SINITTA: I DATED BRAD PITT BEFORE HE WAS FAMOUS – IT WAS NO GREAT LOVE AFFAIR

Born in Seattle in 1963, Sinitta Malone attended boarding school in East Sussex from the age of nine, and made her West End debut aged 12 in The Wiz. Appearances in Cats and Little Shop of Horrors followed, but her breakthrough moment was releasing the tongue-in-cheek pop anthem “So Macho” in 1986, which became a global hit. Further hits, including “Toy Boy” and “GTO” followed, during a period where she had an on-off relationship with record producer Simon Cowell, regularly appearing on his ITV talent show The X Factor from 2004 onwards. She adopted two children, Zac and Magdalena, both now 20, in 2007 following infertility and IVF struggles with her then-husband Andy Willner, who she divorced after eight years of marriage in 2010. She is currently single and lives in London.

Here she looks back on the moments that changed her perspective on work, love, family, money and health.

My family were in the music industry, so I grew up in nightclubs and around big stars and artists. I grew up in the company of Mick Jagger and his little girl Karis, and David Bowie and Danny La Rue. I was used to being in the same room as big showbiz stars. To me, that world was normal.

I’m one of those people who can turn on a larger-than-life persona when the camera turns on. I don’t understand it, but I can just do it. Maybe because my mother and my auntie are performers as well.

Simon Cowell signed me without an audition. I’d had a record deal before with a couple of labels, and I’d done this demo of “So Macho”, but the truth is I pestered him for months. Initially, he was quite rude, just like he is on The X Factor and said things like, “Honestly, do something else. You’re never going to make it. Next.” But then I toured the UK clubs, performing it for months and building up my confidence, so when Simon finally saw me perform it and realised I could turn into a baby panther, he said, “OK, let’s give you a go then.”

I was ready for “So Macho” to be a hit and knew it would be, but I wasn’t ready to be famous. I could imagine people dancing to it in clubs, but I didn’t expect to end up on TV on Top of the Pops, suddenly thinking, “Oh My Gosh, I’m a pop star.” I loved the attention. Suddenly, all the nightclubs that didn’t want to let me in were pulling me to the front of the queue with my friends. It was a great time to be a teenage pop star in London. I felt like I had the keys to the city.

I suffer from horrible anxiety – I get crazily nervous before I perform. Even if I’m going on stage to perform just one song, I’ve been singing for 50 years. I usually spend the last 10 minutes before I go on stage thinking, “Why am I in this industry? I should get a proper job. It’s not worth it.” I feel awful. Nobody can talk to me; it’s a nightmare. What am I scared of? I don’t know. I know the song, I think I just care too much.

I think I understand what love is now. Before, I think I very much believed in Hollywood’s version of love, and that’s what I wanted; a mixture of Hollywood and Mills and Boons novels, so I was always trying to create that.

I’m looking for an old-fashioned man. Somebody who knows who Stevie Wonder is. Somebody who can imitate John Inman from Are You Being Served? Someone who’s heard of Morecambe and Wise.

Simon Cowell chatted me up with the cheesiest line imaginable. His brother was dating a girl who used to be a prefect at my school, and Simon had heard of me through them. One night we were at the Embassy Club in London and he came up to me and said, “You’re Sinatra, aren’t you? What do you do?” I’d already had a record deal by then, so I said, “I’m a singer.” He said, “Well, if you’re a singer, darling, why don’t you sing me a song?” in this voice that sounded like he was the panther in The Lion King. Very, very English; very, very posh. I was mesmerised thinking, “This is happening to me. I’m actually having one of those movie star conversations.”

I was feeling vulnerable about Simon Cowell when I got married to Andy Willner. Simon had just landed Pop Idol and was going to be going to America. I was living with him in London at the time, and he hadn’t said anything about me going with him, even though I am American. It was a mixture of him not really solidifying anything and still having the wandering eye. I was feeling abandoned, and Andy was really into me, so we eloped and got married by an Elvis impersonator in a helicopter flying over Las Vegas, which looking back, is a bit embarrassing.

When I dated Brad Pitt, there were a lot of vultures waiting to pluck him away. I’m not surprised, he was absolutely stunning. It didn’t turn into the greatest love affair of either of our lives, and I had no idea he’d go on to become this globally famous movie star. I was too busy staring at him.

I managed to get out of some very inappropriate situations when I was younger by using humour to disarm people. Not angering people when they were trying to take advantage of me enabled me to escape some situations which could have turned ugly. I know this sounds weird, but I didn’t report any of the incidents because, at the time, it felt like all this bad behaviour was just part of me being Sinitta. It was only once I was a grown woman that I found it offensive.

I lived in my car for a few weeks in the 90s as I wasn’t making ends meet for a short time. It was a really tough, but also a good thing, as it was humbling. I was lucky enough to still be a member of the Harbour Club at that time, so I used to sleep in the car, then go to the gym, shower and eat in the morning and it’s actually the healthiest I’ve ever been as I had no money for drinking wine or doing anything else. I just had to prioritise keeping myself together.

I would definitely like to have more money, but it’s not my driving force and never has been. I just want to have enough to live without fear.

I use a hyperbaric oxygen chamber like Michael Jackson. It’s been incredible, particularly after the lockdown. I got Covid really early and it affected my lungs so having oxygen infused into your lungs, your pores, everything for half an hour once or twice a week rebuilds your lungs and your blood cells. It’s been hugely restorative.

I had a consultation for a facelift, and they told me to come back in 10 years. I was disappointed and delighted at the same time. I felt like high-fiving the consultant.

Sinitta appears on I’m A Celebrity All Stars on ITV1, available to watch now

2026-04-08T09:49:11Z