Raising her four daughters alone with no support, singer and actress Jamelia finally decided to take extreme action – moving her tight-knit girls halfway across the world for a brand new life.
The determined single mum, along with 24-year-old Teja, 19-year-old Tiani, seven-year-old True and two-year-old Jream, jumped on a plane to Dubai last March and she hasn’t looked back. Jamelia, whose ex partner walked out on her when she was pregnant in 2022, reveals: “I’ve been single for three years.
“And I’m not even going to talk about him, because he’s irrelevant. It’s just me and the four girls. I started my single mother journey in the UK, but then I just said, ‘I’m not doing this, I’m not doing this by myself’.
“That was one of my reasons for moving to Dubai – help is everywhere. I have a live-in nanny and she helps wash and does my laundry, but we all help out.
“She’s like a family member, it’s like having another parent. She’s absolutely amazing, I wouldn’t be able to work without her.
“And with my older daughters I’ve got in-house babysitters, so I feel like a lady of leisure. And the thing is, they all adore each other.”
Eternally optimistic and ready to crack a joke, Jamelia adds: “My kids call themselves the tester children and the real children, because my older two, they say that they were the experiment.” She adds: “There are also so many wonderful families in Dubai who are involved with my children, I’ve got a real village around me.
“It’s a lovely community which I’ve never experienced in the UK. I feel very well supported and my experience of single motherhood is totally different.”
The 44-year-old MOBO Award winner previously said that her life was a “car crash” after she and her kids were abandoned by her ex, who she has never named. She even quit her role as Sharon Bailey on Hollyoaks to prioritise her mental health, but is thrilled to now be back on our screens, starring in an upcoming BBC comedy.
She says: “I was terrible at asking for help, but it got to the point where I thought, ‘If I don’t ask, what is going to happen?’ It was beginning to fall on my older children, which for me, was my worst nightmare, so I had to do something about it.
“It’s a huge move, but going to Dubai has alleviated every piece of stress from all of us.
“We all share the workload and it’s just so beautiful.
“I’m trying to promote this idea with other single parent friends that we build a little commune, help each other out.
“I love being a part of that type of community where everyone’s thinking about each other, cooking for each other. I’ve always had the feeling that everyone’s child is my child.”
There’s only one problem with living in Dubai, known as a hub for high-end, luxury living – Jamelia has to work to keep her kids grounded. She says: “I’m conscious of not letting them be in a total bubble. I let them work for their pocket money. But at the same time, we do live in a ridiculous environment.
“I do worry about living in Dubai for this reason. The other day I treated the girls to a weekend stay in a hotel. My seven-year-old turned round and said, ‘Well how many stars is it?’ To ask that question at seven, I realised, ‘There’s some work to do here, a bit of unlearning. But I’m very proud that my two-year-old has a very strong Birmingham accent.”
Brought up by a single mum on a tough council estate, Jamelia faced difficulties that her children will never know. She says: “I was aware that often we didn’t have enough, whereas my children believe they can do anything at any time.
“We don’t have money troubles, so that definitely differs from my childhood. I do try to keep their feet on the ground, but it’s not easy.”
Jamelia has always homeschooled her children, wanting to be their biggest influence. She says: “I want to send well-rounded, whole daughters out into the world and I want to be the person who helps to empower them and build them up.
“I feel like sending them off at age four… no judgment to anyone who makes that choice, I’m just in a position where I’m able to keep them at home and it’s really important to me.”
Beaming with pride, Jamelia shares that Teja is running her own business, called Dear Little Sister, that offers mentoring and journey journals. Tiani is the first in the family to go to university, where she’s studying dance, while True is a little scientist and may have to go to school earlier than the others. “I’m not confident on the periodic table,” Jamelia laughs.
And Jream – pronounced ‘Dream’ but spelled with the ‘J’ because Jamelia wanted desperately to share her initial – is following in her mum’s footsteps. Jamelia, punching her fist in the air, says: “Finally, after 24 years, it seems that I have a child who may be a singer. She’s obsessed with music and has been singing since she was a baby.”
