MYLEENE'S BLOG

Hello there!

Well what a travel month June has turned out to be! I finally got the chance to sneak off for a mini break to Thailand with the family which was lovely. We rented a villa which meant we got the chance to just hide away from the world for a week and I basically spent my days making tuna and pineapple omelettes for the gang (sadly my culinary skills aren’t up to that of Gordan Ramseys) and walking around the Island looking for toys in the form of Cats and Elephants (Avas obsessed with them!).

After that we had a quick stop off in Singapore before heading on to Australia for the Sydney film festival to work for The Screening Room. It was amazing to get the chance to go out there as I haven’t been back since ‘I’m a celebrity’. I was asked to climb Sydney harbour bridge and deliver my opening link to the camera (which incidentally happened to be placed in a helicopter!). I imagined the whole thing looking like a scene from a bond movie. The reality was slightly less glamorous as we had to race to the top to greet the heli on time or he would miss his flying slot, whilst wearing giant, grey overalls and a beanie hat with everything, hanky (presumably to mop the sweat from my brow?), script, rain jacket, fleece and microphone tied to me like a pack horse! Still the shot, the experience, the view (you can see Russell Crows house from up there!) and the fact it all actually came together without the aid of walkie talkies coupled with me not falling over was just incredible and an experience I will never forget.

After Sydney, (luckily for me, we managed to film at every top tourist spot from the opera house to bondi beach even in the middle of their winter and the torrential rain), we then went to Ireland where I was asked to host the Miss Ireland pageant with my friend Brian Dowling. I finally managed to dress Ava in her first ‘BabyK’ outfit for her visit to her Nan’s. Gray and I couldn’t stop taking photos of her as she looked adorable and he was so proud of what I had designed, he kept calling her Miss Ireland!! Bless him.

Despite the jet lag (Ava and Gray went straight to his mums for a sleep), I had a ball as everyone was just brilliant. The judges had their work cut out as all the girls were absolutely stunning ( I looked like a smurf standing next to them on the stage as they all seemed 3 foot taller than me!). Brian and I kept imagining we were in ‘Miss Congeniality’, and I had to do my very best to persuade him to hand the crown directly to the winner without trying it on first!

I’ve also been busy filming with the BBC for their new show, ‘Last choir standing’. Its been so much fun as all the choir members are really lovely, dedicated and talented people. I love the fact that they dispel the myth that choirs can be dull and boring. On the contrary, the choirs are always full of surprises. Some sing Mark Ronson or Girls Aloud tracks while others decorate handbags and bring them on stage with them or even beat box and rap which just goes to show how talented and varied the whole shows going to be. I’m hooked already and cant decide which choir should win as they’re all good in different ways.

That’s about it for now other than I’ve tried on the new collection for M&S and have seen the plans for the next advert. I can barely sleep with the excitement of how amazing it all looks….cant wait for you to see it. Thanks to everyone that sent lovely messages about the bureau de change advert I filmed. I was so nervous and excited to see what people would think so all the messages meant a great deal.

As always, thank you for your continued support in everything I do. I would never be able to achieve any of this without you and I’m eternally grateful we can enjoy it all together.

Big kisses and see you next month!

Leenie xx

Well, its finally happened! I am now officially 30 years old…..and proud! You might have caught a glimpse of some of the photos taken outside my party and hopefully they made you laugh as much as I did. I chose the theme ‘What I want to be when I grow up’ and without a doubt everyone that came rose to the challenge of fancy dress. I came as Liz Taylor, circa Cleopatra days and in addition there were Pilots, Priests, three Zoros, Jedis (of course), fairies, mermaids, an astronaut and Ronald Macdonald to name but a few! I was so touched that so many of my friends made such an effort to dress up and even travel from abroad to be there. It was a night I will never forget…. if not one that I learnt a lot about my mates!

