Myleene Klass

Myleene Klass

Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is a former member of the UK pop group Hear'Say. The group stayed together for over a year, of which afterwards Klass moved on to try and be a classical pianist. She has a wide range of other claims to fame including 'television and radio presenting', 'advertising' and 'modelling'.

Early life

Klass was born in Gorleston, Norfolk, England to a part Austrian-part English father and a Filipino mother. She comes from six generations of classical musicians on her father's side: Myleene's grandmother was an opera singer and her grandfather left his violin to her, which she later went on to play.

Klass began to learn the piano and violin from the age of four and then the harp at 12. She then took Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) exams in violin, piano and voice whilst still at school. She received an A grade in A-level music, and became a Norfolk County scholar.

Klass was educated at firstly at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School then she went to Cliff Park High School in Gorleston, before going to Notre Dame High School, Norwich for a short time. She then went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and followed this with a postgraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music, University of London. Whilst here, she met Charlie Edge, a talent scout who discovered her star potential and obvious beauty, reportedly complimenting her as 'the most beautiful creature to ever grace the planet'.

Pre-Popstars

Before finding fame via Popstars, Klass provided backing vocals on tour with the likes of k.d. lang, Michael Crawford and Robbie Williams. She has also toured with Cliff Richard.

In 1998, Klass spent a short period as part of a reality show for Bravo, called The Doll's House.

On 13 November 1999, Klass was also a featured back up singer for Cliff Richard's ITV1 An Audience With TV special, appearing on stage with him for a rendition of the recent number-one single The Millennium Prayer.

In July 2000, Klass was included in the programme of Stagecoach Theatre Arts Little Performers Holiday Workshop's presentation of Mini Grease as one of three dance and drama coaches.

More high profile work followed as Klass rapidly made her West End theatre debut in the hit show Miss Saigon. After her run in Saigon was completed, Klass then first auditioned for the first pop reality show which would go on to make her a household name.

Popstars/Hear'Say

Main article: Hear’Say

Klass's big break came when in 2001 the ITV1 show called Popstars gave an opportunity for contestants to become part of a newly formed pop band. Klass attended the auditions and made it through several elimination rounds. She was then chosen as one of the 10 finalists and became a member of Hear'Say alongside Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, Danny Foster and Noel Sullivan. To do so, Klass had beaten 4,000 other hopefuls to a place in the group. The rejected five contestants from the final 10 became the chart-topping Liberty X.

Hear'Say's first single Pure and Simple was the fastest selling non-charitable record ever, selling 1.3 million copies. This record has since been beaten by Will Young, the first winner of Pop Idol, and his debut single Anything is Possible/Evergreen.

Popstars, Hear'Say's debut album (named after the TV show), sold 1.2 million copies in the UK.

Following the success of their first album, the band were given their own TV show entitled Hear'Say It's Saturday. During the show's run, the band had a chance to perform with established artists such as Lionel Richie, Celine Dion, Bradley Walsh, Blue and Atomic Kitten.

At the end of 2001, Hear'Say appeared on the prestigious Royal Variety Performance.

Subsequently, the group achieved a 37-date sell-out arena tour and performed numerous television guest appearances. Klass made many appearances with Hear'Say on TV and at live performance venues during 2002. The pop act's many promotional appearances during the year were also broadcast as part of their own TV shows entitled Hear'Say: A New Chapter In Full and The Hear'Say Story.

In total, Hear'Say had two #1 singles, a #3 single and a #6 single in the British charts, before splitting among a blaze of media headlines after a reported long term feud between Klass and Marsh. The feud resulted in Marsh leaving the band in 2002 and being replaced by Johnny Shental.

After Hear'Say

Almost a year after the Hear'Say break-up on May 13 2003, Klass signed a five-album deal with Universal Classics and Jazz. The first promotional single for the album had been recorded, and Klass stated that she would be going into the studio to finish the album off for release in October. Promotion started with the release of the main promotional single Toccata and Fugue to TV channels and was the first ever classical piece to appear on British music television channel The Box.

