Myleene Klass said her teenage daughters are not "nepo babies" and defended their musical and academic achievements, after leaving the Smooth Radio studio in London on Sunday.
The 47-year-old musician and presenter, who hosts a three-hour show at Smooth Radio and has also presented for Classic FM, was photographed stepping into the London sunshine wearing a fitted brown suede blazer over a white lace blouse and dark brown tailored mini-shorts, finished with tan suede stilettos and a beige Chanel flap bag.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Klass said her daughters, Ava, 18, and Hero, 14, have worked for their accomplishments and will not rely on her name. She described their talents as products of "hard work" and training, noting Ava's recent academic results and both daughters' progress in music. "You could call my children nepo babies all day long but they can play Rachmaninoff concertos like the best of them," she said.
Klass said Ava achieved strong A-level results, which she characterised as "four points off perfection" in English, and that her former school would be using Ava's English paper for teaching. She also said Ava attended the Royal Academy of Music and had to audition for places, countering suggestions that family connections secured her entry. Klass added that Hero is preparing for Grade Eight piano at an age younger than typical for the level.
She described a parenting approach emphasising work and independence, saying both daughters work at weekends and that she has encouraged them not to expect handouts. "I will get them in the room, no problem," Klass said. "You can call my children nepo babies and I'm sure people will but it is literally water off a duck's back because my daughter was at the Royal Academy of Music and now has top grades, she has proved that she's more than a nepo baby and my other daughter is about to do grade eight and you don't do grade eight until you're around 16/17 and she's only 14. They are proving the world wrong and our supporters right."
Klass, who rose to fame with pop group Hear'Say and later appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, said she largely raised her daughters as a single mother following her split from their father, former bodyguard Graham Quinn, in 2013. On Paul Brunson's podcast she said she had previously spoken about walking in on Quinn with an unnamed famous person on her birthday, which she said had a public impact on her life and family.
She framed her children's achievements as the result of discipline and exposure to her own work ethic, saying her reputation for being "a grafter" had influenced them. Klass quoted the singer Cher in discussing self-reliance: "Mom I am a rich man" — add to yourself rather than wait for others to provide it, she said.
The exchange comes amid wider conversation in entertainment about the role of family connections and the so-called "nepo baby" label applied to children of public figures. Klass stressed auditions, exams and formal musical training as evidence her daughters earned their places, and said she had invested in lessons and opportunities rather than expecting success to be handed to them.
Klass is also mother to a six-year-old son, Apollo, with her fiancé Simon Motson. She has previously spoken candidly about her career and personal life across media appearances, and her recent comments reiterate longstanding themes in her public remarks about work, parenting and the professional development of her children.