She adds: “I want my daughters to do what they want to do and not be dictated by society. I’ve worked hard enough to allow them that freedom. At 15, I had to go to work. My eldest calls herself a stay-at-home daughter.”
Career-wise Jamelia admits that she is most proud of having maintained a presence in the entertainment industry, trying new things over her 25 years in the spotlight. She’s keen to make more music and take on more acting work. However it’s her role as a mother that has been the most fulfilling.
She says: “It’s my favourite thing and my kids are happy. And I’m most proud that all my children are really funny – we laugh a lot.” Having taken a break to focus on her family last year, Jamelia was blown away to be approached by the casting director to audition for BBC Three’s irreverent coming-of-age comedy Just Act Normal, just a couple of weeks after leaving Hollyoaks.
Jamelia admits: “Obviously imposter syndrome set in. It was the BBC, and it was a comedy. I’ve never done a comedy before. But I auditioned and got the part.
“I think there are certain areas where I feel really confident. If it was singing, I’d probably think, ‘Yeah I can do that’, but acting is new for me.
“I thought, ‘I think I can act, but I don’t know if I can be funny’. But it was good for me to have the audition process, it challenged me and meant I got the role because I’m good, not just because I’m Jamelia.
“I did a lot of research. I even watched a master class by Steve Martin about comedic acting.”
In the show, Jamelia plays ‘Fake Jackie’, a Tina Turner tribute act and eccentric stand-in for an AWOL mother of three young kids.
Set in Birmingham, where Jamelia was born, it’s an authentic, unfiltered look at Black British working-class life, dealing with big thorny issues of class, race and grief – and it’s also just very funny.
Jamelia explains: “The kids’ mum is missing so I come in as a bit of a stand-in for her – an absolutely terrible stand-in. I look nothing like her, act nothing like her, sound nothing like her.
“I just loved the character, she’s so quirky. She’s a Tina Turner impersonator, but not the best one so that was a challenge. With the singing and dancing, I just had to make less effort.
“I got to wear a wig, it was so fun. What appealed to me about the character was that she was so far away from who I am and I got to create her little world.”
Just Act Normal marks the TV debut for newcomers Chenée Taylor, Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie, and Akins Subair as siblings Tiana, Tanika and Tionne, who must hide a dark terrible secret in order to stay together.
It also stars Romola Garai as a well-meaning teacher, Sam Buchanan as a big-hearted drug dealer, Ivanno Jeremiah as the kids’ struggling dad and Jennifer Metcalfe as his vain partner.
Jamelia says: “I loved working with the seasoned actors and the young kids were incredible. I learned so much just being around them.
“The young ones didn’t have a clue who I was, I was like their mum. Put me around children, I instantly go into mum mode. We all had a laugh.
“I hope viewers forget that it’s Jamelia. I need people to believe that I’m Fake Jackie, she’s a breath of fresh air.
“For me, coming from inner city Birmingham, to be a part of something like this is incredible. There are so many things I recognise in the show – the banter, the slang, some of the ridiculous situations.
“It’s also important to spark conversations about race and confront our biases.
“There are some people in power who seem hell bent on pushing us back, which is quite scary for me as a black woman. But we are resisting, things are changing.”
Jamelia insists she tries not to worry about too much, though there’s clearly a niggle…
She says: “Well I do think about the future. Am I going to be here to see all of my daughters get married or fulfill their dreams? Am I going to be here for that?
“If I’m being honest, that’s my biggest worry. So I have over the last few years really focused on looking after myself, being the healthiest me I could possibly be – and also being as safe as possible when I’m crossing the road.”
So she eats well and exercises? “Yeah and I always look left and right!” she laughs.
Good advice for life…
*Just Act Normal starts on Wednesday 16th April, BBC Three and iPlayer at 9pm.
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