Kelle Bryan on stardom, sickness and her Saviour

From Eternal to Eternity!

After facing rejection, family troubles and a serious illness that almost cost her everything, former Eternal star Kelle Bryan is still praising God. Joy Tibbs caught up with her.

Having shot to fame with girl band Eternal, Kelle Bryan’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease. The condition, which can be brought on by stress, struck at a particularly difficult time in Kelle’s life. She had been sacked from the band, her parents had split up and she was in an ‘unhealthy’ relationship herself. She describes what came next as a ‘complete meltdown’. “In 1998, the girls sent me a fax saying I was no longer a member of the band,” she recalls. “I lost my job and I lost my house because I started to get quite aggressive lupus symptoms. I ended up not being able to move and got ulcers in my mouth, in my hair and down my body, and arthritic symptoms to the point where I couldn’t actually move.

Finding the Father

Despite having been brought up with strict Christian principles and attending church every week, Kelle didn’t have a personal relationship with God. She was subsequently put off Christianity by the sisters who had founded Eternal – Easther and Vernie Bennett – who, despite having strong Christian beliefs themselves, hadn’t been particularly warm towards Kelle or fellow band member and close friend, Louise Nurden. “It just felt like a whole load of rules and regulations that didn’t make any sense,” she says. “It wasn’t that I had anything against God, I just didn’t understand it. The girls, who were very much into their faith at that point – their mum was pastor of a church – didn’t really help because they weren’t very friendly, for want of a better word. I didn’t really feel that it was something for me or that I’d be accepted. It was all about virginity and celibacy, and I was like, ‘Well that’s out the window, I’ll never come up to those standards.’ So I just didn’t ever consider it.”