I had to talk to my son about racism after he experienced it.. aged FIVE R KELLE BRYAN
Loose Women panellist Kelle Bryan has described the upsetting moment she had to address the issue of racism with her son, after he experienced it aged just five.
Kelle, who has been in the entertainment industry since her teens, confirmed she regularly faces microaggressions – everyday subtle slights and insults aimed at black and ethnically diverse people – and was saddened when she learned her son Regan had been overtly affected by racism at such a young age.
The former Eternal star says: “My son was told at five years old by another child that he couldn’t play with a toy because he was brown.”
Kelle, 46, insisted the matter be dealt with immediately and was glad the place where it happened told her it had a zerotolerance attitude towards racism.
The other child was sent home.
She spoke to Regan, who is now nine and in primary school, about racism. But unfortunately it wasn’t to be the last incident in which he would face prejudice.
Kelle, who also has daughter Kayori, seven, with husband Jay, says: “I educated Regan about slavery, I shared some of my experiences from my childhood and what I went through, I experienced a lot of racism growing up. I also took him to the slave museum in Liverpool. Now he handles things really well.”
The ongoing George Floyd trial, in the US, and the events in Minneapolis this week when another black man was shot by police, are forcing painful conversations about race on both sides of the Atlantic. But there is still a long way to go.
But there is still a long way to go. Kelle has been on the panel of Loose Women since May 2019 and last October she was part of the first entirely black line-up, alongside Judi Love, Brenda Edwards and Charlene White.
Loose Women went on to win the Best Daytime Programme Royal Television Society Award.
But she is keen to downplay the foursome’s airtime, saying: “It is a positive, and it is amazing to be able to represent and reflect our community, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Sadly, it seems it is viewed by some in a negative way. “We get a lot of trolling when we do the show, it’s crazy,” she says. “The show has been going for 25 years and suddenly four black women present, it’s an issue? You only have to look at the comments to see that unfortunately there are still people with really bigoted views.”
Luckily Kelle enjoys camaraderie with her co-stars, and says the laughter and chat continues off screen as much as on, with them sharing pictures of their cooking, and stories about the children.
But behind the scenes across the industry, Kelle says there are still issues with everything from make-up to casting, things I’ve also experienced.
The presenter, who runs successful talent management company Advocate Agency, said: “You arrive and instantly face challenges with make-up and hair.
“The skill sets are different (for different hair types and complexions)
HISTORIC (Clockwise from top left) Charlene, Brenda, Judi and Kelle in the all-black line-up and there is a disparity in representation even in the make-up room. In my agent role this week, one of my clients arrived for a job and was told she had to go and buy her own make-up for them to use.”
While she acknowledges that there has been real progress in casting, she says there is still a long way to go.
“I’ll look at an (on-screen) role for a nurse and see that they need to be white. Why? I’m confused, as historically there are so many black nurses in the NHS.”
Since 2018, Kelle has also played Martine Deveraux in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. Tonight her powerful plot covers the issue of microaggressions and racism in her character’s life.
In an episode that really resonated with me when I watched it, Kelle’s character is pitched against her love rival
Grace Black, who is white. We see the two women living a similar day but with differences, from how they are treated in a business interview or when doublebooked at the doctor’s for a breast examination – all based on the colour of their skin. For example Martine, who arrives at the clinic first but is told to come back the next day so Grace can be seen by doctors, is accused of being “aggressive,” a word often used to describe black women who speak up for themselves. Kelle’s character, who talks about inequalities faced by black women in childbirth and in their careers says: “A day in the life of someone like me means constant microaggression, judgement, having to prove myself. It is knowing the game is rigged, and not in your favour.”
For tonight’s episode, written by Karla Marie-sweet and
directed by Edem Kelman, the cast a read-through beforehand, to en they were comfortable.
Kelle is appreciative of the way issues were handled by the sho bosses, but it was a difficult topic. admits she “went off piste and added own text” as reading through p for the episode brought
ings of frustration. “I
I was connecti lines so much, the pain and h KELLE BRYAN ON TONIGHT’S H
t had sure
y the ow’s She d my plans feelwas infuriated. This was my everyday. I was connecting with the lines so much, it ignited in me the pain and the hatred for biases,” she says. “All the black cast members said we wouldn’t do this unless it was absolutely real. We didn’t want to pretty anything up.”
Kelle, who read the coverage of the recent Race and Disparity report, says: “How many reports are we going to need? We are aware of what’s there, we need to get on with implementing recommendations from previous reports.” Kelle found fame with
R&B girl band Eternal. With so many 90s acts reuniting for tours, she is not averse to doing the same and she is still friends with bandmate Louise Redknapp. “So many people got married to my music, had babies to my music, and there are lots of people with really fond memories of what we did, which is lovely,” she says.
But while her soap storyline had been in planning for 18 months, the killing of George Floyd in America last May made it even more poignant.
“People of colour have been given a voice at a very high cost - George Floyd’s life,” she says. “Lockdown meant we were listening a little more closely. His death was another cog in the wheel, along with Martin Luther King’s speech, and Nelson Mandela. Each person is chipping away at 400 years of slavery. The microaggressions are much better than the horror black people faced and things they went through in the last century. If we keep chipping away, we’ll eventually get there.”
ing with the it ignited in me hatred for biases
OLLYOALKS EPISODE
@Irishmirror Hollyoaks airs tonight at 6.30pm on Channel 4 while Hollyoaks first look is on weekdays at 7pm on E4. Loose Women is weekdays on ITV at 12.30pm.