Moving On

Klass's album, titled Moving On, was launched on the 20 October at Harrods, London. The launch included two performances (Toccata and Fugue and Moonlight Sonata), as well as a press photoshoot and a signing for fans who had come along.

The album was described as "a refreshing collection of beautiful classical pieces" and included reworked versions of popular classical pieces such as Fauré's Pavane, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Satie's Gymnopedie No.2.

Moving On also included music from a pair of popular Oscar-winning films, namely Now We Are Free (from Gladiator) and the theme from The Piano by Michael Nyman. New arrangements for piano of more contemporary works were also included on the album. The 'pop' tracks recorded were Linkin Park's Crawling and Daniel Bedingfield's recent chart-topping hit If You're Not The One.

In its first week of release Moving On peaked at #2 in the Classical charts, behind Hayley Westenra. By mid-December 2003, the album had been certified Gold.

On 15 May 2004, Moving On was nominated as Peoples' Album Of The Year in the Classical BRIT Awards. The award went to Bryn Terfel's platinum-selling record Bryn.

Follow up

Rumours started appearing of a re-release of Moving On with a predicted five new tracks. This was later confirmed by Klass herself, although no new information was given. It was later revealed that the re-release had been pushed back because of conflicts between Klass's new management company (Mel Bush Organisation) and her previous (Safe Management) regarding royalties. Finally the plan was scrapped, the only remnant being the Asian release of Moving On, which includes three new tracks: Trouble (a Coldplay cover with Myleene's vocals), Sahara and Le Onde. It was then revealed by Klass herself that she would be working on a new album, which would include a number of tracks in which her vocals appeared. However, on 23 October 2004 it was announced that Klass would not be releasing any further material through her current label UCJ, Universal Classics & Jazz. In a statement through her official fansite, she revealed that she had plans to move toward a pop career, as many people had been wondering why she was not singing. However, little information has been heard about such an album.

EMI Classics

On 28 March 2007 Klass signed a record contract with EMI Classics as both a recording artist and an ambassador for the EMI Classics UK roster of artists. These inlcude Alfie Boe, Natasha Marsh and Natalie Clein. The deal includes the release of a series of albums on which Klass performs two exclusive tracks and chooses a number of her favourite classical pieces from the EMI Classics back catalogue. The first album Myleene's Music for Romance, was released on 2 July 2007 and went straight to number 1 in the classical chart. A music video to accompany the lead track Cinema Paradiso was shot at the Bucharest Opera House, Romania in April. The photo session for the album was shot by Mitch Jenkins.

Myleene's second album in the EMI series, Myleene’s Music for Mothers, was released on February 18, 2008, and features two tracks played by Klass. These two tracks are the popular ‘America’ from West Side Story, written by Leonard Bernstein and Ennio Morricone’s ‘Chi Mai’, known best as the theme tune to the 1981 BBC TV drama serial ‘The Life and Times of Lloyd George’.

Non-music career

Klass's management company (Mel Bush Organisation) specialised only in classical artists, so she subsequently moved to a new management company Shalit Global, who continue to manage her today.

Actress

In early 2006, Klass was cast as one of the 3 women starring in the long running play The Vagina Monologues and performed in Bromley, Richmond and Brighton. Her run was then extended to include all dates in Nottingham.

Television presenter

In August 2005, Klass was signed as a presenter for the ITV1 music show CD:UK alongside Lauren Laverne and Johny P, with her first appearance shown on 17 September 2005. However, CD:UK was axed in March 2006 by ITV, because of poor ratings.

On 27 November 2005, beside Brian Dowling, Klass presented the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards which were broadcast on LIVINGtv. In 2005, Klass appeared as a guest panellist on the topical discussion show The Wright stuff on a number of occasions. During December 2005, Klass helped present the E4 spin-off from Channel 4's hoax television show Space Cadets. During Christmas 2005, Klass appeared in a celebrity version of the BBC's acclaimed quiz show Mastermind. Klass scored 20 points in round one on her chosen specialist subject which was Series 1 of Sex and the City. However, during round two (general knowledge), Klass failed to answer a single question correctly.

