"How I survived my year from hell"
Kym Marsh has picked up the pieces of her marriage and her singing career to come
back with a fabulous new look and her big West End break
Kym Marsh is a woman reborn. Her face is flushed with a new energy and framed with a
sleek, short bob, while her clothes hug her slim size 8 figure to maximum effect.
'There's been a bit of a reinvention going on,' grins Kym, 28. 'I've lost 71b and had 6in
lopped off my hair. It was a kneejerk reaction to getting dropped by my record company. If
your boyfriend's dumped you, you get a new haircut. For me, this new look was a way of
marking a brand new stage in my life.'
Next month Kym kicks off her acting career with her debut in the West End musical
Saturday Night Fever, alongside Shaun Williamson. 'I didn't know how interested the
West End would be in me,' she confesses. 'When you take someone from the pop world to
the West End it doesn't always work. Martine McCutcheon was plagued with a lot of
illnesses and that made
the producers think long and hard about whether someone like me could cut it. They put
me through a boot camp-style audition, but I was determined to get this role. All I've ever
wanted to do is perform.'
Five months ago it was a very different story. Kym now admits she was on the verge of
quitting showbiz after a year of personal hell. 'I thought last year started out quite well,'
she laughs, pondering the irony of how things eventually turned out. 'I'd launched my solo
career and I thought that two Top 10 singles and a No 9 album were pretty good.'
But when news broke of a brief separation between the singer and her husband Jack
Ryder, she was vilified in the press as a bad mother and wife. Although she and Jack, 22,
have overcome their problems, the bad publicity had an adverse affect on her solo career
and she was dropped by her record label in January.
'My image had become tarnished by things that weren't entirely justified,' she says. Then
days later she was told that her dad was at death's door after three of the main arteries
to his heart had become blocked. 'It just went from bad to worse,' recalls Kym. 'Dad's
normally very jolly and has a smile for everyone, but you could see he was in a lot of pain.
He'd try to be brave, but I'd go into the kitchen and he'd be sitting on his own crying. I felt
so helpless. The nurses told us he could die and there was nothing I could do.
'The one great thing was that as a family unit we really pulled together. In times of stress
you either fall apart or pull together and Jack and I pulled together. Dad had a quadruple
bypass and his recovery was unbelievable.
But now he's got other problems and has been diagnosed with a precancerous condition
called Barrett's Oesophagus, which is caused by a back flow of digestive juices. Every
month something seems to go wrong. It's been a tough year.'
The final straw came when her children - David, nine, and Emily, six - were affected by
Kym's negative publicity. 'There's been a lot of stress in our household, but throughout
that whole year my main concern was the children. I don't ever want them to be hurt by
anything I've done.
'But there was one malicious article in particular. It was a very personal attack saying
what a terrible mother I was. Parents at their school were talking about it, then one girl
went up to David and said: "The newspapers say your mum doesn't love you."
'He came home so upset that I thought: "It's just not worth it. It's not worth the children
being damaged like that." I really did think about chucking it all in and going off and opening
a beauty salon or something.
'I just wanted out of the whole career thing after that. I took a couple of months off to lick
my wounds and spend some time with my family. I can't blame anybody for me being in the
public eye because that's what I wanted. But my family are a different kettle offish.'
Kym, who found fame with Popstars band Hear'Say four years ago, now says she can't
ever see herself going back to the world of pop: 'It's not a market I want to be in.
'I don't like how cut-throat it is. The attitude is: "Sorry, you didn't make the Top 10 -
goodbye." And you're gone.
'Gareth Gates was dropped and now Michelle McManus could be out. She went straight
in at No 1, but now everyone's saying she's not getting the record sales. It's unbelievable.
'Being dropped was a shock for me. I didn't realise what was going on and I felt like such an
idiot for not seeing it coming. I cried for ages when they told me. But at the end of the day
it was just a job. I've had to make the best of a bad situation. I get that from my father -
always looking on the bright side.'
