By Basant El-Faramawy
Kelly Brook has criticized her former fiancé Jason Statham, saying the action star "became a bit cliché" following his rise to Hollywood fame. The model and television personality, 46, made the remarks during an appearance on the ITV talk show Loose Women while discussing whether women prefer a "tough guy" or a "softie."
Relationship timeline and personality shift
Brook and Statham, 59, were together for seven years from 1997 to 2004. She was 18 and he was 30 when they met, just as Statham was beginning his acting career. Brook recalled that he initially had a "softer side" but changed as his profile rose with roles in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), followed by his breakout solo role in The Transporter (2002).
Success brought 'macho, alpha' attitude
"But then the success started coming in, it definitely – it was more macho, alpha, you know, wanting the posh house and the car and the supermodel girlfriend," Brook said. "It all became a bit cliché for me. I was a bit like, 'Oh you're into that. I didn't realise, I thought you were more into the arts.'" Asked if Statham became the "hard man" he often played on screen, she joked: "Maybe, yeah. He became his character and that's where it all went wrong."
Previous comments on neglect and breakup
This is not the first time Brook has discussed the split. In 2025, on Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast, she said she "fell out of love" after Statham "neglected" her when his Hollywood career took off. Brook had suggested they move to America together, quitting her job to support him while her own career "floundered." She described feeling exhausted flying between the UK and Los Angeles, and said Statham reacted to the breakup by asking, "Why are you leaving now? I'm a movie star and a millionaire."
Subsequent relationships
Brook went on to date actor Billy Zane and rugby player Thom Evans before marrying Italian model Jeremy Parisi in 2022. Statham dated Sophie Monk and Alex Zosman before meeting model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in 2009; the couple have two children together.