On 9 June 2006 Klass hosted City Showcase's Classical Night, supporting the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at Rochester Castle Gardens along with the Opera Babes on 22 July, and appearing at Music On Fire at Sandhurst on the 22 September.

On 6 August 2006, Klass was as a guest reporter on BBC One's popular Sunday morning religion and ethics show Heaven & Earth with Gloria Hunniford. Klass's report, billed as the feature of the week, was on the Pope's astronomer.

On 22 September 2006, Klass was seen discussing her own dramatic weight loss with Peaches Geldof in a report on Tonight with Trevor McDonald concerning body image issues.

Since 2006, Klass has been seen an occasional reporter and sometime guest on the LK Today section of GMTV. With Andi Peters, Klass presented the Five Friday night series, The All Star Talent Show broadcast between 8 September 2006 and 13 October 2006.

From 10 October 2006, Klass co-presented LIVINGtv's Ghost Towns beside popular medium and ex-Most Haunted star Derek Acorah. As part of the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain awards, broadcast on ITV1, Klass visited Kabul in Afghanistan to present troops with their prize. Klass's report of the trip was then broadcast during the ceremony shown on 7 November 2006. On 17 December 2006, Klass was part of the Outside Broadcast team for ITV1's extremely popular talent show The X Factor. Klass was in Hackney, to report on the actions of eventual winner Leona Lewis's supporters during the live Final. Klass reprised her role in the next years The X Factor this time in Wales with runner up Rhydian's camp.

On 13 January 2007, Klass appeared on the BBC One quiz programme Your Country Needs You, featuring in the England team alongside EastEnders star Perry Fenwick. A week later, on 20 January 2007, Klass was a guest on ITV1's Saturday night prime time entertainment show, Al Murray's Happy Hour. In February 2007, Klass presented the red carpet coverage of the BAFTA Awards 2007 for Orange Mobile and its online services. Since March 2007, Klass has hosted a new movie show The Screening Room on CNN International, which reaches a global audience of over 200 million people.

In 2007, Klass became a questioner on the new National Lottery show The People's Quiz.

On the 4 July 2007 episode of the BBC's The Daily Politics programme, Klass presented a segment criticizing the British Government's multicultural policies and in particular the provision of translation services by public bodies. Citing her own mixed race background she accused current policies of stifling ethnic minorities and the natural desire of children to integrate.

In 2007, Myleene briefly co-presented the daily BBC One programme The One Show with Adrian Chiles, before quitting to concentrate on looking after her baby. She also appeared as a guest on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2007. Mylene is now back with The One Show as a reporter.

Myleene also appeared briefly in episode 6 of the 2008 series of The Apprentice (UK) as a 'treat' for winning team Renaissance, performing a classical music concert in the living room of the contestant's London home. The episode was aired on 30th April 2008.

Radio presenter

In February 2006, Klass began presenting the Sunday Breakfast programme on Classic FM, taking over from Aled Jones. In this role she appeared to come into her own, and over the Easter weekend (14 April to 17 April) introduced the programme on four successive days. She was to be heard again on the 2 bank holidays in May 2006, on the August bank holiday (also introducing the Early Breakfast show for the rest of that week) and on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Klass can now be heard on the radio station every Saturday and Sunday between 7am and 9am.

In addition to Classic FM, she was also heard on London's Capital Radio on Sunday evenings from 8-10pm. This show was also broadcast on GCap Media's One Network local commercial radio stations around the UK.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Klass took part in the 6th series of ITV1's highly successful reality television series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, which began on 13 November 2006 and ended on 1 December 2006. Klass was paid a reported £100,000 to appear on the show, making her the equal-highest paid female in history of the show (with Jordan).

Klass was very successful on the show, reaching the final and then coming in second place, finishing narrowly behind Matt Willis. This was actually considered to be rather surprising, as Klass was 6-5 second favourite to win behind Jason Donovan, who finished in third place, whilst Matt was an 8-1 outsider. Since her time on the show, Klass's popularity has sky-rocketed, particularly with male viewers as Klass's sex appeal in a bikini was a frequent focus on the show. Klass's brother Don, noticing his sister's popularity with the male audience, suggested she auction off her now famous bikinis from the show on eBay.

