Brought up by her mother and now raising two daughters on her own, R&B star Jamelia knows all about the challenges faced by single parents. In the emotional one-off documentary, Jamelia: Shame About Single Mums (BBC3, Monday, August 29, 9pm), she sets off to find out how attitudes towards single mothers have changed over the past 100 years. TV&Satellite Week magazine caught up with the singer to find out more... It’s very easy today to complain about life as a single mother...I’m not saying it isn’t a strain, but we have it so much easier than generations before us. However, there is a stigma attached to being a single parent, and I wanted to find out where that sense of shame comes from. Not all single mums are 16-year-olds on benefits... There are many reasons why women end up as single parents – some are widowed, some divorced, others have had to leave relationships because of their partner’s abuse or infidelity. I was shocked by one story about a single mum on Tyneside in the 1960s... She fell pregnant at 16 in 1965 and was made to give up her baby for adoption. Before I made this documentary, I would have been judgmental about that, but her story was heartbreaking. I have two children by different fathers... I grew up without my dad, so I had no role model to learn from. The father of my first child was abusive. With the father of my second, I thought, “Well, at least he’s not beating me up.” My standards were not high enough. I’ve been home-schooling my children, and it’s going well... I took them out of school three years ago. My then husband was cheating on me, and they were being asked about it in the playground by the media. It wasn’t right for them to have to endure that. I’ve never wanted to be famous just for fame’s sake... I want to do something positive, and making documentaries gives me a sense of purpose. I’ve been doing some acting... I’ve made a gangster movie in Hungary with Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones and I’m starting work on a film comedy in September. My new album will be released early next year... I haven’t released an album in over three years and I miss performing, so I’m looking forward to getting back on stage and scratching that itch.
