Kemps

Harley Moon Kemp has revealed that she never receives an invite to the pub from her brother Roman as they made their debut together on Celebrity Race Across The World

Harley Moon Kemp has revealed that she never receives an invite to the pub from her brother, Roman. The photographer,36, who is the daughter of TV legend Martin Kemp and pop singer Shirlie Kemp, has stayed largely out of the spotlight, whilst her sibling, 32, has carved out a successful career as a radio host, One Show presenter and general television personality.

But as she and her younger brother appeared on the first episode of Celebrity Race Across The World on Thursday night, the pair shared an exchange that gave an insight into their relationship.

In their introduction, Roman admitted: We’ve got some slightly different traits. Harley was always the one going out, getting in trouble; I was more boring!”

Harley Moon responded: “Roman is going to be practical; and the planning and the budgeting,” as he replied: “You’re in charge of cups and ice.”

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It was then that she explained: “We’ve got that conventional family thing going on when you call each other when you need stuff,” before Roman replied: “I don’t know what it’s like to hang out with Harleymoon.”

Implying that was his fault, Harley Moon hit back: “You never invite me to the pub,” before the former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! star clarified: “Because I never go!”

Just months before taking on Celebrity Race Across the World 2025 with his older sister, which will see the sibling duo competing with other stars as they race 5,900km across Central America on just £30 each a day, Loose Men star Roma opened up about the struggle he remembers most vividly from his childhood.

In a conversation with singer Tom Grennan on their You About? podcast, Roman shared memories of him and Harley Moon featuring in national magazines alongside their famous parents during a period when finances were tight for the family.

Shirlie and husband Martin, who was a member of the band Spandau Ballet before starring as Steve Owen in BBC soap EastEnders, were struggling with money due to the musician’s health battles in the nineties.

My parents had no money at the time because my dad had all these operations and s*** for his brain, so, like, they were trying to get more money,” Roman explained to podcast co-host Tom. He went on to admit that even though they had appeared in magazines as a family, Martin and Shirlie were still anxious about their children being snapped by paparazzi on holiday.

Roman continued: “But then, even up to when I was maybe 13, if we’d gone on holiday, we were never allowed to go to the beach because when we went on the beach, my mum and dad would always be like, ‘there it is’ and you’d see a boat come past, quite far out, and then, like, stop, and there would just be a long lens camera just taking pictures of kids on beaches.”

Roman heartbreakingly revealed his mum would often be left in tears after seeing pictures the paparazzi had taken of them appearing in the press. He shared: “It’s mad in that sense, you see it less and less now, like those old celebrity pictures on the beach, you see that a lot less now.

“But at the time, my whole life, me growing up, was my mum crying because they’re taking horrendous pictures and they’d only use the worst picture.” Reflecting on a specific traumatic moment following a holiday, Roman said Shirlie “cried for, like, five days” when photos of the family on a banana boat were published in the press.

Ahead of Celebrity Race Across the World airing on Thursday night, Harleymoon explained she was previously given the chance to go on the BBC show with her mum, but Shirlie had concerns, so the pair missed out.

Harleymoon told the Radio Times: “My mum was asked to be in the first Celebrity Race Across the World and was going to take me, but thought it sounded too hard. I was glad to have another chance to go.”

Sharing his own motivations to sign up to the series, Roman, who has been open about his struggles with anxiety and depression, said: “I came off all medication [antidepressants] over a year ago and the race was a good test for my anxiety.”

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Shirlie Kemp talks about being married to a rockstar and mum to Roman Kemp and Harleymoon – and the real reason she refuses to take part in Strictly Come Dancing

She toured with Wham!, had two Top 10 hits, married a Spandau Ballet superstar and appeared in a Spice Girls video — but Shirlie Kemp never wanted to be famous. Shirlie, 63, who grew up with four siblings on a London council estate, has had such a wild life and career, you’d be forgiven for thinking it must have been planned and executed with military precision.

“It just felt like destiny, like everything happens for a reason,” says Shirlie, who started singing backing vocals for Wham! during an early romance with Andrew Ridgeley before forming pop duo Pepsi & Shirlie when they split. “I was where I was at that time… As I get older, I realise, ‘Wow, my life felt like it was actually mapped out for me.’ There is that saying ‘God laughs at your plans,’ which I really love. For me, I just see space and I don’t know what’s going to come in but I’m always attracting the positive.”