Klass's newly found sex symbol status was cemented further after Playboy offered her a significant 6 figure deal to pose nude for their magazine. The offer was sent to Klass's agent while she was still on the show, along with many offers for other magazines, chat shows, movies, dramas, and more besides. So much has the demand for Klass increased that it is estimated she has enough offers to net her several million pounds. Within a week of leaving the jungle, Klass took her brother Don's earlier advice and put her popular bikini from the show on auction on eBay until 7 December 2006. Klass pledged that all the money raised from the auction will go to charity to help victims of the Farepak savings scandal. The auction raised £7,500.

Since her return to the UK, Klass has done several TV and press interviews about her time on the show. Commenting on her famous showers, she said she never expected it to be such a focus of attention and that the reason for her frequent cold showers was to help cope with her sexual frustration, saying "Forget snakes and spiders - going without sex was the hardest thing.". She also tried to end the widespread debate among fans about whether or not her breasts are real, saying "They’re absolutely real and natural, I can assure you.". About her new offers, she said she has been approached by several companies about doing bikini ranges with them.

On 5 December 2006, Klass appeared as a guest on ITV1's morning show GMTV. Klass talked on the show about her white bikini she wore during the series being auctioned off and said to expect more music and TV presenting from her in the near future.

Turnaround in popularity

After only one week on I'm a Celebrity..., Klass became the most searched for celebrity from the show ever on the internet search engine MSN/Live Search and the third most searched for celebrity in the UK. This was mainly fuelled by image searches of Klass; an unsurprising fact given that she was frequently featured on the show in her bikini. By the last week of the show, Klass became the number 1 most searched for celebrity in the world by UK users. On 1 December 2006, Klass finished second to Matt Willis on the show. Klass also gained popularity on video site YouTube which now hosts many of her videos.

After coming out of I'm a Celebrity..., Klass admitted in an interview that before she went into the jungle, people would often hurl abuse at her on the street, but since being out it has given her the chance for people to see the real her, rather than seeing her as 'the one who was in that flop band'.

Charity work

As part of World Vision's 24 hour Famine appeal, Klass visited Sierra Leone to see how World Vision was working to help villages build up their lives. She has also been the face of various charity campaigns such as stop text bully and ChildLine, and most recently help aid the Niger famine appeal by manning the phone lines.

At St John the Baptist Cathedral, Norwich on 24 June 2005, Klass performed a selection of tracks from her Moving On album, as well accompanying some local school children in a concert of classical standards.

The Cathedral summer concert was organised to raise funds for an extension of the church building. Part of this performance was recorded by MTV, who were following Klass at the time for a show called The Price Of Fame. The programme was later broadcast by VH1 and also by ITV1, where it was only shown in the London region. The recording by the music channel was acknowledged by Klass during the evening.

On 15 July 2006, as part of BBC One's Sport Relief charity spectacular, Klass appeared as a special guest in the Question of Sport Relief segment. Klass's appearance involved her playing a variety of TV sport theme tunes on a grand piano. This part of the fundraiser was based on the BBC's popular A Question of Sport quiz show and was hosted by Sue Barker. Guest panellists on the show included Nancy Dell'Olio and Zara Phillips, who played alongside the regular team captains Ally McCoist and Matt Dawson.

In December 2006, Klass auctioned off the bikini which she wore during her appearance on TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and donated all of the money to help victims of the Farepak savings scandal. The auction on eBay raised £7000.

During December 2006, Klass also appeared on The Big Finish with Graham Norton, in which she competed alongside Bill Oddie and Big Brother star Nikki Grahame for the "Showbiz" team (against "Soap" "Sport" "News" and "Judges" teams) to compete to win £10,000 for the winning team's chosen charities. However, the Showbiz team, represented by Graham in the final round, was beaten by the Soap team represented by former EastEnders actress Wendy Richard.