I am sitting writing this in Portugal at the minute having just filmed the new summer M&S advert. It really was great fun to film as the cast and crew are all like a little family and Ava had the best time (she took her first dip in the pool and made a sand castle with her Dada!). She really is becoming a seasoned traveller as I also had the chance to take her to LA this month and interview Jackie Chan for the Screening room. I went to the Dodgers game and walked out onto the pitch to do my links and cheer him on as he bowled the first pitch. I did have an embarrassing chain of events with him that I’m still cringing over even now. When he asked me if I’d like a “cup of tea?” in a funny voice half way through my interview with him. I replied I was fine for the moment but maybe later, only to realise that he was practicing the English phrases Steve Coogan had taught him! After that I’m positive he thought I was stalking him as we walked into the stadium together (pure coincidence), took the same lift (not once but four times!) and then bumped into each other once again on the way out. Cringe!

As some of you know, I’m not the biggest sports fan in the world, but even I couldn’t help being overawed at the size of the Dodger’s stadium and how incredible the atmosphere was. In true American style, I sat and watched the game with a hot dog in one hand a bucket sized measure of diet coke in the other!

After that Ava and I went to New York (special thank you to terminal five for losing my pram!) to finish my interviews and links for CNN and then to work with Mothercare on my Baby K range. It launches soon and to say I am excited is an understatement. I have been grabbing fabric swatches in every country I visit as well as checking out what they have to offer and what new ideas are around to help make mums lives easier!

I also had a rather cultured day last week as I am hosting the Classical Brits and had to announce the nominees. I’ve heard who some of the guest presenters and performers are already and I think its a fantastic line up. It really is a career highlight for me to be hosting this show, as at school I was always considered a bit of a geek for loving classical music and now I can see it becoming more and more accessible. I’m glad it doesn’t have such a stigma attached to it now.

Must give a shout out to everyone who sent me cards, poems, presents and flowers for my birthday. You are all extremely kind. Thank you. Special thank you to Leila for organising my party!

And finally - watch this space as I have big news to announce next month…am dying to tell you now but Jonathan, my manager, would tell me off!!!

Big kiss and catch up with you next month!

Leenie xxx

Wow! What a month February has been! It’s totally gone by in a flash! I’ve been extremely busy promoting my book, My Bump and Me, which is basically the diary that I kept throughout my pregnancy and my album, Myleenes Music for Mothers which I compiled and recorded for mamas to relax to. Its been so much fun playing and promoting both of them on shows from Al Murray and Alan Carr to Richard and Judy and Loose Women. Thank you to everyone that bought them and supported me. I really do hope that they keep you entertained!

I covered the Baftas in Londons Covent Garden which was brilliant fun. I interviewed so many talented people. Keira Nightly was adorable, Kate Hudson was incredibly elegant and Ricky Gervais was his usual funny self. It was quite an eventful night as directly after the ceremony, I had to run through the streets of London, Cinderella style, in my ballgown (minus the heels) to make my radio show in time!

And talking of awards ceremonys, I am writing this blog with a bit of jet lag as I flew back from LA only yesterday having covered the Oscars for my CNN show, The Screening Room.

Ava and I had the most amazing time. She is a little Beverly Hills baby now as I took her shopping down Rodeo Drive, (a girl can never be too young to appreciate the excitement of shopping!). We put our hands in the cement imprints at the Graumans Chinese Theatre (Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland were my favorites), walked into ‘Hannibal Lectors cell’ at the Hollywood theatre as well as saw ‘Dorothys ruby slippers’!

We watched the Lunar eclipse from the Griffith Park observatory and just in case you get the impression I did little else on my work trip than sight see, I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to present some of my links flying in a helicopter over THE Hollywood sign, an experience I (and my stomach) will never forget!

Let’s see what March brings! Hope to see you at my book signing today. In the mean time lots of love and thanks once again for all your support. You make all of this possible for me and I love sharing the experiences with you.

Love always Leenie x

What on earth did I do with myself before August 16th 2007??!!!

Hi Guys!

I have to start by thanking everyone that bought my album and got it to Number One!!! I owe you such a debt of gratitude as I’ve found in the past, no matter how much you believe in something, you can never be sure other people will embrace it in the same way….. but you did and that’s more than I could wish for so thank you once again.

