What could be better than being a slinky pin-up pop star supporting Michael Jackson before 72,000 fans at Wembley?
Being a cuddly mum with a new baby to fill your life, that’s what. Kim Wilde’s incredible body dominated Top of the Pops through the 80s when her eight Top 10 hits included Kids in America and Chequered Love.
Now ,since the birth of her son Harry in January, contentment has piled on the pounds and Kim is happy gardening and growing organic vegetables for her family.
Last week Kim, now 37, was spotted by an astonished fan near her home in Welwyn, Hertfordshire. She was on a shopping trip driving her Jeep Cherokee.
“When she stepped from her Jeep my eyes nearly popped out”, said the fan. “I couldn’t believe what she looked like.”
He added: “A lot of people see her from time to time in the district but lately she hasn’t been around – and what a change she’s gone through. I used to regard her as one of the sexiest women alive but seeing her now she’s quite different. Still, what does she care what I think, the joy of motherhood must be enough for her.”
A family friend told the News of the World: “I suppose some people would be surprised at her appearance at first, but then they notice that she looks really happy. OK, she’s a woman who’s always battled the bulge – but now she has other things on her mind.
“Kim is over the moon with her baby and she spends all her time caring for him. But even though childbirth has given her a few extra pounds she still has the sexiest smile and eyes in the world. Obviously being a mum has given her the confindence to concentrate on the more important things in life.”
Kim – who once dated millionaire DJ Chris Evans – was picking up provisions after visiting her father Marty Wilde’s recording studios in Knebworth.
Marty, now 59, had a string of hits in the late 50s and early 60s – including A Teenager in Love and Rubber Ball.
Kim’s own pop career – which hit the heights with that 1988 Wembley concert -fell away in the early 90s.
She also parted from her longterm boyfriend Calvin Hayes, of the band Johnny Hates Jazz.
She coped with her black moods by over-eating, but then she put herself through a gruelling fitness regime of step aerobics and she lost a stone and a half.
In 1992, she bounced back with a new shape and a new single.
Now, six years later, the buxom figure has returned – but without the despair. She is happily married to actor husband Hal Fowler, 30.
Kim has no plans to return to a singing career.
Her mum Joyce said: “She went through a period with her career where she was under pressure and was binge eating, but she has changed her ways. Kim is very into gardening now. Everything she puts into my grandson’s mouth is home grown.”
You might say she’s very big on the good life.