Myleene Klass Decided To 'Own' Being A Single Mum And Challenge The Stereotype Following Marriage Split | HuffPost Life

'I’m like a cockroach. Stamp on me, but you won’t destroy me.'

By

Life editor at HuffPost UK

Myleene Klass has opened up about being a single mother and why she "loves" raising her two daughters alone.

The mum to eight-year-old Ava and five-year-old Hero, who split from her former partner Graham Quinn in 2012, will be presenting 'Myleene Klass: Single Mums on Benefits' on ITV next month.

The 38-year-old said initially she felt as if she had "failed" her children when she became a single mother.

"I stood there thinking 'I am someone I never wanted to be'," she told The Telegraph.

"But I decided to 'own' being a single mother, to challenge the stereotype," Klass added.

"I’m like a cockroach. Stamp on me, but you won’t destroy me, I’ll keep coming back. I don’t know any other way to be."

Klass said the decision to do the ITV documentary, that looks into how single mums in the UK live on benefits, came after a conversation she had with a female friend about parenting alone.

With more than two million single parents in Britain, Klass said she was frustrated with the "stigma" attached to it.

For the programme, she has spoken to single mothers about how they cope and how they feel they're viewed in society.

"We need to try to help each other rather than criticise," she added.

Klass married Graham Quinn in 2011 after their first daughter Ava was born. Quinn left in 2012, just six months after they married.

The mum-of-two has opened up about being a single mum in the past, explaining how she learned to feel "confident".

"Maybe it’s because when you are doing it alone, you own it more," she told The Mirror in October 2014.

"I love that. I feel more confident than ever, I feel really happy. My girls have got to feel it off me.

"I can’t tell them every day that the most important thing in life is to be happy, which I believe – it has to be 10% what I say and 90% what you show."

‘Myleene Klass: Single Mums on Benefits’ airs on ITV next month.

Celebrity Parents With The Most Children

Rod Stewart(01 of16)

Hot Rod has eight children, ranging in age from 52 down to four years old.Six months after the birth of his youngest son, Aiden, the singer also became a grandfather for the first time, when his daughter, Kimberly, gave birth to a daughter. (credit:Santiago Felipe via Getty Images)

Katie Price(02 of16)

Katie Price is as famous for her ever-growing brood as she is for her outlandish outfits and many, many reality TV appearances. The former glamour model gave birth to her eldest, Harvey, in 2002, and later welcomed two children with her ex-husband, Peter Andre, Junior and Princess Tiami. She also has a son, Jett, with ex-husband Kieran Hayler, and gave birth to their youngest daughter, Bunny, in 2015. Katie is adamant she's keen to have a sixth baby in the future. (credit:Neil Mockford/Alex Huckle via Getty Images)

Ronnie Wood(03 of16)

At the age of 68, Ronnie became a father of six when his wife gave birth to twins. (credit:Dave J Hogan via Getty Images)

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt(04 of16)

The former golden couple of Hollywood have six children, including three biological (Shiloh, and twins, Vivienne and Knox) and three adopted (Maddox, Zahara and Pax) kids. Angelina adopted Maddox and Zahara prior to her relationship with Brad, though he later became their legal father after they got together. (credit:Jason LaVeris via Getty Images)

Jermaine Jacksun(05 of16)

Jermaine Jacksun (as he's now known), has seven children, each more fabulously named than the last, culminating in his youngest being christened Jermajesty.How. Fabulous. (credit:Albert L. Ortega via Getty Images)

Kerry Katona(06 of16)

Kerry has five children.While her first two marriages each spawned two children, she also gave birth to a daughter by most recent husband George Kay, Dylan-George, in 2014. (credit:Alex Huckle via Getty Images)

Robert De Niro(07 of16)

In addition to his six children, the youngest of whom is four years old, the Oscar-winning actor is also a grandfather four times over. (credit:Gilbert Carrasquillo via Getty Images)

Nadya Suleman(08 of16)

Let's just say it, media personality Nadya Suleman didn't earn the nickname 'Octomom' by keeping her family in the low numbers.In addition the octuplets that first put her in the spotlight, Nadya was already a mum to six children, all of whom she has revealed were conceived by IVF. (credit:Charles Norfleet via Getty Images)

Mel Gibson(09 of16)

Mel and his ex-wife Robyn welcomed six sons and one daughter during their 30-year marriage. (credit:Don Arnold via Getty Images)

Caitlyn Jenner(10 of16)

Decades before coming out as transgender, Caitlyn had two children with each of her first two wives, and later became a parent to two children with her most recent wife, Kris Jenner, Kendall and Kylie. Perhaps you've heard of them? She also still acts as a step-parent to Kris's four children, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob. (credit:Gilbert Carrasquillo via Getty Images)

Mike Tyson(11 of16)

Mike Tyson has fathered eight children throughout his lifetime, and also considers himself the father of his second wife, Monica Turner's eldest daughter from a previous relationship. (credit:Astrid Stawiarz via Getty Images)

Eddie Murphy(12 of16)

Eddie and his girlfriend of three years, Paige Butcher, announced in November 2015 that they were expecting a baby, her first child and his ninth. (credit:Kris Connor via Getty Images)

Bob Marley(13 of16)

Also at the higher-end of the spectrum is reggae singer Bob Marley, who fathered 12 children, the youngest of whom was just four years old at the time of his father's death in 1981. (credit:Everett Collection/REX Shutterstock)

Mia Farrow(14 of16)

During her lifetime, Mia has been a mother to an impressive 15 children, three of whom were with ex-husband André Previn and one with Woody Allen, though she suggested in 2013 that their son's father may actually be Frank Sinatra.The rest of her children were adopted from countries around the world. (credit:Taylor Hill via Getty Images)

Charlie Chaplin(15 of16)

Silent movie actor Charlie Chaplin's also had a large family, becoming father to 11 children across his lifetime. (credit:Glasshouse Images/REX Shutterstock)

Marlon Brando(16 of16)

However, no one beats Marlon Brando, who is said to have had 11 children, though some have suggested he had as many as 15.His son Christian previously remarked about his childhood: "The family kept changing shape, I'd sit down at the breakfast table and say, 'Who are you?'" (credit:Michel Dufour via Getty Images)

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