I’m a Celebrity... South Africa star Myleene Klass has spoken about Elton John sending her band Hear’Say “sorry flowers” after calling them “the ugliest band I’ve ever seen”.
During Friday (5 May) night’s episode of the all-stars spin-off series of ITV’s popular competition series, latecomer campmate Klass discussed the public shaming aimed at her group in the early 2000s.
“I got in the band and I had other band managers coming up saying, ‘You’re the fattest band in pop,’” she told Carol Vorderman. “Newspapers then were writing it... You won’t have to look hard to find those headlines.
“Rather than the fact we had talent, I could read any music, play most instruments you put in front of me… it came back to ‘fattest band in pop’.”
The presenter then referenced comments made by John in 2001, when the “Rocket Man” singer said that he “felt sorry” for Hear’Say, who he referred to as “the ugliest band I’ve ever seen”.
Klass told Vorderman: “We got sent flowers from Elton John who said we were the ugliest band in pop. He realised, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. He sent ‘sorry flowers’ to us.
“I look back at that time, it was a different time in history.”
After John made the comments, it was reported that he apologised to the band at the Royal Variety Performance.
The Independent has contacted John for comment.
Speaking in the Bush Telegraph about comments made early in her career, Klass said: “I was asked to change my name. I was told people wouldn’t be able to pronounce it because it was quite an ethnic name.
“You’d be cancelled if you said something like that now. I was told to use my middle name. I am not using my middle name. My middle name is Angela. ‘Alright, Ang!’”
I’m a Celebrity… South Africa airs weeknights at 9pm on ITV.
