Myleene Klass, the star of I’m A Celebrity, shared a story about her life as a person of Filipino descent and how she’s been affected by ‘ignorant’ comments.
I’m A Celebrity star Myleene Klass has told fans that she’s faced “ignorant” comments and racism over her Filipino heritage. She’s spoken about her experience and recalled an incident that she said happened amid celebrations over her MBE.
Myleene, 47, was awarded an MBE by King Charles at Windsor Castle just last month for services to women’s health, miscarriage awareness and charity. The musician said at the time that she was “utterly overjoyed and humbled” to receive the award from the monarch.
The musician, whose mother Magdalena is from the Philippines, referenced the honour whilst writing about having Filipino heritage in a post on Instagram on Monday. It came in response to someone who reacted to a previous post about her having performed at pal Nick Ferrari’s wedding last week.
When the troll wrote to her, “You look so much like my maid when I was a Brazilian. Any woman who has money can be presentable, which is interesting. Bravo”! Then, in two separate posts, Myleene responded.
Myleene appeared to be reflecting on previous events in her life before writing in the first post: “This was said to me at Westminster. Dinner for Bankers in the City. at the entrance to the classroom. You resemble my Filipino cleaner, I suppose. My maid . My nanny. ‘”
“All honorable jobs,” she continued. However, this connection is the only one that has ever been made. I’m from Philippines. I’m also liminal. We are frequently only seen through that lens because our “in” to many nations has historically been through acts of service. That’s why it’s important to have a positive disruptor and represent yourself.
You limit and define me before I can define myself, but when you assume your role because of my race, you do more than just make an ignorant comment. That qualifies as racism. It is treacherous. I’m proud to enter the Palace, Parliament, boardrooms, and business meetings because of it.
Not as someone’s stereotype of a “good Asian girl” or a fetishized trope, Myleene continued to tell her followers. But as a self, I’m occupying space that no longer belongs to me and making sure my children see that as well.
She concluded by highlighting the value of representation. Representation is not symbolic; it is survival and how we break the cycle so that our children don’t have to conform to the narrow roles that society has assigned them.
The message that Myleene had received in a second post on her Instagram Story was then changed. She claimed that while discussing her MBE, someone who she identified as “a white cis male” shared a “contrarian” comment with her.
WCM: You should move into the Palace at this rate, she wrote in the follow-up post posted on Monday. Me: “Because I spend a lot of time there these days,” I ask? WCM: “No, because every Kensington home has a Filipino accent.”
Myleene continued, “This was said to be by a white cis man at a work gathering for a cheap laugh when my MBE was being discussed and celebrated. The worrying aspect of this joke is that it was the WCM’s idea of a joke, which is also why I’m so proud of the positive change and representation I continued to evoke with my voice and work, as well as by being “a little brown” (yeah had that too).
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Source: Mirror
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