With the song ‘Kids in America’, Kim Wilde became world famous two years ago. The video used for this brought her the nickname “First Lady of the Video Generation”. Her face – a trademark blonde, styled-messy mane and seemingly demure-wild gaze from steel-blue eyes – has since rushed countless times across all the screens in the world. Not only does Kim make millions in sales in the music industry, she is a guarantee of success wherever she appears. But as famous as she is, few good friends know who Kim Wilde really is. Until now, the extremely shy “Wilde” has done everything to keep her private life secret from the public. In an exclusive conversation with SonntagsBlick employee Wilfried F. Rimensberger, she now airs the veil for the first time with which she has so far concealed her personality. Kim tells what she thinks of love, what her dream man looks like, what she is afraid of, and how she personally, at the age of 22, keeps her million dollar business under control.
Why do we never see you with a man or a boyfriend in public? I know many men who would marry you away from the place.
That’s it. Do these men want to marry me because I’m famous because maybe they look good to me or why? Every time I ask myself these questions. For me, it’s very hard to tell if someone is interested in me because he has feelings, I mean real feelings, to me or if the guy just wants to be seen by his side with Kim Wilde. It’s a question of time to find out.
Do you have time to fall in love? Have you ever been in love?
(Laughs) Like every woman my age, I have fallen in love a few times. Only since I have been so successful in music, I lack the time to build a real relationship. And there I just stick to the fact that, despite all the love, it takes time. With many conversations one must approach each other – communication is in a relationship something of the most important.
But they take life seriously. Where is the fun, the joy of love and life?
There are simply certain basic requirements that must be right. Nevertheless, I find love, Verliebtsei one of the most beautiful and indescribable feelings that I know.
What does your dream man look like?
He is cheerful, handsome and dark-haired. And there is it somewhere in the world. But that has time.
Although you’re 22, you still live with your parents. Why?
I have a very close relationship with my mother today, unlike before. She is my intimate friend. Actually, it’s a real love relationship, just without physical love. Somehow I have unrestricted trust in her from woman to woman. At the moment I have no similar relationship to any other person. My father was an idol in the late fifties as a rock vocalist and he is still a good musician today. I got much closer to him through my music career. Much of him I understand better today. And professionally he is a huge support to me. He has written almost all my lyrics and is practically always there when I’m in the studio. My younger brother Ricki also writes and writes with me. Although I had my problems at the age of 16, when the (punk) movement started here in England, and for a long time did not agree with everything that affected my parents and other adults, today I feel well and secure in my family. Nevertheless, I have just bought a flat. It is not yet set up.
It all sounds like Kim Wilde is a family business.
Yes, that’s it. Everything I do remains the property of a company owned by my parents, myself, and my brother.
And you have the last word? Or is it, as has been said elsewhere, your father, who ‘makes’ Kim Wilde?
Not only do I have the last word in this company, I also have the first one! After all, after all, it’s about me. My dad just has a lot more experience, and it would be the dumbest thing I’ve done if I did not listen to him. The family structure of this ‘company’ also has the advantage that I have insight everywhere and am with it. So I can also gain more experience, as if a foreign company just done everything.
You currently earn millions of francs a year. What is a young woman doing with so much money? Do you even have a relationship with it?
It’s nice to have money. But that’s not all. I do not know how much I own. But I am happy to have enough. The only bigger display I have made is my apartment. For the device I will certainly need a lot of money. Otherwise, I hardly need any. I like to buy clothes. Preferably in black, because I find that a nice, simple color. I do not need any money for the hairdresser. Although many people do not want to believe it, my mother and father cut my hair and help me with the washing. I think it’s crazy when people go to the hairdresser and come along with a hairstyle that they can slap themselves for. And they have paid a lot of money for that. I do not trust any hairdresser … But, I found one. He seems to be good.
What else does Kim Wilde do except worry about the expensive hairdresser?
I still do sports to keep me fit. Then I do yoga. I have to take care of my character. And especially with sweets I can only say bad no. In Switzerland there are the fantastic champagne truffles. Some of the best I have ever had.
Speaking of Switzerland: Will there be a concert performance by Kim in Switzerland soon?
I am currently working on the completion of my next LP and single here in London. If people like my new stuff, then I’m sure going on tour and then like to come to Switzerland. But there is still nothing there.
A woman on tour. Is that no problem? I know some experienced hard rock musicians, who really get the tour stress into their bones.
I gained my first experience on a short tour last year. The touring without end and the constant harassment can make one. I was really pumped out. Otherwise I had no problems. As a woman you have to pay attention to having the right people around you. Somehow I have too little tour experience to tell about it competently. In any case, I’m not afraid of that.
What is Kim Wilde afraid of? About to be old?
No, age does not bother me. On the contrary. I think the older you get, the better life is. I am looking forward to becoming 40. For me, to be 40 means to be able to handle the upcoming second half in peace with half a lifetime of experience. I am a person who never looks back. What has been, is over, done. I do not want to, as is often the case with other people as a wish: to relive my youth.
Was it so terrible?
No not that. It was a normal youth. I was materially carefree. My biggest problem: I was a bland, chubby girl who swam in the big pile without any ambitions. I suffered a lot from my ugliness. Then I suddenly lost weight, became confident and knew something to do with my life. So I have no reason to yearn for my past.
They seem to be an almost completely happy world star. Does celebrity make no effort at all?
No. You just have to know what you want and what is important for you. Look: In the old days, I did not have much bag money available – and I was still happy because money was not important to me. Today I have a lot of money, but I’m still happy. Maybe that’s just because I do not care so much about this lot of money. That’s the same with celebrity. Or with the hits, so my work, which I have to show. If you have the necessary distance to everything, you manage it without major problems. And then I know that you can not get anything in life without giving something yourself. Or as the saying goes, everything has its price.
What price does Kim Wilde pay for her success and fame?
Because the possibilities are greater, if you have a good name, you also carry a correspondingly greater risk if you do something yourself. The decisions therefore often require a lot of courage and belief in oneself and one’s own idea. And there are moments when you feel really lonely. But I am a person who goes his own way anyway. For example, although I admire beautiful women like Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, or Debbie Harry, and I always look for other beautiful women, I would never copy one of them. Therefore, I hardly wear trend clothes of the current fashion line. I put my wardrobe individually and mostly out of worn ‘second-hand’ things together. And now and then I buy myself a special one-off piece. I really try in all walks of life to go my own way. And daq is very often alone. And that’s where the support of my family helps me.
