Kelly Brook
23 November 1979) is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, and television presenter.
Modelling career
Brook's modelling career began at 16 after winning a beauty competition, in which she was entered by her mother.
[1] She later worked on a range of advertising campaigns, including for
Foster's Lager,
Renault Mégane,
Walker's crisps,
Piz Buin and
Bravissimo,
a company that specialises in bras and lingerie for large-breasted
women. Her figure eventually caught the eye of the editorial team of the
Daily Star tabloid,
[4] which began featuring her as a
Page Three girl.
Brook's picture soon began appearing in other
lads' mags such as
GQ,
Loaded and
FHM. In April of the same year, a poll over 5,000 women for
Grazia magazine considered her to have the best British female body. She also topped the '
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World'
list in 2005, which was said to have polled 15 million people.
Appearing in this list every year since 1998, she ranked No.34 in 2008,
No.67 in 2009 and No.7 in 2010.
[5] She was the cover star of
FHM's World Cup 2010 special issue,
[6] and was on the cover of the magazine in April 2011.
[5]
In February 2007, it was announced that Brook had signed a contract, reported to be worth around £1m, to represent Unilever's
Lynx bodyspray, known as "Axe" in the US and in
continental Europe.
[7] She has appeared on billboards, in newspapers and on-line as part of their advertising campaign.
[8] She has also appeared in commercials for
Sky + and
T Mobile and modelled for
Reebok.
In 2010, she was chosen as the "new face and body" of lingerie maker
Ultimo's advertising campaign.
[9] In September 2010, Brook appeared in the American edition of
Playboy magazine.
[10] In October 2010, Kelly Brook appeared live at
Clapham Picture House to surprise cinemagoers as part of a promotion for Carlsberg and Sky 3D.
[11] In November 2010, Brook presented an award at MTV's EMA's in Madrid.
[12]
Brook produces her own line of swimwear with
New Look, which she herself has modelled.
[13]
Television
Presenter
In 1997, aged eighteen, Brook started presenting youth television programmes on MTV,
Granada Television and the
Trouble TV channel.
[4]
Brook had a breakthrough into mainstream presenting in January 1999, when she was chosen to replace
Denise van Outen as the female half of
The Big Breakfast hosting team, alongside
Johnny Vaughan. She left the show in July 1999.
[14]
In 2005, she hosted the reality television programme
Celebrity Love Island for ITV.
Reality television
In 2007, Brook participated in the celebrity dancing competition
Strictly Come Dancing on
BBC1, with dance partner was
Brendan Cole. During the TV series, her father Kenneth Parsons died from cancer,
[3] and although she initially decided to continue dancing in his memory, she withdrew from the competition in week nine.
[15]
She also competed in the
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2008, dancing the
Jive with
Brian Fortuna, Brendan Cole having to compete with his later partner
Lisa Snowdon. Brook and Fortuna were put into fourth place, but with the studio audience's vote they came second to
Jill Halfpenny and
Darren Bennett.
In 2008, Brook took
Jennifer Ellison's place as one of the three judges on the second series of the reality TV programme
Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Life,
[16] broadcast between September and November 2008.
In January 2009, she joined the
third series of
Britain's Got Talent
as a fourth judge, but was subsequently axed from the programme after
less than a week on the panel, the producers having decided that the
four-judge format was "too complicated".
[17] Brook was billed as a guest judge in the episode in which she appeared, taped in
Manchester and aired on 16 May. In October 2009, Brook claimed that
Britain's Got Talent hosts
Ant & Dec
had been the cause of her removal as the fourth judge. She claimed that
she was asked to leave the show after she upset the pair.
[18]
Acting career
In 1997, she appeared in a
Pulp video
Help the Aged with
Huck Whitney of the band
the Flaming Stars, in a slow dance sequence.
[citation needed]
Brook made her full screen debut with a minor role in the film
Sorted. Shortly thereafter, she appeared in the film
Ripper. She played the girlfriend of
Clark Kent/
Superman's nemesis
Lex Luthor in four episodes of the American science fiction drama
Smallville
during the show's first season (2001–02). She has also completed
assignments as a film actress in Canada and made a short appearance as
Lyle's girlfriend in the 2003 film
The Italian Job.
Her first starring role was in
School for Seduction, a 2004 film – she received positive reviews for her role, "
Seduction offers a few twists on the rapidly degenerating format, not the least of which is the comely Brook in the lead role."
[19] In 2004, she played character Nikki Morris in the video game
Need for Speed Underground 2, alongside
Brooke Burke. In 2005, she appeared in the Philippe Vidal film
House of 9,
a thriller about nine seemingly unconnected strangers captured and
locked in a house together. The people are forced to compete against one
another, in order to survive.
Also in 2006, she starred in a
Marple drama on
ITV and appeared as herself throughout the second series of
Moving Wallpaper, also for
ITV, in 2009. She acted in the science fiction thriller
Shadow Play, directed by Nick Simon.
[20]
Brook had a leading role in the horror comedy remake
Piranha 3D. The film received a worldwide theatrical release on 20 August 2010.
Piranha 3D grossed $83,188,163 on a budget of $24,000,000.
[21]
Kelly also played as herself in the British comedy movie
Keith Lemon: The Film. In the film she was to marry the entrepreneur
Keith Lemon (portrayed by
Leigh Francis)
and divorce him taking all of his newly acquired riches. This doesn’t
go to plan as due to an issue with a product in the film where people
uncontrollably
gurn, including Kelly Brook.