In November 2007, Klass guest-presented BBC Children in Need and performed "Your Song" with John Barrowman (Barrowman singing, with Klass on the piano).

London 2012 National Lottery

Olympic champions joined Klass December 13 2006 to launch 'Lucky Dog', a new London 2012 National Lottery scratchcard. The stars, including Sir Steve Redgrave and Sally Gunnell, put dogs through their paces on an agility course for the launch of the latest 2012 lottery game. With a top prize of £5,000 available for the £1 card, players have a better than one in five chance of a win. Sales of designated lottery games in support of London 2012 have raised more than £53.9 million since the first game, 'Go For Gold', was launched in July 2005.

Modelling

In November 2004 Myleene posed for Loaded magazine. After this she appeared in a shot for Maxim magazine in February 2006, it was revealed in April 2006 that Klass charted at #78 in the FHM 100 Sexiest Females of 2006, after not being included the previous year. Klass had previously been featured at #84 in 2002, #33 in 2003 and #43 in 2004.

Klass was chosen as the new face of Ortak Jewellery.

In January 2007, it was announced that Klass had signed a multi-million pound deal with Marks and Spencer to model clothes and swimwear for the new season. As the new face and body of Marks and Spencer's Spring and Summer Collection, Klass now appears in both print and television advertising, including one modelled on Ursula Andress's first appearance in Dr No.

Test card

In May 2007, Klass appeared on Sky HD's Test Card, in a nod to the famous Test Card F and a play on words to Hear'Say, she is dressed exactly like Carole Hersee, the eight-year-old girl who is featured on Test Card F. Unlike Test Card F, Klass steps out of the frame to give viewers a guide to high-definition TV.

Personal life

Klass currently lives in Winchmore Hill, North London, and has had a 6 year on/off relationship with Graham Quinn, whom she met while in Hear'Say - he was part of the security team. Klass dumped Quinn the first time after it was revealed he was wanted in his native Ireland for fleeing a drugs dealing charge - he was later fined €1,500. In March 2006, Klass revealed that she and Quinn had become engaged.

In December 2005, Klass was attacked by a group of teenagers in a newsagent in Bermondsey. Klass had a bag of chips dropped on her head, she was also pushed to the ground. The teenagers attempted to take photos of Klass on their mobile phones.

On 1 May 2006, Klass was involved in a head-on go-karting crash at a Red Bull charity go-karting event in Cardiff, South Wales. In the event filmed for ITV1's Red Bull Track Attack, Klass escaped with a badly bruised and strained leg.

On 20 October 2006, Klass revealed during Five's documentary From Gawker To Stalker, she had previously been sent a wedding dress by an over-enthusiastic fan. It was also revealed that the stalker had set up a shrine to Klass within their house.

On 1 April, 2007 she announced she was pregnant, with the baby due on 7 September. As a result she delayed her wedding until 2008. She later announced that she got pregnant the night she got out of the jungle after starring in I'm a Celebrity.

Ava Bailey Quinn was born three weeks before her due date on 16 August 2007 at 13.45 GMT weighing 5lbs 9oz. Klass' spokesman said: "Myleene presented The One Show and felt a bit weird on the way home. She went to the hospital to get checked out and they told her she was in labour". Klass' best friend is her former bandmate Suzanne Shaw. Myleene is godmother to Shaw's son Corey.

Interest in astronomy and space

Klass has been an amateur astronomer for most of her life, having been taught the basics by her father. She was one of only a handful of celebrities, engineers and scientists who were at the UK London "control centre" for the touch-down of the UK Mars probe Beagle 2 in the early morning of Christmas Day 2003. Unfortunately she and the rest of the guests waited in vain for the signal which would confirm the landing - but it was never heard. Since then she has been a keen supporter of the UK Space Programme.

In March 2006, Klass publicly criticized the proposed closure of the London Planetarium and explained on television how to view Venus in the early morning. She also appeared on Channel 4's Richard & Judy to discuss the book Moondust, which follows the lives of the first men on the moon, and in 2007 attended the televised party on BBC1, held at the home of Sir Patrick Moore in Selsey to mark the 50th anniversary of Moore's monthly programme, The Sky at Night. Klass is now studying astronomy with the Open University.

