Fleur East poses for HELLO! shoot

Fleur East on embracing her natural curls and how motherhood has changed her

The singer and her sister Keshia have launched revolutionary haircare brand Kurl Kitchen

News Director
August 4, 2024

Giggling and sharing secret smiles as they throw identical poses for the camera, Fleur East and her sister Keshia could be twins. 

With their trademark curls, bouncy demeanour and infectious personalities, they light up the room at this exclusive HELLO! shoot. 

Taking turns to cuddle with The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing star Fleur's adorable four-month-old baby daughter Nova, they are as close as two sisters can be. 

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Make-up artist Keshia, 31, is, Fleur says, an 'amazing' aunty and she hopes Nova – who she shares with husband Marcel Badiane-Robin – will follow in both their independent footsteps. 

"I really want her to be passionate and follow her goals and dreams and whatever inspires her," the singer tells us. 

"I don't ever want her to be afraid. I just want her to be confident in whatever it is that she wants to do and to believe that she can really achieve."

Behind the scenes with Fleur East and sister Keshia:

Embracing their natural curls

Having found success in the music industry with a string of hits including Sax, Fleur and Keshia have recently launched revolutionary haircare brand Kurl Kitchen. Launched last month, it offers the kind of products they wished they had growing up in east London. 

Their mother Irene was from Ghana and their father Malcolm from England; neither knew how to work with their daughters' natural curls. 

"The assumption when you have our hair type is that having a black mother, she would know exactly what to do. But her hair type is completely different to ours," says Fleur. 

"And our father's hair was also completely different, so we had a struggle on both sides. Back then, curls weren't really celebrated - you kind of always wanted to fade into the background."

Fleur and Keshia have recently launched revolutionary haircare brand Kurl Kitchen

There will be no fading into the background for anyone struggling to tame their hair now, if the East sisters have their way. The two have incorporated natural ingredients found in Ghana into the range to honour their heritage. 

And they both hope Nova will not copy their example as young girls and instead embrace her locks. 

"I would love her to just really celebrate her natural hair," Fleur says. "I hope I can be that example to her. 

"I remember on my wedding day I had my curls out and now I'm so happy that Nova can look back on our wedding pictures and see that. I feel like me and Keshia can be a strong example for her." 

"I feel like me and Keshia can be a strong example for her," says Fleur of her daughter Nova

How motherhood has changed Fleur

Singing in front of crowds is a different experience now she is a mother, and she has performed a few times since giving birth. 

"I recently said on stage that Nova was in the crowd," Fleur, who is performing at the Women's Golf Open at St Andrews next month, says. "And the minute I said it, I felt this ball in my throat and I was almost going to burst into tears. 

"She's always on my mind, no matter what I do," said the singer of her baby daughter

"I think all those moments mean so much more now because, before you have a kid, you're predominantly doing a lot of things for yourself. 

"And now it's all for her. I feel like now when I am me, it's a different me - she's always on my mind, no matter what I do."

Kurl Kitchen is now available in Boots nationwide.

Photographer: Christopher Fenner 

Stylist: Jodie Nellist 

Hair: Umunique Jamison using Kurl Kitchen

Make-up: Keshia East using Fenty beauty, Revlon, Skin Rocks Skicare and Eylure lashes 

To read the full article, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK from Monday. You can subsribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.

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