OK! Magazine UK – 22 July 2019

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to learn to rescue myself. All I wanted was a

family, as I didn’t really have that growing up.

I made poor decisions to get that.

You began dating Chris Harding after

meeting him on 2018’s Stand Up To Cancer

First Dates special, but split this January.

What happened?

There was no big argument, but it wasn’t

right, so we did the sensible thing. We only

dated for a few months and, of course, not

everyone you date turns out to be a long-term

partner. I’d far rather be single and wait for

the right relationship, which has to be

emotionally stable and with someone who

understands himself. I have three teenage

children, and they are my priority.

There were reports you ‘behaved

appallingly’ during the break-up. How did

you deal with that negative press?

It’s never nice to have something totally untrue

written about you, particularly if it’s defamatory,

but I understand why these things get said. It’s

in the heat of a break up.

When you became a glamour model, how

did you deal with the sudden fame?

It was terrifying! I went a bit crazy at the start, as

I suddenly had this whole new life and I didn’t

know how to handle it. Becoming famous,

there is an illusion of being important but that’s

just an illusion. We’re all exactly the same. It

was confusing because people would treat me

differently. As if I was somebody special, but I

was the same as them.

What advice would you give your young self?

The modelling was born out of a lack of self-

esteem. I didn’t know it, but I was looking for

validation. I wanted to be wanted. Getting my

body out was the most basic way of feeling

validated but it didn’t make me feel better. I

used to look at pictures in the paper and think

I looked awful. I thought people were printing

MELINDA WEARS DRESS BY TED BAKER; AND BLOUSE BY HAWES & CURTIS

‘Not everyone you

date turns out to be

a long-term partner,’

says Melinda