Discography

See Hear'Say for the full Hear'Say Discography

Hear'Say albums

• Popstars
• Everybody

Solo albums

• Moving On

01. Toccata
02. For The Love Of A Princess
03. Allegretto
04. If You're Not The One
05. The Heart Ask's Pleasure First
06. Moonlight Sonata
07. Krwlng
08. Pavane
09. Adagio
10. Sarabande
11. Now We Are Free
12. Gymnopedie (Live The Dream)
13. Moonlight Sonata (Classic Version)

• Myleene's Music for Romance

(Disk 1)

01. Morricone: Cinema Paradiso Love Theme (Myleene Klass)
02. Delibes: Flower Duet (Natalie Dessay, Delphine Haidan)
03. Vivaldi: Summer (The Four Seasons) – III. Presto (Yehudi Menuhin)
04. Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture) (extract) (Mariss Jansons)
05. Beethoven: Für Elise Bagatelle No.25 (Moura Lympany)
06. Rota: Ai Giochi Addio (love theme from the Zeffirelli film Romeo & Juliet) (Natasha Marsh)
07. Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – Variation 18 (Cécile Ousset)
08. Jenkings: Palladio (Diamond Music) - I: Allegretto (Smith Quartet)
09. Rachmaninov: Vocalise (Natalie Clein)
10. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C ‘Elvira Madigan’ K467 II. Andante (extract) (Stephen Hough)
11. Liszt: Liebestraum No.3 in A flat (Leif Ove Andsnes)
12. Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor Op.85 – I. Adagio–Moderato (opening) (Jacqueline du Pré)
13. Nyman: The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise (from the film The Piano)
14. Rimsky-Korsakov: The Young Prince & the Young Princess (Scheherazade) (extract) (Takuo Yuasa)
15. Block: A Living Prayer (Alfie Boe)
16. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor Op.18 - II: Adagio sostenuto (opening) (Cécile Ousset)
17. Debussy: Clair de lune (Moura Lympany)
18. Sartori & Quarantotto: Time to Say Goodbye (arr. Shearman)

(Disk 2)

1. Satie: Gnossienne No.1 (Myleene Klass)
2. Smetana: The Moldau (Ma Vlast) (extract) (Paavo Berglund)
3. Albinoni: Adagio in G minor (realised Giazotto) (extract) (Academy of St Martin in the Fields)
4. Khachaturian: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia (Spartacus) (extract) (Yuri Temirkanov)
5. Satie: Gymnopedie No.1 (arr. Craig Leon) (Natasha Marsh)
6. Pachelbel: Canon in D (Academy of St Martin in the Fields)
7. Donovan: Fratello sole, sorella luna (from the Zeffirelli film Brother Sun, Sister Moon) (Alfie Boe) *exclusive track
8. Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Scene (Act II No.10) (André Previn)
9. Saint-Saëns: Aquarium (The Carnival of the Animals) (Nash Ensemble)
10. Prokofiev: Dance of the Knights (Romeo & Juliet) (Riccardo Muti)
11. Puccini: O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi) (Angela Gheorghiu)
12. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op23 - I: Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso (opening) (Horacio Gutierrez)
13. Borodin: Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) (opening) (Thomas Beecham)
14. Morricone: Gabriel’s Oboe (from the film The Mission)
15. Bizet: Au fond du temple saint (Temple Duet) (The Pearl Fishers) (Nicolai Gedda, Ernest Blanc)
16. Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Op.102 – II. Andante (Dmitri Alexeev)
17. Kreisler: Liebesleid (Maxim Vengerov)
18. P: Nessun dorma (Turandot) (José Carreras)

Solo promotional singles

• Toccata and Fugue

External links

• Myleene Klass official website
• Myleene's Music on EMI Classics
• Myleene Klass Classic FM page
• Myleene Klass Capital Radio Page
• Myleene Klass CNN 'The Screening Room' page
• Myleene Klass at IMDb