Fleur East says ‘Everyone’s begging me to have kids but first I’ve got 10,000 things to do’
SHE’S been a reality star, radio DJ and TV presenter, but at the age of 33 singer Fleur East still cares most about impressing her parents.
So she was thrilled to hear the reaction of dad Malcolm after she landed the “roving host” role on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
Malcolm died just over a year ago, but not before he got to see his daughter co-presenting one of the biggest shows on telly last March.
Fleur says: “It was the last thing my dad saw me do.
“The last text conversation I had with him was after Takeaway and he said, ‘I just watched you and it was amazing’.”
Now she has returned for this year’s series, which kicked off last week, she adds: “For me coming back to the show, not only is it amazing to be part of it but it has a deeper meaning.”
But while her family are proud of her career, mum Irene wants her to start a family of her own with new husband Marcel Badiane-Robin, 32, a fashion designer.
Fleur says: “Everyone in my life is begging me to have kids. It’s got to that stage.
“Me and my husband are really driven and doing a lot with our own careers. He’s into fashion and I’m doing 10,000 things at once.
“We definitely want to have a family for sure but we’re not putting pressure on it. Our mums would say different, they’re itching now. They want grandchildren.
“My mum isn’t a grandmother yet. She’s saying, ‘Give me my grand-babies’.”
Fleur, who came second on The X Factor in 2014, had been staying in Manchester to present her breakfast show on Hits Radio but moved back to London to be with her family after her dad’s death.
And like all of us in lockdown, it has been hard to get away since.
Last June, she planned a romantic getaway to celebrate her wedding anniversary with Marcel, who she married in Morocco in 2019 after they had been together for a decade.
‘I LIVE IN DISNEYLAND INSIDE MY HEAD’
The plan was to return to the country with guests from their wedding, including Harry Redknapp and wife Sandra, who she met during her stint as a contestant on 2018’s I’m A Celeb.
But with travel restrictions firmly in place, she had to improvise and create her own “Harem Tent” instead — in her front room.
Fleur says: “It was dining room chairs with a throw and sheets from upstairs. My husband just laughed and went, ‘Oh my gosh, is this really what you wanted to do?’.
“He always says to me that I live in Disneyland inside my head as I’m always trying to relive memories from my childhood. I’ve got a childish imagination in that sense.
“But we’ve had a relationship reset during lockdown as we have spent so much time together, like you do when you first get together.
“So it was a cute thing to do. To have fun like that after 11 years together is really cool.”
At least Fleur has been able to get out and about during the current lockdown as her Saturday Night Takeaway role sees her visit random streets across the country to surprise viewers with prizes.
It can be bitterly cold work — but the rewards are worth it.
She says: “It’s always freezing. Wardrobe is pretty much, ‘Get a good coat’ — that’s all I have to work with. Last week, the wind picked up three times just as we went live.
“Seriously, why is this happening to me? My hair was everywhere, my eyelashes are flipping off and I’m going live to the studio with Ant and Dec, which is so scary. I’m definitely learning on my feet.”
For the series opener, the Geordie duo launched a contest where viewers living within a two-mile radius of a rainbow beamed into the sky could win a dream holiday.
More than eight million people saw Fleur deliver the good news to one young couple, who could see the rainbow from their front lawn.
She adds: “They had literally got engaged that night and knowing they can’t even plan a wedding right now and to be able to say, ‘Here’s your honeymoon and it’s sorted for you’ when money is tight for everyone, people are getting furloughed and losing their jobs — it’s amazing to do something like that. I love it.”
The role is Fleur’s biggest telly job to date. Hosts Ant and Dec, both 45, personally requested she join the series having been impressed by her stint on I’m A Celeb, which the pair also front.
Fleur only finds out on a Thursday evening which part of the UK she is going to be dispatched to — but she has no idea who the winners are going to be until the show airs on Saturday nights.
“It’s so off-the-cuff and I love all the jeopardy,” she says.
“You have no idea what their reaction is going to be — sometimes it’s just one-word answers, even though they’ve just won a life- changing prize.”
Her debut series last year was cut short following the outbreak of the pandemic, but she is looking forward to getting a proper run-out this year.
She says: “Last time I dipped my toes in the water and then it was all pulled so I didn’t really get to have the full experience. Just being involved in it and to work with Ant and Dec again is awesome.”
Fleur is also having an eye-opening time working with co-host Stephen Mulhern, 43, who attracted a few complaints about the bulge in his tight gold shorts during the Ant Versus Dec segment last week.
But whereas some viewers were convinced he had “enhanced” the curvature, Fleur believes it was genuine.
She says: “I think Stephen rocked those gold shorts, to be fair. He’s still got it. It was all natural, why wouldn’t it be? He seems like a down-to-earth, genuine guy.
“If you’ve got it, flaunt it. But I don’t think he was aware of the attention it got. I think he thought, ‘I’ve spray-painted my skin gold — that’s going to be the spectacle’. I don’t think anyone predicted that reaction.
“He’s good fun though — he doesn’t take himself too seriously.”
Fleur has carved out a serious career for herself since finishing runner-up to Ben Haenow on The X Factor seven years ago. Her debut single Sax reached the top three in the charts the following year.
But she admits she struggled to live with the high expectations it set, which led to her leaving Simon Cowell’s record label Syco and releasing music independently.
There is “no beef” with Simon, however, and he tried to sign her for the X Factor: All Star series in 2018 before its cancellation.
Fleur studied journalism at university and was an intern at Now magazine and ITV, where she took minutes for legendary newsreader Trevor McDonald’s special investigation shows.
‘THERE’S NOTHING LIKE X FACTOR’
Her career has now come full circle, with broadcasting being her main focus. But there is still one big TV job she has an eye on — taking the hotseat as an X Factor judge.
The ITV show has been on hold since 2018, but Fleur says: “I’ve heard there have been talks about it coming back so I think it will.
“There’s still space for it. There’s nothing like it, that’s for sure.”
And on the prospect of being a judge, Fleur adds: “I would really enjoy doing that because on a lot of these shows, you don’t have many people who’ve done it before.
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“It was refreshing when they had Louis from One Direction or even when Cheryl was there. I really connected with her because she’s been through a similar experience.
“So when you’ve gone through something like that as a judge, it’s invaluable really as you can really relate to the contestants.”
It will be a touch warmer in a studio too.
Singing, Syco & sailing
2005: Fleur first appears on X Factor in girl group Addictiv Ladies on the second series. Mentored by Simon Cowell, they are eliminated in week one after ending up in bottom two with Chico Slimani.
2014: Returns to X Factor and is narrowly beaten in final by Ben Haenow.
2015: Releases debut album and hit single, Sax.
2017: Parts from Cowell’s Syco label via a mutual agreement.
2018: Finishes fourth on I’m A Celeb, where she strikes up a unique friendship with winner Harry Redknapp.
2019: Lands breakfast show role on Hits Radio.
2020: Returns to TV screens as the “roving host” on Saturday Night Takeaway. Takes part in ITV challenge Don’t Rock The Boat, where celebs attempt to row the length of Britain. Her team wins.
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