I’ve been presenting on BBC’s ‘The One show’ now for the past three weeks and I must say its been such a good laugh. We get to cover every subject going and I get to meet and interview loads of different people from such diverse backgrounds. We’ve already had guests from the world of pop and theatre to a man obsessed with clouds! And you get to pick up handy hints such as…if you put talc on your feet at the beach, the sand falls off and doesn’t get stuck in between your toes! If you get to try it before me, let me know if it works……or if I’m just being gullible!

CNN’s The Screening Room opened a new door for me into the world of animation this week. I always wondered what I would look like in cartoon form or what animated character I could play and it turns out the creative lot behind the new movie ‘Igor’ (starring among others, Steve Buschemi and John Cleese and out in 2008) have cast me as the evil Professor Holzwurm (which literally translates as Prof. Woodworm!!) She’s great to play…she looks like a cross between the fashion mogul Anna Wintour and the alien out of Predator!!

I was at a secret location last Monday filming the new M&S advert which I am really excited about. It was great to see the girls again as well as spend the day dressing up in fantastic clothes!

Less than four weeks to go till the ‘big day’! I’m not sure if my baby will come early, late or bang on time but one things for sure, I’m getting really impatient now and want to meet her! Thank you to everyone that has sent me cards, presents and good luck letters. I will make sure she knows how lucky she is as soon as she’s here!!

That’s all for now. I’ll definitely keep you informed over the next few weeks as something tells me things are going to get even more hectic!!

Big kiss to you all,

Hi everyone,

Firstly welcome to my brand new site. Hope that you like it and secondly thank you for checking it out.
 
Well, what can I say?! It has been a pretty fast paced few months for me since leaving the jungle. In fact, I still can’t believe how fortunate I’ve been and I have all you’re support to thank for that. If you are one of the people that picked up a phone to vote for me, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. You made climbing into a coffin full of rising water and eels worth it!!!!!!!

Quite a lot has happened over the past while. Work has been really hectic and there have been some amazing highlights already this year. I got the chance to cover the Cannes film festival for CNN. Believe me it was fun but so surreal. I literally bumped into Jerry Seinfeld in the wrong toilet (I accidentally went to the men’s!) and he escorted me to the right ones, then got my baby bump rubbed by the likes of Johnny Depp, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. I desperately wanted to interview Angelina Jolie but had to return for work.

I also flew out to the Bahamas for a couple of days to shoot the new M&S campaign on a beach there. It was quite an adventure. My luggage went missing so I survived the trip with just my tracksuit, a phone and a toothbrush. If there was ever a trip to loose your luggage on though, this was it. I actually came home with more clothes than I left with as the lovely people at M&S kitted me out. It did feel like a scene from ‘meet the parents ‘ though.

I’ve also been recording my new album and promoting it. I recently went on the Jonathan Ross show to talk about it which was a great laugh. He filled my room with chocolate, fruit, candles and face creams (which I gave to my mum).

All the promo has kept me busy…especially as the album launch is next Monday (I’m nervous and excited as I’ll be playing to a room full of journalists but as I keep telling myself, if I can jump out of a helicopter, hopefully it wont be any scarier than that!).

With the combination of my radio and TV work, plus the album, it’s made the time whiz by which is exactly what I need. As some of you may know, I’m expecting my first baby in little under 10 weeks and I am so excited, if not a little impatient…I can’t wait to meet her! I haven’t decided on any names yet, but if you have any good suggestions, pass them on! I’ve kept a diary throughout which you will get the chance to read shortly. I have been completely honest in writing it so I hope you find it funny and not too hormonal!

As I said before, Thank you for the support you have given to me. I really do pinch myself every day as I know how lucky I am. I will keep you all posted on the latest news as looking at forth coming schedule, there will be a lot to report back on and share. In the mean time, enjoy the site and catch up with you soon.

Love always,

Leenie xxxx