MYLEENE KLASS’S I’m A Celebrity shower scene became one of the most talked-about TV moments of the Noughties.
And, 17 years after stripping down to a white bikini in the jungle, she challenges anyone who thinks her sex appeal and former life in lads’ mags reduces her ability to champion women’s rights as an equality campaigner.
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Blasting her critics, Myleene, 45, insists you can wear a bikini and be a feminist.
The Hear’Say pop star turned Smooth Radio DJ says: “You can still be a feminine woman and wear a bikini and be a strong feminist. The two aren’t exclusive.
“The difference now is the white bikini is my business and I sell one every 45 seconds.
“That white bikini became famous in its own right.”
Since that famous shower scene, Myleene has been the face of many brands’ swimwear collection.
But the line with Next has transformed her from a reality star into a business powerhouse — and her range is still one of the high street giant’s biggest money spinners.
Her original white two piece, was bought for £40 and sold for a staggering £7,500 for charity.
She bought it just hours before entering the Australian jungle after ITV producers warned her the striped bikini she had packed would not look good on screen.
Thanks to a series of savvy business moves, the mum to Ava, 15, Hero, 12, and Apollo, four, now sits on a reported fortune of more than £13million, proving she can hold her own against an often male-focused business world.
Myleene, who is engaged to public relations guru Simon Motson, explains: “What I would hope my name is synonymous with is being strong.
“I am a mum. Anything that supports women is a priority with me.
“It is of paramount importance. We have a time in our lives where women are front and centre.”
But keen to stress there is still a long way to go, Myleene says she draws on the success of England’s Lionesses — who need to beat Columbia on Saturday to get into the Women’s World Cup semi-final — to inspire her.
She adds: “The fact the Lionesses won the Euros says it all, yet it still isn’t numerated or appreciated.
“And until women get equal pay and they get the true acknowledgement of what their contribution is, then we still won’t have equality.
“When you see how women are represented you realise they are severely underrepresented.
“I feel like I have a duty to my daughters to speak up and I also have a duty to my son.
“I want to give a good representation of what women can do and we are so capable.
“When you become a mum there are so many eyes on you, you have to be strong.”
Due to being so focused on her equality campaigning, Myleene has even turned down lucrative stage roles.
She says: “I get offered West End roles a lot, to be honest.
“My first-ever job was in Miss Saigon two days after college.
“When I finished that I got offered the role of Mary Magdalene but turned down a year’s contract to take Hear’Say, to my dad’s horror.
“I feel like I’ve done musical theatre and got the T-shirt but you never know.”
Myleene studied voice and harp at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London over the weekends during her teenage years.
She landed a backing vocal slot on Sir Cliff Richard’s Christmas hit Mistletoe And Wine as part of his choir in 1988.
She went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music, University of London.
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But her big break came in 2001 when she auditioned for ITV series Popstars, winning a place in the manufactured band Hear’Say alongside Kym Marsh, Danny Foster, Noel Sullivan and Suzanne Shaw.
That year, their debut single Pure And Simple topped the Official UK Chart, quickly followed by a second No1 hit with The Way To Your Love.
Their debut album, Popstars, also hit the top spot.
But they split in October 2002 after less than two years together.
Despite missing out on being crowned Queen of the Jungle to Busted’s Matt Willis in 2006, Myleen’s appearance on the sixth series of I’m A Celebrity revived her showbiz career.
And earlier this year, she was victorious in the first all-star series filmed in South Africa.
Myleene beat Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo to be crowned I’m A Celebrity’ Legend.
And her success has not stopped there. Myleene’s book They Don’t Teach This At School became a Sunday Times bestseller upon its release last year.
The guide is packed with “essential knowledge to tackle everyday challenges”.
It aims to arm the next generation with real-life skills, aside from the algebra or scientific equations they would have learned during their studies but may never use again.
Myleene says: “In the book, I say how to save a life. That book has helped save four lives so far.
“How to perform CPR. How to change a tyre. Women are left vulnerable on the side of the roads.
“How to sort out your plumbing — all the things we actually need to use.
“At the moment at school, it is maths, maths, maths. What if you don’t have a mathematical brain? What if you aren’t great at exams?
“What I want from my children is that they are confident, capable and independent, that they know their own minds and they can walk into a room and not have to rely on anyone in that room.
“That they can look after themselves.”
Earlier this week Myleene, who has not ruled out standing as an MP further down the line, spoke of her pride at a recent update in miscarriage law.
This summer she took her campaigning for women’s healthcare to the House of Commons after teaming up with Labour MP Olivia Blake and arranging a meeting with Minister for Women Maria Caulfield.
The matter is close to Myleene’s heart after experiencing four miscarriages, enduring one while hosting her radio show.
Speaking on LBC, Myleene said: “Previous to these changes you had to wait for three consecutive miscarriages to receive any kind of medical intervention.
“As a result of the changes that we have made, now you will have immediate care after your first miscarriage.
“I’m not a politician per se, or a career politician, but I am a mum and I am a woman who was extremely let down by a health service that wasn’t turning the spotlight on miscarriage care or how women are looked after.”
She added: “I had to seek out my own care, so when I had my first miscarriage, which was utterly heartbreaking, I didn’t know where to go.
“It is true when people say they just send you home.”
Myleene and Olivia also worked with pregnancy and baby-loss charity Tommy’s to help bring about the change.
She added: “To have been a part of changing that, along with Olivia Blake and Tommy’s — I didn’t do it alone — and all the brave women that have stepped forward, I feel extremely proud.”
And proving she is a woman of her word, Myleene previously vowed: “I will take on the MPs who don’t serve the people who they were voted to serve.”
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