Sophie Ellis-Bextor reveals heartbreaking reason her children are bullied at school
POP superstar Sophie Ellis-Bextor has revealed her children are being bullied at school.
The 46-year-old admitted that her five kids have all been picked on for inheriting a trait from their dad, rocker Richard Jones – his red hair.
Sophie and The Feeling’s Richard are parents to Sonny, 19, Kit, 14, Ray, 11, Jesse, seven, and Mickey, four, who have all suffered because they look different.
The Murder On The Dancefloor singer explained: “It’s [bullying] definitely been something they’ve experienced, which is really harsh.
“You get to secondary school and anything that marks you out becomes the thing you will be teased about. It’s extraordinary how you have this desire at that age group just to blend in, to be part of the pack. It’s a really strong instinct.
“But rather than letting it make you feel down, hopefully by having conversations, you can actually keep an eye on it and keep it on the right side of things.”
She added to Andreas Wild on the Salon Confidential podcast: “And then you get a bit older and you’re like: ‘Actually, all those things about me that set me apart are the things I’ll now give space to and invest in and enjoy myself.'”
Sophie jokingly added that their hair was actually very helpful, saying: “My kids have got some different shades of red, but it’s so gorgeous – and I can always find them so easily in a playground.”
The star is now stranger to bullying and previously spoke about how she was picked on in school, because of her famous mum – Blue Peter’ presenter Janet Ellis.
She told Heat Radio in 2009: “Was I popular? No, complete opposite.
“There was an Against Sophie club. It’s pretty cruel, but they were interested at first, ‘Oh your mum’s on TV’, and then it was, ‘Hang on a minute, she’s the only one who’s got that so we can all gang up on her’, and stuff like that.
“That was in my infant school so I think I was about five or six.
“I can’t say it was brilliant, but at the same time I probably was a bit of a show-off about it because I thought it was brilliantly glamorous.”