# Kéllé Bryan

Kéllé Bryan (born 12 March 1975) is an English singer and actress. Known as a forming member of girl group Eternal, she sold more than 10 million records and achieved the UK number-one single, "I Wanna Be The Only One" alongside BeBe Winans.
When Bryan was 11, she joined the Italia Conti Academy school where she trained eight years of performing arts and later qualified as a dance teacher. She met friend and future bandmate Louise Redknapp (née Nurding) during her studies. The two would form the girl group Eternal along with Vernie Bennett and her younger sister, Easther.
During her time being in the group, she attained three UK top-ten albums. In 2018, she began portraying the role of Martine Deveraux in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a role she played until 2022. In 2019, she became part of the Loose Women panel. In October 2020, Bryan, Charlene White, Brenda Edwards and Judi Love became the first all-Black panel in the show's history.

## Life and career
### 1975–1992: Early life and career beginnings

Bryan was born on 12 March 1975 in Plaistow, Greater London and was born to her mother, Marilyn. Aged 11, Bryan joined the Italia Conti Academy stage school, where she completed eight years of performing arts and qualified as a dance teacher.
While at the school, she met Louise Nurding – the pair met executive record producer Oliver Smallman, who was forming a girl group. According to Nurding, Eternal was initially planned as a trio consisting of her and the Bennett sisters. However, it was then proposed that the group could become a quartet. She suggested to add Kéllé to the now-quartet.
On 31 March 1992 she appeared as Debbie, a college friend of Lloyd Tavernier (Garey Bridges) in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders.

### 1993-1998: Success in Eternal

In 1993, Bryan and Nurding, together with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett formed the 1990s British R&B girl group Eternal. The group would sell 10 million records. The group released their debut album, Always & Forever in November 1993. The album included the hit singles "Stay" and "Just A Step From Heaven". It reached number two in the UK Albums Chart. The album sold over one million copies in the United Kingdom, and was awarded four times platinum, making it one of 1994's biggest selling albums. After their debut album, Louise would leave the group, making the group a trio.
Two years later, the group, now a trio, would release their sophomore album, Power of a Woman. The album, including the hit title track, would reach 4x platinum and a song from the album, "I Am Blessed" was performed for Pope John Paul II. Their third album, Before The Rain, would include their first and only-to-date number one hit, "I Wanna Be The Only One" featuring Bebe Winans.

### 1999-2000: Short-lived solo career and hiatus

After their "rush-released" compilation, Greatest Hits, which included the single "Angel Of Mine" that would be given to American singer Monica, Bryan was controversially fired from Eternal by their solicitor via fax.
Following her departure from Eternal, Bryan signed a record deal with Mercury Records and began work on her debut solo album, titled Breakfast in Bed, scheduled for release in November 1999. The album would never be released.
Her debut single, "Higher than Heaven", was dropped in the UK on 20 September 1999. It debuted at number 14 on the chart and remains Bryan's only solo hit to date. The song was marked as a "next week hit" in the magazine Hit Music.
The second single, "I Wanna Know", was released to Lithuanian radio on 5 August 2000. The single was released to radio in the United Kingdom, and was scheduled to be fully released on 4 September. However, the single release was subsequently shelved after Bryan was diagnosed with Lupus. The single would later be digitally reissued by Universal Music on 23 August 2019. The song was also included on the Universal Music TV compilation Hot Pop!.

### 2006-2018: TV career

In 2006, Bryan was a contestant on Love Island 2, finishing as the female runner-up. Bryan said that being on the show has given her "the confidence to know that [she] did have a life outside of Eternal". Six years later, Bryan also had a starring role in a film called The Naked Poet, playing the part of Michelle. In 2012, she played the part of Fran in the BBC comedy Me and Mrs Jones.
Bryan joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks in September 2018, portraying the role of Martine Deveraux.
After four years of appearing on Hollyoaks, Bryan announced her exit from the show on 3 June 2022 with her final scenes airing that same day.

### 2019-present: Loose Women and short-lived Eternal comeback

From May 2019, she has been appearing regularly on ITV's show Loose Women. On 1 June 2023, Bryan made a surprise appearance on stage at friend and former bandmate Louise's Shepherd's Bush Empire concert where they performed 1994 Eternal single "Crazy".
In September 2023, Bryan pulled out of a purported Eternal reunion tour as a show of support of the LGBT community. Redknapp and Bryan reported that Easther and Vernie Bennett had refused to perform at a number of proposed LGBT Pride events over objections that the trans community had "hijacked" Pride. Bennetts' manager Denis Ingoldsby commented that the sisters supported the LGBT community and played at many events, but that Vernie has raised concerns about "the trans lobby". Bryan went on to post a statement on her Twitter stating she is “an advocate for inclusion and equality for all.”

## Personal life and health issues

Bryan was diagnosed with lupus in 1998. In 2014, Bryan began to develop serious symptoms of her lupus. She lost a lot of hair and her sight, hearing, and movement deteriorated, and she was unable to speak. She then had a seizure, and the doctors confirmed that her lupus was affecting her brain. After the seizure, Bryan had to relearn how to read and write, and continues to struggle with short-term memory loss. She is a patron of St Thomas' Lupus Trust.
In 2010, she married Jay Gudgeon. The pair have two children together.
In 2024, Bryan was hospitalised due to a kidney stone. She said on Loose Women that the pain was so intense that she asked her 12-year-old son to help have her be taken to the hospital.

## Discography
### Solo discography

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | UK | Album |
| "Higher than Heaven" | 1999 | 14 | Breakfast In Bed |
| "I Wanna Know" | 2000 | — | Breakfast In Bed |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. ||||

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | EastEnders | Debbie | Episode: 31 March 1992 |
| 2006 | Celebrity Love Island | Herself | Runner-up |
| 2007 | The Virus | Nurse | Short film |
| 2009 | The Brothers | Jen | Main role |
| 2012 | Me and Mrs Jones | Fran | Main role |
| 2012 | Rocket's Island | Wendy Sparks | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | The Naked Poet | Michelle | Film |
| 2018–2022 | Hollyoaks | Martine Deveraux | Series regular |
| 2019–present | Loose Women | Herself | Panelist |
| 2023 | Significant Other | Shelley | Main role |
| 2024 | Richard Osman's House of Games | Herself | Season 8; episodes 21-25 |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 2005–2006 | Jack and the Beanstalk | Jill | Buxton Opera House |
| 2006–2007 | Cinderella | Cinderella | Catford Theatre |
| 2007–2008 | Cinderella | Cinderella | Oakengates Theatre |
| 2008–2009 | Aladdin | Princess Jasmine | Rickmansworth Watersmeet Theatre |
| 2009–2010 | Cinderella | Cinderella | Derby Assembly Rooms |
| 2010–2011 | Cinderella | Cinderella | The Playhouse, Weston Super Mare |
| 2023-2024 | Snow White | Good Fairy Elementa | Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Result |
| 2020 | TV Choice Awards | Best Soap Actress | Nominated |
| 2020 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2020 | I Talk Telly Awards | Best Soap Performance | Nominated |
| 2021 | 26th National Television Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Nominated |
| 2021 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2021 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Partnership (shared with Richard Blackwood) | Nominated |
| 2021 | I Talk Telly Awards | Best Soap Performance | Nominated |
| 2022 | The British Soap Awards | Best Leading Performer | Nominated |