Alexandra Burke on heartbreaking TV role that made her ask partner, 'How do women feel safe?'

Singer and histrion Alexandra Burke is intelligibly successful a bully spot close now. She's each smiles arsenic she talks astir her career, which she's profoundly passionate about, the whirlwind of raising 2 young children, and her "gorgeous" engagement to goalkeeper Darren Randolph.

Speaking to OK!, she reveals that she hopes to walk connected her emotion for performing to her kids. Despite being unneurotic since 2021, she and Darren person chosen to support their children distant from the nationalist eye, not sharing their names oregon genders publicly. Reflecting connected her bustling household life, she admits, "It's chaos astatine times, but you request to clasp the chaos. There are ups and downs and regular challenges, but it's truthful rewarding."

The 36 twelvemonth aged fondly remembers the advice her precocious mother, psyche vocalist Melissa Bell, would ever springiness her: "No imagination is ever excessively big." These are words she lives by and present passes onto her ain children. So, would Alexandra beryllium unfastened to her kids pursuing successful her showbiz footsteps? "Whatever they do, I volition beryllium afloat supportive of their decisions," she assures. "One time they tin ticker Paw Patrol and privation to beryllium a constabulary serviceman and the adjacent time they ticker Fireman Sam and privation to beryllium a firefighter. And that's OK."

She's anxious to expand her household erstwhile the clip is right, expressing an undeniable yearning: "I desperately privation much – I would person much tomorrow," she admits with a giggle. "We'd emotion to, but close present we're truly enjoying our 2 babies. We're truly blessed with however beingness has fixed america these blessings. The top accomplishment of my beingness is being a mum. Motherhood has changed me. I look astatine kids and conscionable cry. Out of myself and Darren, I'm the 1 who gives successful archetypal with the kids, whereas Darren's much stern. We've got a beauteous balance."

Juggling parenthood with engaged careers is challenging, but Alexandra says it inspires her adjacent much professionally."Being a mum has made maine privation to enactment harder," she reveals. "There's truthful overmuch much I'd emotion to bash – particularly successful acting. I've got the bug for it now." Having precocious starred successful her first tv relation successful Paramount+'s Curfew, which sees men adhere to a curfew for women's safety, the histrion antecedently said: "I've got brothers, I've got my partner, I person a batch of nephews and, if that happened to them, I'd beryllium devastated. Not each antheral is the same. It volition unfastened up discussion. It made maine inquire my partner, 'How bash women consciousness safe?"

She continued, "How tin women spell retired astatine night, not person to interest astir what they're wearing, not person to clasp a cardinal successful their hand, not person to support looking implicit their shoulder, not person anxiousness oregon panic attacks astir leaving their homes? ' His reply was, 'I don't know.' And that's the constituent of the show."

The singer, who has sold implicit 5 cardinal records successful the UK, admits that portion her euphony vocation took a backmost spot during her pregnancies, it's inactive precise overmuch connected her agenda. "Music is inactive astatine the forefront of my mind," she shares, teasing fans with quality of a imaginable caller album. She besides dreams of hitting the signifier successful a large way, expressing her tendency to beryllium portion of a definite Disney production: "And I would emotion to beryllium a portion of a accumulation of The Princess And The Frog 1 time – I'd emotion to play Princess Tiana, the archetypal ever Black Disney princess."

On the idiosyncratic front, beingness is exciting, Alex having precocious got engaged to Darren, 37, a nonrecreational goalkeeper with an awesome vocation astatine clubs similar Middlesbrough, West Ham, and Birmingham City. The couple, who person been unneurotic for 3 years, announced their engagement past month, with Alexandra inactive basking successful the joyousness of the moment.

Darren pulled disconnected a stunning connection astatine London's Rosewood Hotel, leaving Alexandra wholly successful the acheronian until the past second. "Darren planned it to perfection – it was beauteous and 1 of the biggest moments of my life. I'm truthful taken aback by however astonishing this antheral is," she enthuses. And Alexandra confesses she was utterly blindsided by the proposal. "I was truthful taken by surprise. I thought I could archer erstwhile idiosyncratic was lying, but I'm intelligibly rubbish astatine it! We're decidedly successful the engagement bubble. The bubble is gorgeous."

Reflecting connected her travel to stardom, Alexandra expressed gratitude for the level that kick-started her vocation – The X Factor, which she won successful 2008. Her almighty rendition of Hallelujah earned her the Christmas No1 spot and arsenic portion of her sensational victory, she adjacent had a memorable duet with Beyoncé to the star's deed opus Listen.

However, her X Factor travel wasn't without its hurdles. Alexandra has antecedently opened up astir the racism she encountered aft winning the show, revealing she was advised by an manufacture insider that to execute success, she should bleach her skin. Despite this, Alexandra looks backmost astatine that play with pride. "That amusement gave maine specified an astonishing platform," she shares.

It wasn't a creaseless way to fame – she archetypal auditioned astatine property 16 and didn't marque it, but her determination paid disconnected erstwhile she returned a fewer years later. Since her victory, Alexandra has emerged arsenic 1 of the show's astir palmy winners. And, 16 years station her win, she is 1 of the country's biggest philharmonic theatre stars, with palmy West End runs successful The Bodyguard, Chicago and Sister Act The Musical. For Alexandra, the signifier is much than a level for entertainment; it's a means to conquer life's hurdles. She's present sharing this passionateness with youngsters done escaped acting workshops astatine the Haliborange Theatre Of Dreams successful cardinal London.

The initiative, a collaboration betwixt the vitamin marque and Disney, aims to spark creativity successful children and beforehand steadfast living. Haliborange's survey revealed that a whopping 95% of parents anticipation their kids support their originative spark and large dreams into adulthood. For Alexandra, witnessing The Lion King astatine 17 was pivotal. "As a pistillate of colour, I retrieve seeing practice connected signifier and I was truthful inspired by it," she reflects.

Recalling her teenage uncertainty astir her aboriginal vocation path, she acknowledges however the signifier became her refuge - and a mode of coping with pugnacious times. "When I spell connected stage, it's similar an out-of-body experience," Alexandra shares. "If I've ever had a not-so-great time and I'm performing later, I ever archer myself there's a airy astatine the extremity of the passageway due to the fact that I'm going to execute and I'll consciousness amended aft it."

Alexandra Burke partners with Haliborange to assistance with the acting workshops connected 31 October and 1 November to assistance promote children to imagination large and get originative and funny astatine the Haliborange Theatre Of Dreams successful cardinal London. See haliborange.com for much accusation connected the product. Grab your escaped tickets to the theatre workshops successful Oxford Circus astatine eventbrite.co.uk. Limited tickets volition besides beryllium disposable connected the door.