Kelly Brook has defended her choice not to have children, saying she is “childless by choice”.
The 45-year-old former model recently competed in Celebrity Race Across the World with her husband Jeremy Parisi.
The couple are starring in three-part mini-series La Vita Italiana for This Morning, as they travel Italy and spend time on Parisi’s family farm in Arpino.
Brook, who has previously been vocal about her fertility journey and the devastation of miscarriages, said she is happy living without kids.
“I am actually childless by choice at the moment, it’s not something that we have considered and I don’t think that should be a taboo,” she told The Sun on Sunday.
“I have been through pregnancies and miscarriages and I know how traumatic and devastating they are on you and on your relationship, I have been down that road with previous partners and it is a lot.
“I look at the beautiful life we have and how we don’t have the burden of that.”
Acknowledging the difficulties that come with parenting, Brook said she was grateful to be able to enjoy her life with Parisi, and the freedom that comes with being childless.
“I’m surrounded by a lot of families with kids and I see it brings people a lot of happiness, but I also see it brings people a lot of stress,” she said.
“Jeremy and I love to be around family, we really do but we also love to travel and do our own thing.”
Parisi and Brook began dating in 2015, eventually tying the knot in 2022. The former glamour model explained that they hadn’t looked into having kids at all.
“We haven’t tried for children, we haven’t gone down the IVF route,” she said. “We’ve not even looked into it and I think we are all the more happier for it to be honest.”
She also wondered if her previous aspirations to have children had been influenced by societal pressures.
“I think it is a really brave thing to say as a woman. Sometimes I look back and wonder if it was ever what I really wanted? Maybe I was going along with it because it’s expected. Because that’s what everyone does.”
But the couple do still have some caring responsibilities.
“We love our dog. It’s not like we are completely selfish, we do have pets.”
