Former actress and model Kelly Brook is opening up about her life after 40 and her “slumming it” honeymoon with husband Jeremy Parisi. According to The Daily Mail, Brook recently took part in Celebrity Race Across the World with her husband, calling it a life-changing experience.
“The whole trip pushed me out of my comfort zone and my anxiety levels are so much lower now. I even get the Tube! I never used to. I’d get quite paranoid about not being able to escape if people came up to me,” Brook told the outlet. “It’s not that I don’t like talking to people, but you can feel a bit trapped. I used to get a cab every day to work just so I could get out if I needed to. Now? I can do it. Even if we stop in a tunnel I can cope because I say to myself, ‘Listen, you survived a 26-hour bus journey.’”
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Another aspect of the show that really hit home for Brook is how the show gave a look at a very different version of the former model. And she admits, ten years ago she wouldn’t have even fathomed some of it.
“This is me, as raw as it gets,”Brook told the outlet. “But would I have done this sort of show ten years ago? No way!” She later added that she’s “getting older, bigger” as time moves forward. “Everything changes, but I do think the industry is kinder these days. I don’t think it’s fashionable to judge women in the same way,” Brook said, noting how she views her role endorsing Slimfast. “The way I approach that is it’s not about attaining a certain size. It’s about being a fit and healthy version of yourself. It’s not about suddenly dropping three dress sizes, becoming a size zero.”
She does explain that her acting career, at least in the UK, is colder due to her new existence, acknowledging her looks playing a part in the roles she used to play.
“But my agent told me it’s because I don’t have the right acting pedigree. We’re very classist in the UK. I can either be in EastEnders or Corrie, and that’s it. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with soaps, but those kinds of shows require a huge commitment,” Brook explained. “It was those roles in horror movies where the sexy girl gets killed first. So yes, I did play those a lot [memorably in 2010’s Piranha 3D].”
“I’m not doing it for the male gaze now,” she adds. “Whereas in my earlier career, it was very much for the male gaze. That was my business. Less so now that I’m married.”