So, two months ago Kym,with the support of her family, picked herself up and hit the
audition trail. When the chance to play Annette in Saturday Night Fever came up, she
rehearsed and rehearsed with a new passion to beat 10 other hopefuls for the part.
And things are also on the up for husband Jack. Since he left EastEnders two years ago,
nothing had been heard or seen of him. Many industry insiders felt he had delusions of
grandeur- thinking he could be the next Brad Pitt - but Kym denies that this is the case
and says Jack will be back on our TV screens later this year.
'During the first year after EastEnders he was very choosy,' she admits. 'He only went for
a couple of auditions in 12 months and couldn't work out what was going wrong. So he
got off his arse and got a new agent.
'Since then he's done really well. He's just filmed a small part in ITV drama MIT: Murder
Investigation Team; he has a possible theatre deal in the works; and he's just accepted
panto in Canterbury. He might get slagged off for that, but at the end of the day he's an
actor and he needs to experience all sides of acting.
'Plus, he has to provide for his family. Sadly we don't have a money tree in the garden.
Money isn't tight and I don't want it to ever get to that stage.
'Jack feels he was very lucky to get EastEnders at such a young age. It gave him a big
step up the career ladder. Maybe he feels he's had to step down a couple of rungs to
take things higher, but I'm very proud of him.'
And despite their marital troubles last summer, things between the couple are better
than ever. 'Any problems we did have are way in the past now,' says Kym. "The secret of a
good marriage is to talk, even about the smallest thing, and that's what we do.'
But she does admit that the honeymoon period is over. 'When you've got two kids it's
difficult to be openly romantic. We don't have time for candlelit baths and massages any
more- although Jack did cook for me and sprinkle the bed with rose petals on Valentine's
Day,' she grins.
How Kym keeps her curves
Despite losing half a stone, Kym says she's still haunted by the 'fat'jibes made by TVs
Nasty Nigel when she first found fame on Popstars
Over the last eight weeks, Kym has slimmed down from 8st 9lb to just 8st2lb. But
despite looking amazing, the 5ft 4in singer says she's still very careful about what she
eats.
'I know I'm prone to putting on weight because it was cruelly pointed out to me on
Popstars,' she says, clearly still scarred by the time when live, in front of 11 million
viewers, Popstars judge 'Nasty' Nigel Lythgoe told her she was too fat to become
famous. 'My weight has fluctuated a lot since I was 15. I suffered from bulimia when I was
17 and I'm still very conscious about it now. Popstars helped with that,' she grins
sarcastically. Now Kym makes sure that she doesn't binge on the children's leftovers and
has got herself into a regular routine at her local gym near their home in Hertfordshire.
'After I was dropped by my record label, I felt really sluggish. Then I found this gym just
round the comer and I thought: 'There's no reason why I can't go there."
'So I've started running there, doing a workout and running home. Paul Herbert, one of
the trainers, offered to give me a kick up the butt with some circuit training and I try to go
two or three times a week. If I'm naughty it's just once a week. I train for an hour, do 30
minutes' cardiovascular work and then swim or do weights. 'Sometimes I train at home.
We've got weights and a cross-training machine in our dining room. I used to do it infront
of the TV, but I was told not to because it means you don't concentrate on your form.'
Kym balances her exercise routine with a healthy diet, but she points out that she rarely
goes overboard. She limits herself to treats such as cheese or her favourite chocolates -
strawberry creams - for special occasions.
'Breakfast is usually some cereal - Special K or Weetabix - with semi-skimmed milk. I don't
like skimmed milk - it's just like water. Or I'll have granary toast with a low-fat spread and
occasionally with a low-cal marmalade,' she explains.
'Lunch is either a tuna salad or a jacket potato with low-fat Lurpak and coleslaw. I don't
have cheese any more. It's terrible for you - it has so much fat. You think it's protein and
good for you, but it's not. When I'm singing I have to cut out dairy products altogether
because it affects the throat.
'For dinner, we'll always have meat and vegetables and as a family we love pasta, which is
so easy to cook. But I'll only have sauces if it's a special occasion.'