It’s been eight years since Fleur East rose to fame as the runner-up to Ben Haenow in the 11th series of The X Factor.
And since then, she hasn’t looked back – having forged a successful career in TV and radio and coming fourth in the 2018 series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
As well as making music, she has also been a roving presenter on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and can currently be seen co-hosting ITV game show The Void alongside Ashley Banjo.
Here, the 34-year-old star, who recently celebrated her third wedding anniversary with husband Marcel Badiane-Robin, chats about her obsession with Love Island, being “reborn” in Mexico and why having kids might not be that far off…
Hi, Fleur! People are obsessed with Love Island at the moment – are you a fan?
I didn’t start watching Love Island until I joined Hits Radio as a presenter three years ago and because we talked about it on the show, I was like, “Right, I should really watch this so I can be aware of what’s going on.” Then I just got way too into it.
I love Ekin-Su. She’s such good value for TV and all the drama is centred around her – and I love Dami and Indiyah.
This year, I’ve got my husband into it and after watching it together, we sit and have debates about it.
The only thing is that I have to get up at 4.30am for my radio job and Love Island has messed up my schedule. Usually, I go to bed at 9pm but now it’s more like 10.30pm.
Would you have ever gone on Love Island back in the day?
I love watching it as a spectator and I love the drama – but I couldn't kiss or get into bed with someone with my mum and my nana watching. They [the Islanders] are brave. It’s too public for me.
You seem really happy with your husband…
Yes, that’s very true. We’ve been together for 12 years and the reason why it’s worked is that we’ve had such a strong friendship and that’s what has seen us through everything. A lot of the time people are shocked to hear that we’ve been together since before I was even on The X Factor.
It was our third wedding anniversary last month and we went to Mexico. We visited Chichen Itza and Tabasco, where we took part in a pre-Hispanic ritual. You go through four portals in this clay-type igloo and it’s a very spiritual experience. It’s like you’ve been reborn because you release any grudges or negativity you’ve been holding on to.
Was there anything you had to let go of?
I was very stressed because I had been working a lot and also losing my father in lockdown was really tough. He had a heart attack and died suddenly. That might have been part of the reason why we moved from Walthamstow last September – as that is where I grew up and where dad lived.
I wanted to start again and have that kind of closure. But I feel much lighter now and in a better place.
Do you want to have kids and would now be the right time?
Maybe we’ll have them soon. I am getting to the point where both my mother and Marcel’s mother are like, “Come on then, really… where are the grandchildren?” We have had 12 years of them not pestering us, so we’ve had a good run, and I'm 34 now, so they think it’s a good time.
Are you ever on the receiving end of trolling?
When you’re on a public platform, you can’t get away from criticism.
But one of the hardest things is when trolls say, “Your song is rubbish,” or “You’re not even that great,” and it’s something that I’ve put a lot of effort into.
If they say something about the way I look, I don’t place a lot of value on physical things. I get more affected when it’s about my ability.
You’ve always been passionate about exercise – is that still the case?
Fitness has always been a huge part of my life and I’ve recently qualified to be a level three personal trainer. But, for me, it is more about how it makes you feel and the strength that it gives you, rather than focusing on your body and what makes your body look great. I will happily post a picture of myself in a bikini but, for me, it’s more about strength and my mental wellbeing.
I like my look now.
Would you ever return to I'm A Celebrity…?
I loved taking part in I’m A Celebrity… and now there is going to be an all-stars version next year, there’s still time.
I’m not saying emphatically that I wouldn’t do it. But I would have to go back to the jungle and not the castle in Wales. I remember how they had hot showers in the castle and we had nothing like that.
They didn’t have the danger of a brown snake under their hammock. I had to sleep out in the cold, have cold showers and I even had to use a bar of soap that Harry Redknapp had used to wash his bum.
Can you believe how much you’ve done since you were runner-up on The X Factor?
I regularly check in with my sister, my mum or my husband and we’ll sit there and say, “Can you believe how far I’ve come?” Or I say “Do you remember the day before my first audition on The X Factor and I was doing gigs up and down the country and no one was there?” So, yeah, I do feel like the cliché of “living the dream” is what's happening to me and I don’t want to take any of it for granted.
Do both young and old people ask you for a selfie?
Yeah, there’s a neighbour two doors down from us and she has kids. I went to pick up a parcel and the kids were staring at me and the mum said, “I’m so sorry. They've watched you on TV.”
And then on the flip side, we have an elderly couple who live at the back of us who wouldn’t have a clue who I am and they came around to see my new house [in Bishop’s Stortford] when I moved there last year.
However, I did draw the line when a pregnant lady asked me to sign her belly. I felt like I didn’t have the right to do that and it was a really sacred thing.
