ITV Loose Women star admits 'it was difficult' as she opens up on 'dark' past

Loose Women star Kéllé Bryan has admitted "it was difficult" as she opened up on her "dark" past on Friday (November 7).

The 50-year-old singer and actress appeared on ITV's Lorraine today, where she spoke to host Ranvir Singh about her time in R&B band Eternal. Sugababes star Heidi Range also featured in the segment.

Kéllé is part of a new BBC documentary called Girlbands Forever, which explores the inside story of girl band fever through the 90s and beyond.

On today's Lorraine, Ranvir asked: "[The documentary] didn't shy away from difficult topics, as we saw in your clip there Kéllé. You talked about body image, and we all know that was horrible. I just wondered what it was like for you talking about that?"

Kéllé replied: "The production team were amazing, but obviously, you're dealing with difficult subjects to talk about.

"But I think it's important to highlight those things because you hope that by talking about it, you'll bring change for the people who are coming up behind you. But unfortunately, we've seen with Little Mix and all the other bands, that those issues and pressures still exist."

Speaking about the challenges she faced while being in Eternal, Kéllé went on: "For me, it was difficult to talk about because it's those darker memories and darker sides of things that you know were difficult to deal with at the time, and the pressures that come with being a woman in the industry."

Ranvir then noted: "And being a black woman that was in Eternal."

Kéllé continued: "In those days, unfortunately, racism was prevalent. You wouldn't get a front cover of a magazine because, after Louise [Redknapp's] exit, we were predominantly a black band, so therefore you wouldn't get a front cover.

"And there were countries that we travelled to and Louise would be the one that was spoken to, and there were other countries we'd travel to and we would be the ones that were spoken to.

"It was all that kind of unspoken, unconscious bias that was going on in the industry. We never saw it as any different, we just loved Lou. [I'm] still friends with Lou, love her."

Kéllé went on to say that she doesn't feel confident for future girl bands, as there "aren't enough safeguards in place for young people".

As well as Kelle and Heidi, Girlbands Forever also featured interviews with members of All Saints, Atomic Kitten, Little Mix and Mis-Teeq, including Kerry Katona, Melanie Blatt, Perrie Edwards and Su-Elise Nash.

Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 12.30pm, while Girlbands Forever is available to stream on BBC iPlayer