IT was the first perfect 40 of this year’s Strictly – and the perfect tribute to Fleur East’s beloved dad, who she believes sent her a message of encouragement from beyond the grave.
The pop star dazzled at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom with her high-octane couple’s choice routine to a Destiny’s Child megamix on Saturday, which prompted even notoriously hard-to-please judge Craig Revel Horwood to reach for his ten paddle.
Fleur East dazzled at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom with her high-octane couple’s choice routine to a Destiny’s Child megamix
Fleur announced that her father Malcolm had died in 2020 and shared an emotional tribute to him
Fleur’s mum, nursery nurse Irene Frimpong-Manso, with a photo of Fleur as a child
And it couldn’t have been a more poignant moment for Fleur, 35, who had earlier dedicated her perform- ance to her dad Malcolm, who passed away in 2020.
In an emotional video before taking to the floor, the singer said: “If my dad was here and he knew I was performing in Blackpool he would burst with pride.
“He was my biggest fan. Everything I’m doing, I’m doing for him and to make him proud.”
Fleur — dancing with pro Vito Coppola — burst into tears when she received her leaderboard-topping score which fulfilled a prophecy she had received via a medium before Strictly began.
She previously revealed how her cousin went to see a psychic and received a message from someone on the other side, called Malcolm, whose daughter was a performer.
According to the medium, Malcolm said the daughter was “about to start an adventure”.
The medium said: “He says to tell her I’m so proud of her and give her all the luck in the world.”
Fleur described receiving the message as an “eerie but comforting” experience because she was “anxious” about not having her dad around.
Keep fighting
He was her rock, helping her battle racism, pushing her to follow her dream when her early music career flopped and even teaching her how to do the perfect push-up — a move she finished Saturday’s fierce routine with.
Malcolm, a retired decorator, died of a heart attack in 2020.
Fleur said his death had left “a hole in her life”.
The former X-Factor singer has described it as “the hardest thing she’s ever experienced” but that it has helped her “to keep fighting and come back stronger” when she has found herself in the dance-off twice.
And in a heartfelt online tribute to her beloved dad, she told how Malcolm had been “cheering me on until the end” and was an inspiration to her and younger sister Keshia.
Posting a number of pictures of her and her dad — including one of him walking her down the aisle when she married her long-term partner, French fashion designer Marcel Badiane-Robin in 2019 — Fleur wrote: “Cheering me on until the end.
You taught me and Keshia to be confident and to always chase our dreams. I will forever continue to make you proud.”
And it is Malcolm whom she credits with helping to inspire her love of music and performing.
Growing up in Walthamstow, East London, her parents played records every day.
Fleur said: “My dad gave me all their old vinyl. I’m mostly listening to Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall.”
And her dad was one of the people who helped her push past her natural shyness to embrace the spotlight.
She explained: “I used to hate performing in front of anybody but I was forced to sing in front of family, at family gatherings. Then it slowly developed and I started to love it.”
Fleur is a qualified personal trainer and the energy she brings to the dance floor has blown the judges away.
Last week’s samba left judge Motsi Mabuse in tears.
Fleur’s love of exercise and eating healthily comes from Malcolm.
She said: “My dad was quite militant, he would make me and my sister do push-ups in the morning before we brushed our teeth.
“My dad made sure we never had fizzy drinks in the house, we never had chocolates, we never had sweets.”
Her parents — who split when Fleur was eight — instilled a strong work ethic in both their daughters despite their humble beginnings.
Lookalike sister Keshia is now a top celebrity make-up artist.
Fleur said: “I didn’t grow up in a wealthy family at all. Being at home all day and watching movies, that was a luxury.”
Her mum, nursery nurse Irene Frimpong-Manso, is Ghanaian, and Fleur has revealed she endured racist abuse at school, with one girl once telling her her skin was “dirty”.
She said: “I remember going home in tears and my mum and dad said to me, ‘Don’t ever listen to anyone who makes those kinds of comments — you are beautiful and this is the way that God made you’.
“They told me to ignore people like that. But it was still awful. I would get asked by kids, ‘Are you black or are you white?’ I was often in a position where I felt like I had to pick a side — that was difficult.”
Hers could be a rough neighbourhood and many young- sters she knew fell into crime. Fleur said: “People I knew went to prison for burglary and drugs.”
Both of Fleur’s parents encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a singer
On the shelf
Both Malcolm and Irene encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a singer.
Her first audition for The X Factor was in 2005, as part of girl band Addictiv Ladies with three childhood friends.
They were quickly voted out in the live shows.
Fleur went on to study History and Journalism at university but continued to release music and borrowed thousands of pounds from her family in a bid to become a star.
When she failed to achieve success she thought about giving up on music.
Her cousin Nick Meaney said at the time: “She was just jobbing, trying to get her music out there. She found she was depressed.
“Her career wasn’t going the way she wanted it to. Like anyone, you have your doubts.”
But the words her father said must have rung in her ears and she had a change of heart.
She said: “I’ve worked in a call centre and as a nightclub waitress.
I served champagne to Rihanna.
Those moments could be sad, but I thought, ‘One day, Fleur, one day, that’s going to be you’.”
But it still took a lot of encouragement from her dad and the rest of the family to give The X Factor another go in 2014 as a solo artist.
His faith in his daughter’s talent was proved to be well founded when she came runner-up in the final to Ben Haenow.
Proud Malcolm was behind her all the way — despite being a Strictly fan and having to miss his “favourite show”.
In the video played on Strictly on Saturday night, Fleur said: “It was his favourite show. When I was on The X Factor it used to run the same time as Strictly and my dad used to be very annoyed that he had to miss the Strictly results because he was watching me on TV.”
She was signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco Music in 2015 and released her first album shortly after, with single Sax charting at No3.
Fleur later revealed she felt like she had been left “on the shelf” by the label because they weren’t releasing any of the music she was recording.
After three years she begged to be dropped so she could go to another label.
She was back on our screens again when she appeared on the 2018 series of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here! where she threw herself into Bush Tucker trials, being evicted just before the final.
Former boss Simon appeared to take a swipe at her jungle stint but his dig was met with boos.
Fleur later said: “Simon’s a smart man. I think it was a bit of a joke.
“And while I was in the jungle Sax went back into the Top 40, so who’s laughing, really?”
Fleur’s inspiration began growing up in East London where her parents played records daily
Fleur — dancing with pro Vito Coppola — burst into tears when she received her leaderboard-topping score
It is, of course, Fleur who has had the last laugh — and is now eyeing the Strictly final.
With only a few weeks of the competition to go, her dad will surely be cheering her on as she attempts to lift the Glitterball trophy.
