Myleene bounces back with new shows

She has been bullied both within the press and closer to home but Norfolk's Myleene Klass is having the last laugh. As she prepares to take on two new BBC shows her mum Bong talks to Lorna Marsh about her daughter's “inspirational” bounce-back-ability.

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To see Myleene Klass now, grinning and confident with the world at her feet on television and in national newspapers it is hard to imagine her once laid out on a stretcher on her way to hospital after being thrown down the stairs, a victim of bullying at her Norwich school.

The common misconception is that people who have been through such experiences become timid wrecks as a result. Nothing could be further from the truth for the former Gorleston girl who has not only suffered school bullying but national press attacks and a horrific 'happy slapping' assault by a gang in a London street.

Her mum Bong Klass told the EDP yesterday that Myleene has an extraordinary combination of resilience and flexibility that has seen her boomerang back from these potentially soul-breaking incidents as well as an eating disorder and a series of career breakdowns, trying her hand at everything from singing to astronomy.

First she rose to fame after being selected from the ITV1 show Popstars for Hear'Say but despite initial success and several hits the band split up nearly two years later.

The trained pianist decided to use her skills in an attempt to bring classical music to a wider audience with a solo album but a follow-up never materialised as her multi-tasking saw her move into the world of television presenting.

She has worked on CD:UK, the X Factor and the All Star Talent Show but it was her stint in I'm a Celebrity… Get me out of Here that firmly planted her back in the nation's heart.

Since her time on the show, Myleene's popularity has sky-rocketed - and it is not just with male viewers captivated by 'that' bikini.

Bong puts her second placed success - which has reaped rewards far greater than a runner-up position - to her genuineness in the jungle.

And it is her confidence, affability and determination that has seen her through this far with not one but two BBC programmes in the offing, one a nationwide quiz the other rumoured to be a chat show.

“If you know Myleene you will know she can really talk,” said Bong. “That is why she can handle a presenting job so well. She is very flexible with what she can do and very determined. She pushed the music side because that is what she wanted to do since she was a little girl but she knows you have to go for different things in life, not just stick to one route.

“I'm not surprised she can turn her hand to so many things, she is a well-rounded person. But she has really been through it. I was called to her school once after she had to go to hospital because she was thrown down the stairs and then she had that happy slapping attack in London. Plus she has had a very bad national press.”

But rather than let her bad experiences let her down Myleene has gone on to help others. She further won public affection when she put her famous white bikini from I'm a Celebrity on auction site Ebay raising £7,000 to go to victims of the Farepak fiasco.

And it is only the latest charity work she has been involved in - she was the face of the NCH children's charity anti-bullying campaign after revelations of her own experiences at Notre Dame High in Norwich.

Bong said she was an inspiration to anyone finding themselves in the same position.

“I think she shows people that if you have got the backing of your friends or family you can get through any problem because you know there is always someone there to talk to.”