Kéllé Bryan

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Wikidata image Kéllé Bryan (born 12 March 1975) is an English singer and actress. Known as one of the founding members of girl group Eternal, she sold more than 10 million records and achieved the UK number-one single, "I Wanna Be The Only One" alongside BeBe Winans.

When Bryan was 11, she joined the Italia Conti Academy school where she trained eight years of performing arts and later qualified as a dance teacher. She met friend and future bandmate Louise Redknapp (née Nurding) during her studies. The two would form the girl group Eternal along with Vernie Bennett and her younger sister, Easther.

During her time being in the group, she attained three UK top-ten albums. In 2018, she began portraying the role of Martine Deveraux in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a role she played until 2022. In 2019, she became part of the Loose Women panel. In October 2020, Bryan, Charlene White, Brenda Edwards and Judi Love became the first all-Black panel in the show's history.

Life and career

1975–1992: Early life and career beginnings

Bryan was born on 12 March 1975 in Plaistow, Greater London and was born to her mother, Marilyn. Aged 11, Bryan joined the Italia Conti Academy stage school, where she completed eight years of performing arts and qualified as a dance teacher.

While at the school, she met Louise Nurding – the pair met executive record producer Oliver Smallman, who was forming a girl group. According to Nurding, Eternal was initially planned as a trio consisting of her and the Bennett sisters. However, it was then proposed that the group could become a quartet. She suggested to add Kéllé to the now-quartet.

On 31 March 1992 she appeared as Debbie, a college friend of Lloyd Tavernier (Garey Bridges) in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders.

1993-1998: Success in Eternal

In 1993, Bryan and Nurding, together with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett formed the 1990s British R&B girl group Eternal. The group would sell 10 million records. The group released their debut album, Always & Forever in November 1993. The album included the hit singles "Stay" and "Just A Step From Heaven". It reached number two in the UK Albums Chart. The album sold over one million copies in the United Kingdom, and was awarded four times platinum, making it one of 1994's biggest selling albums. After their debut album, Louise would leave the group, making the group a trio.

Two years later, the group, now a trio, would release their sophomore album, Power of a Woman. The album, including the hit title track, would reach 4x platinum and a song from the album, "I Am Blessed" was performed for Pope John Paul II. Their third album, Before The Rain, would include their first and only-to-date number one hit, "I Wanna Be The Only One" featuring Bebe Winans.

1999-2000: Short-lived solo career and hiatus

After their "rush-released" compilation, Greatest Hits, which included the single "Angel of Mine" that would be given to American singer Monica, Bryan was controversially fired from Eternal by their solicitor via fax.

Following her departure from Eternal, Bryan signed a record deal with Mercury Records and began work on her debut solo album, titled Breakfast in Bed, scheduled for release in November 1999. The album would never be released.

Her debut single, "Higher than Heaven", was dropped in the UK on 20 September 1999. It debuted at number 14 on the chart and remains Bryan's only solo hit to date. The song was marked as a "next week hit" in the magazine Hit Music.

The second single, "I Wanna Know", was released to Lithuanian radio on 5 August 2000. The single was released to radio in the United Kingdom, and was scheduled to be fully released on 4 September. However, the single release was subsequently shelved after Bryan was diagnosed with Lupus.Template:Better source needed The single would later be digitally reissued by Universal Music on 23 August 2019. The song was also included on the Universal Music TV compilation Hot Pop!.

2006-2018: TV career

In 2006, Bryan was a contestant on Love Island 2, finishing as the female runner-up. Bryan said that being on the show has given her "the confidence to know that [she] did have a life outside of Eternal". Six years later, Bryan also had a starring role in a film called The Naked Poet, playing the part of Michelle. In 2012, she played the part of Fran in the BBC comedy Me and Mrs Jones.

Bryan joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks in September 2018, portraying the role of Martine Deveraux.

After four years of appearing on Hollyoaks, Bryan announced her exit from the show on 3 June 2022 with her final scenes airing that same day.

2019-present: Loose Women and short-lived Eternal comeback

From May 2019, she has been appearing regularly on ITV's show Loose Women. On 1 June 2023, Bryan made a surprise appearance on stage at friend and former bandmate Louise's Shepherd's Bush Empire concert where they performed 1994 Eternal single "Crazy".

In September 2023, Bryan pulled out of a purported Eternal reunion tour as a show of support of the LGBT community. Redknapp and Bryan reported that Easther and Vernie Bennett had refused to perform at a number of proposed LGBT Pride events over objections that the trans community had "hijacked" Pride. Bennetts' manager Denis Ingoldsby commented that the sisters supported the LGBT community and played at many events, but that Vernie has raised concerns about "the trans lobby". Bryan went on to post a statement on her Twitter stating she is “an advocate for inclusion and equality for all.”

Personal life and health issues

Bryan was diagnosed with lupus in 1998. In 2014, Bryan began to develop serious symptoms of her lupus. She lost a lot of hair and her sight, hearing, and movement deteriorated, and she was unable to speak. She then had a seizure, and the doctors confirmed that her lupus was affecting her brain. After the seizure, Bryan had to relearn how to read and write, and continues to struggle with short-term memory loss. She is a patron of St Thomas' Lupus Trust.

In 2010, she married Jay Gudgeon. The pair have two children together.

In 2024, Bryan was hospitalised due to a kidney stone. She said on Loose Women that the pain was so intense that she asked her 12-year-old son to help have her be taken to the hospital.

Discography

Eternal discography

• Always & Forever (1993)
• Power of a Woman (1995)
• Before the Rain (1997)

Solo discography

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		UK
"Higher than Heaven"	1999	14	rowspan="2" Template:Non-album singles
"I Wanna Know"	2000	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1992	EastEnders	Debbie	Episode: 31 March 1992
2006	Celebrity Love Island	Herself	Runner-up
2007	The Virus	Nurse	Short film
2009	The Brothers	Jen	Main role
2012	Me and Mrs Jones	Fran	Main role
2012	Rocket's Island	Wendy Sparks	3 episodes
2016	The Naked Poet	Michelle	Film
2018–2022	Hollyoaks	Martine Deveraux	Series regular
2019–present	Loose Women	Herself	Panelist
2023	Significant Other	Shelley	Main role
2024	Richard Osman's House of Games	Herself	Season 8; episodes 21-25

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2005–2006	Jack and the Beanstalk	Jill	Buxton Opera House
2006–2007	Cinderella	Cinderella	Catford Theatre
2007–2008			Oakengates Theatre
2008–2009	Aladdin	Princess Jasmine	Rickmansworth Watersmeet Theatre
2009–2010	Cinderella	Cinderella	Derby Assembly Rooms
2010–2011			The Playhouse, Weston Super Mare
2023-2024	Snow White	Good Fairy Elementa	Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2020	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actress	Nominated
2020	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2020	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Performance	Nominated
2021	26th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	Nominated
2021	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2021	Inside Soap Awards	Best Partnership (shared with Richard Blackwood)	Nominated
2021	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Performance	Nominated
2022	The British Soap Awards	Best Leading Performer	Nominated

External links

• Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata