Kelly Brook (born Kelly Ann Parsons on 23 November 1979) is an English model, actress, and occasional swimwear designer and television presenter.
Biography
Born Kelly Parsons on November 23, 1979, in Rochester, Kent, England, she is the daughter of Sandra, a cook, and Ken, a scaffolder. Ken Parsons died from cancer in November 2007.
Kelly attended The Thomas Aveling School in Warren Wood, Rochester, Kent. After leaving school in Rochester, Brook studied at the Italia Conti stage school in London for three years before becoming a professional model.
Modelling career
Brook's modelling career began at 16 after winning a beauty competition her mother entered her in.[3] Following this success she worked on a range of advertising campaigns, including for Foster's Lager, Renault Megane, Walkers crisps, Piz Buin and "Bravissimo", a company that specialises in bras and lingerie for big-breasted women. Her voluptuous 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 lad 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. She later ranked 5th in FHM's '100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006', 17th in 2007 and 34th in 2008 respectively.
Brook has also done a large amount of commercial swimwear, sportswear and hosiery modelling. Her work for Triumph Bras caused quite a stir because of specially-commissioned 50-foot (15 m) high billboards of Brook's bust, said to be the largest billboards in the world.
In 2005, Brook posed for a ten-page, partially-nude black-and-white photo spread with the photographer David Bailey. The results were featured in the British design magazine Arena, the November 2005 issue.
In 2006 she signed a contract, reported to be worth around £1m, to be the presenter of Unilever's Lynx body spray, known as Axe in the US and on continental Europe. She has appeared on billboards, in newspapers, and on-line as part of an advertising campaign.
Clothing range
In 2006, she introduced a range of self-designed swimwear and lingerie at New Look stores in the United Kingdom. She also modelled the range in a number of provocative television and magazines adverts.
On Television
Presenter
In 1997, aged eighteen, Brook started getting work presenting youth television programmes on MTV, Granada Television, and the Trouble TV channel [8].
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 decided to leave the show in July, 1999.[9] Following her departure she picked up roles presenting for MTV again.
In 2005, she hosted the reality television programme Celebrity Love Island for ITV.
Reality TV appearances
Strictly Come Dancing
In 2007 Brook participated in the celebrity dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1, for which her professional ballroom dance partner was Brendan Cole. During the TV series, her father Kenneth Parsons died from cancer,[10] and although she initially decided to continue dancing, she soon withdrew from the competition.[11]
Reality TV judge
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,[12] broadcast between September and November 2008.
Acting career
In 1997, she appeared in a Pulp video Help the Aged with Huck Whitney of the cult band The Flaming Stars, in a slow dance sequence.
Brook made her full screen debut with a minor role in the film Sorted, where she can be seen involved in a lesbian scene. Shortly thereafter she also appeared in the film Ripper. She played the girlfriend of Clark Kent/Superman's best friend Lex Luthor in four episodes of Warner Bros.' Smallville during the show's first season (2001 - 2002). She has also completed assignments as a movie actress in Canada and made a short appearance as Lyle's girlfriend in the 2003 movie 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."[13] In 2004 she also 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.
She caused a minor controversy in 2006 whilst in the film Survival Island (also known as Three), in which she co-starred with Billy Zane, who would later become her fiancé. Brook requested her nude scenes be excised from the final cut, which the producers refused to do.
In 2006, she also starred in a Marple drama on ITV and will be appearing in the second series of Moving Wallpaper for ITV1, to be screened in 2009.
Theatrical work
In December 2000, she played the exotic dancer Anya in the play "Eye Contact" at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, a role that gathered some tabloid publicity since the finale of the show involved her removing her upper garments (topless).
In October 2008, she returned to the west end as Jeannie, in Neil LaBute's Fat Pig at London's Comedy Theatre. Although her performances have had mixed reviews, the Daily Mail newspaper said "Kelly Brook has a pencil waist and rabbit-thigh legs, but she is not a great interpreter of a role"
Personal life
During her long-term relationship with Jason Statham, Brook met American actor Billy Zane while filming thriller Three in Greece in 2003, followed by her break up with Statham. Proposing to wed in Summer 2008 and having bought a farmhouse in Kent, Brook kept putting the date back after the death of her father in November 2007. The couple split in April 2008 but briefly got back together, before ending their relationship for good in August 2008.[16]
She has been dating Wasps rugby player Danny Cipriani since September 2008. [17]
Filmography
* Sorted (2000), Sarah
* Ripper (2001), Marisa Tavares
* Absolon (2003), Claire
* The Italian Job (2003), Lyle's Girlfriend
* School for Seduction (2004), Sophia Rosselini
* House of 9 (2005), Lea
* Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005), Beautiful Woman in Painting
* Survival Island (also known as Three) (2006), Jennifer
* In the Mood (2006), Eva
* Fishtales (2007), Neried
Television movies
* The (Mis)Adventures of Fiona Plum (2001), Fiona Plum
* Romy and Michele: In the Beginning (2005), Linda Fashiobella
TV appearances
* Smallville, Victoria Hardwick - in various episodes in season 1 (2002)
* Marple: Elsie Holland - in the episode "The Moving Finger" (2006)
* Hotel Babylon, Lady Catherine Stanwood - in season 2's episode 3 (2007)
* Moving Wallpaper (2008), "Kelly Brook", a fictional version of herself
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