All smiles in 2000, but Bardot's sudden split two years later was "traumatic." Photo / Getty Images
All smiles in 2000, but Bardot's sudden split two years later was "traumatic." Photo / Getty Images
Former Bardot singer Belinda Chapple has today opened up about a nude magazine cover shoot she posed for more than 20 years ago – and revealed a sad story behind the stunning images.
Chapple, now 47, posed nude for the front cover of Black + White Magazine's December 2001 issue. The high-end photography magazine regularly ran tasteful nude photos of Australian celebrities and athletes before its eventual closure in 2007.
Sharing a selection of photos from the shoot to her Instagram account today, Chapple explained that as a "very bold, brave, carefree excited 27-year-old," she had "jumped at the chance" to appear on the cover of Black + White.
Bardot singer Belinda Chapple looked stunning in this 2001 nude magazine shoot - 21 years later, she's revealing the "harsh" truth of the images. Photo / Instagram @belindachapple
"Today looking back at these photos 20 years later I marvel at this young lady as I am pretty sure I wouldn't have the guts to do this today. And it's not because my body has changed. It's more that my mindset and boundaries have changed," she wrote.
But, while Chapple said she had "no regrets" about the photos, she said they also served as a "harsh reminder of an unhealthy body image" that she said had plagued her throughout her 20s and 30s.
"I remember starving myself before this shoot. Not healthy at all. My poor little body was not getting the nutrients it really needed. It is one regret I do have that I was not kinder to my younger body and that I had not reached out for support at the time," she wrote.
She finished with some advice to her followers: "Always remember to be kind to your body."
Belinda Chapple on the cover of Black + White. Photo / Black + White
Chapple's nude shoot came as Bardot was riding high in the charts, having just released its second album, Play It Like That. Barely six months later, the group parted ways – a sudden, "traumatic" split that Chapple later said had been "heartbreaking" to process.
But in recent times – and after quitting the music business for many years to forge a successful career as an interior designer – Chapple has produced new creative endeavours out of the ashes of Bardot.
Last year, she and former bandmate Katie Underwood formed the dance-pop duo KA'BEL, so far releasing the stellar singles Broken Hearted and Heartstrings.
And Bardot fans were given more exciting news in April with the announcement that Paramount Plus have greenlit a new series called Paper Dolls, about the rise of a fictional manufactured girl group loosely based on Bardot, with Chapple serving as co-executive producer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, production of the series is due to start later in 2022 ahead of a planned 2023 premiere.
