Kimberley Walsh

Kimberley Walsh, 35, rose to fame as part of girl band, Girls aloud. she has since released her own solo album and starred in West end musical shrek. she lives in london with her husband Justin and two sons, bobby, two, and Cole, eight months.

A GOOD PARENT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

I owe everything to my parents. when I was growing up in Bradford, I believed the world was full of song and laughter and make-believe. My sister Sally, who was two years older than me, was just as crazy about performing, and every day, as soon as we woke up, we’d be rehearsing a scene from The Sound of Music.

By the time I was five, Sally and I were enrolled in a stage school, and my mum, a music teacher, encouraged us to have fun and enjoy ourselves. My parents split when I was six, which was a tough time, but there were four of us kids and we helped each other through it. Both Mum and Dad continued to ferry us to classes on top of getting us to school and back. They were determined to make sure we all got the best opportunities we could.

when I was 12, I won a part as Young Cosette in a production of Les Miserables in Manchester. Sally had already been amazingly successful by then. She had got a part in a Disney film, The old Curiosity Shop, opposite Peter Ustinov, which led to a part in emmerdale. I wasn’t jealous — Mum taught us to try our best, and if we got a call saying we hadn’t got a part, then it simply wasn’t meant to be. we’d get there in the end.

when I got my big break in Girls Aloud at 21, it came as a shock as I only got into the show when another girl dropped out. All my family were behind me. Both my parents have always backed me, quietly encouraging me to go for it. As both were musical, I think they wanted us to get the opportunities they never had.

Now I’m a parent, I can see the wheel has turned full-circle. It is my turn to give my children all the support I can to help them make their dreams a reality. Bobby, who will be three in September, is already making up songs so it looks like he is going to follow the family tradition.

It is nice that I’ve been able to help out my parents financially, too. My parents gave me the platform on which to grow and taught me to go for your dreams. I intend to do the same for my children.