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Touring the world and performing to millions is miles away from the life Shirlie expected. “I was told you leave school, get a job, get married and then have kids,” she explains. “But in my heart I knew there was so much out there. I’ve never put limits on myself.”

Shirlie and Martin married in St Lucia in 1988. After their daughter Harleymoon was born in 1989, followed by Roman in 1993, Shirlie retreated from the public gaze. “I lived in baseball caps and sunglasses when I was younger,” she admits. “Then after I had children, I backed out of it. I didn’t go anywhere to be seen. I just wanted to be a mum and devote myself to my children.”

Even when Martin swapped Spandau Ballet for EastEnders in 1998, Shirlie stayed out of the limelight. And these days Martin and Shirlie’s children are eclipsing their fame. Roman is a successful documentary maker, TV presenter and DJ, while Harleymoon is a singer-songwriter, who recently duetted on stage with Ronan Keating.

Last month, Roman, 32, and Harleymoon, 36, were announced as contestants on Celebrity Race Across The World. Shirlie is thrilled by her children’s success but can’t stand hearing them called “nepo babies”, a derogatory term that suggests all their success is only thanks to their parentage. “I really hate the ‘nepo baby’ thing, which is so ridiculous,” says Shirlie.

“It’s such a stupid saying. It’s like farmers, are they called the ‘nepo baby farmers’? I have so many friends whose sons have gone into business with the dad because the dad wants them to take over that family business. With my kids, it was in their DNA. Harley’s been singing and songwriting since I can remember. And Roman, when he was about three or four years old, we called him Roman the Showman. He would watch Frank Sinatra and next minute he was doing a show for us.”

Watching her children grow up, Shirlie knew they had what it takes to thrive in the entertainment industry. But despite her instincts, she decided to let them carve their own path. “I actually thought they should go to stage school,” says Shirlie. “I would love to have gone to a drama school. But then we thought, ‘No, we don’t want them to go down that route.’ So I purposely did not put them into any type of drama school. But they’ve taken that route and they’re not after it for the fame, they’re after it because that’s their joy area. That’s what they can do and they can do it really well. It just comes naturally.”

Roman is currently spearheading a new campaign called Together Against Suicide in partnership with the Premier League. It follows his 2021 BBC documentary Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency, which saw him shine a light on the mental health crisis affecting young men after his friend Joe Lyons took his own life.

Shirlie is incredibly proud of her son’s work. “I was in Marks & Spencer and this young lady came up to me and she said, ‘Roman’s documentary was so powerful. My brother committed suicide. I wish he could have seen something like that.’ And I stood there crying and holding her, because you realise that if there is just one person you can save, that’s enough. So I am proud of him for doing that. It’s the heaviest of topics, but it has to be done.”

Like her son, Shirlie doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects and she’s proactive about her wellbeing and mental health, making sure she lifts weights, plays tennis and regularly socialises with friends. “As you get older it’s a necessity because there is that saying, ‘Use it or lose it.’ Well, that’s true! You get muscle waste, you get aches and pains. And also for your mental health, for your brain health. Tennis is great for hands and eye brain coordination, which is also preventative. So I look at everything I’m doing now as a preventative [measure], but I wish I knew this when I was younger. I just thought, ‘Keep fit, then you can fit into the dress you want to wear,’ not realising the real goodness that it was doing.”

As part of her effort to stay healthy, Shirlie has just taken Bupa’s Medication Check DNA test, to help us understand which medicines are more likely to work, and which might not. And the results shocked her. “I’ve always said that prevention is half the cure,” says Shirlie. “So when Bupa approached, I put my hand up straight away. Shirlie swabbed her mouth and sent her DNA back where it was analysed before a GP talked her through her results, which revealed that anti-inflammatory tablets were not suitable for her. “When I was younger I had endometriosis, and excruciating pain,” shares Shirlie. “The doctor prescribed anti-inflammatory tablets. So I took them constantly for the pain. Now I know I have to find an alternative.”

With good fitness and a can-do attitude, Shirlie sounds like the perfect candidate for Strictly Come Dancing. She could even do a quickstep to Heartache, Pepsi & Shirlie’s biggest hit. However, Shirlie isn’t keen. “I couldn’t take the pressure,” she admits. “I love going to the supermarket, going to the gym and being out. I would hate, ‘Oh, you’re off Strictly!’ I’ve done what I did, and now I’m enjoying everything.”

“Shirlie Kemp in partnership with Bupa – learn more about their genomics products and Medication Check here “

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