We all have a part to play in the fight against prejudice

I’m having a bit of a 90s music festival to myself as I write this (one of the benefits of working from home), sparked by this week’s cover star Kéllé Bryan. Kéllé is a Loose Women panellist and stars in long-running soap Hollyoaks, but before all that she was one quarter of the hugely successful British girlband Eternal. Together with her bandmates, Easther and Vernie Bennett and her old school pal Louise Redknapp, Kéllé became an international star, selling 10 million records worldwide.

Eternal’s debut album Always & Forever went four-times platinum and they had a number one hit with the singalong anthem I Wanna Be The Only One. All in, between 1993 and 1999, they achieved 15 Top 20 hits and were nominated for seven Brit Awards.

So how is it possible that today is the first time Kéllé has ever graced the cover of a magazine? When Kéllé revealed this during our interview ( pages 6& 7), I searched the internet for Eternal and the first image to appear is Louise Redknapp. This is despite the fact she left the band after their first album.

Maybe it’s anecdotal, but Kéllé is adamant that the colour of her skin is the reason. She says: “We were a predominantly black band and black people didn’t sell magazines.”

It’s hard to fathom but if this year has taught us anything, it’s that casual racism is weaved into the very fabric of our society.

I am proud that P.S. now holds the accolade of being the first mag to feature Kéllé on the cover. Not only because of what she said it means to her, but because success like hers is worth celebrating.