body confidence comes from within.”
Her husband has been “super supportive”. She says: “We both want to be the best version of ourselves. I don’t give him tips, but he does pinch my shakes because he likes that they have 14g of protein in them.” She also has support from podcast co-host, rapper Big Narstie, 38.
Kelly dated Gladiator star David “Tornado” McIntosh in a whirlwind relationship (Getty Images)She says: “We had loads of fun doing our Life Gains podcast and having a knockabout in the boxing ring. He gave me some boxing tips.”
Big Narstie – Tyrone Mark Lindo – began tackling his weight after he collapsed on Celebrity Bake Off in 2019 and had to pull out of the series. In the net 12 months his waist went from 56 inches to 44. He tells us: “I’ve been called a fat ****. But when we sign up to be in the public eye and make money from it, we also have to accept people will have an opinion about us.
“The truth does hurt. When you’re not in the best shape of your life, it’s dangerous and scary. I want to be able to play with my children and be in their lives.”
Exercise also plays a key part in Kelly’s new lifestyle. She walks her dog Teddy – a Cavapoo, so half Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, half poodle – for up to two hours every day.
She and Jeremy view Teddy as very much part of their family unit. Kelly says: “We like to go on long walks together with Tedd. That’s one of our favourite things to do together.”
Kelly Brook with Big Narstie, promoting Slim FastTeddy was another reason it’s good they are now married in Kelly’s mind. It’s not quite as unromantic as it first sounds.
She says: “It becomes quite a logistical thing. Imagine if I die and Jeremy has got to sell the house - we don’t want that to happen. Jeremy has got to stay in this house and look after this dog and vice versa! If you want to protect your relationship, home, everything, marriage helps you do that.
“You’ve built this life together, and you just want to protect it Kelly and husband Jeremy brought during lockdown, is very much part of their family unit. She says: “It becomes quite a logistical thing. Imagine if I die and Jeremy has got to sell the house - we don’t want that to happen. Jeremy has got to stay in this house and look after this dog and vice versa! If you want to protect your relationship, home, everything, marriage helps you do that.
“You’ve built this life together, and you just want to protect it as much as you can to protect each other. Marriage just made it all kind of come together. Exactly how it needed to be.”
It might be a slightly different way of thinking, but whether she’s Kelly Brook or Kelly Parisi, she’s never been one who’s scared to be herself.
In fact asked what life lessons she’s learned, she adds: “Don’t worry about following the crowd. Drive in your own lane - listen to your gut and trust your instincts. I’m happier now than I have ever been.”
- Kelly Brook and Big Narstie’s Life Gains podcast starts from February 15 helping people shift from a ‘can’t do’ to a ‘can do’ attitude and reach their personal goals.