The Voice coach Kelly Rowland is fit, fierce and fighting to win
With The Voice kicking off tonight, star coach Kelly Rowland reveals how her training routine keeps her body and mind strong, and gives her a competitive edge she needs. She is fitter than ever and ready to reclaim the TV reality show crown.
Kelly Rowland is a busy woman. She’s a loving mother to four-year-old son Titan, a devoted wife to husband Tim Witherspoon and a founding member of Destiny’s Child — one of the most successful girl bands of all time.
She’s also sold more than 30 million records as a solo artist, recently launched a sportswear range with clothing label Fabletics, written a book for first-time mums and now she’s back Down Under to put on her coaching hat for her third season of Nine Network’s The Voice.
It’s the latter that’s brought her all the way from LA to our sun-filled studio in Sydney one afternoon and even though she’s had a full day of back-to-back meetings and interviews, Kelly arrives at our photo shoot looking fresh-eyed and ready to slay.
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After swapping her high heels and powder-blue power suit for a pair of sneakers and workout gear, Kelly sits down to apply her own make-up — yes, she even does her own make-up — and laughs when I ask how she manages to keep it all together with such a hectic schedule.
“To be honest, I don’t have it all together,” she says.
“I’m still learning and it’s so funny because right when I think I do have it all together, something else comes along to challenge me.”
That’s not to say she doesn’t know how to run a tight ship — you don’t build up a resume like Kelly’s if you’re not good at juggling — and the star credits her health and fitness regimen for helping her nail the balancing act.
“I feel like when I’m strong physically, it spills over into every other area of my life,” she says.
“I want my body to be able to work for me, so I need it to be strong and to make sure it’s able to hold itself up.”
As Kelly steps away from the mirror and starts working the camera, it’s clear she’s no stranger to exercise.
Full of energy despite her busy day, she runs and jumps her way through the shoot, stopping only once to note how sore her legs are from yesterday’s workout with personal trainer Brock Ashby, who she coached last season on The Voice.
“I train with Brock when I’m in Sydney and we have the best time,” Kelly laughs.
“The roles have reversed and he definitely punishes me for all those times I told him to work harder on the show. He’s pushing me the way I pushed him, for sure.”
WINNING GOALS
When I ask if fitness keeps her competitive, Kelly nods an emphatic yes!
“Training definitely brings out my competitive side,” she says.
“This year I wanted to strengthen my legs so they were more like my friend Serena [Williams’]. She has the most beautiful, toned legs, so I set a goal to work on mine.
“When it comes to fitness, you set a goal, you aim for it and then you make another one. It’s the same with my mentoring on The Voice — I’ve been in the music game for 22 years now and I want my contestants’ goal to be to win.
“I’m not just here thousands of miles away from my family and taking time out from finishing my record for nothing. I’m very serious and I’m very motivated.”
At the mention of her family, I’m curious to know how Kelly splits her home and work life.
With so many projects on the go — including the upcoming release of her fifth album — how does she find time to unwind?
“My family is something that I do not play about with,” Kelly says seriously.
“My family comes first. My son is in school now and I want to be there every step of the way, so I’ve learnt to say no to things.”
DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY
While Kelly felt pressure to be everywhere and everything during the early years of her career, these days she chooses to focus on the things she enjoys, like surprising fans with a Destiny’s Child reunion at last year’s Coachella music festival.
She was filming The Voice in Sydney at the time, but jetted back and forth from rehearsals in LA so that she could perform with best friends and bandmates Beyoncé Knowles and Michelle Williams.
“I didn’t think of it as needing to work harder,” Kelly says.
“I just make time for what I want to make time for; it’s that simple. I was excited about Coachella and being on The Voice, and in between I made time for my family, got my nails done or booked a massage,” she adds, noting how important it is to take time out for self-care.
“I started meditating at the end of last year and it’s made me way calmer,” Kelly explains.
“It regulates my mood and helps me handle high-stress moments so that I’m able to breathe through them.”
Exercise, she says, is also a form of therapy.
“Have you ever gone to a boxing class? That’s definitely stress-relieving. When I don’t work out, it affects my mood.”
As well as keeping her sane and seriously toned, being fit also helps Kelly keep things in perspective — something she learnt after the loss of her mother Doris, who passed away in 2014, just weeks after Titan was born.
“Losing my mum to cardiac arrest taught me never to take my health for granted. I didn’t exercise for a couple of months afterwards and I started to notice how weak my core got, which then affected my back. I wasn’t stretching and it started to affect my whole body,” she says.
“I went to a doctor, who told me to think of my body like a car and my feet as the wheels. If I don’t take care of myself, my tyres will fall off. I realised in that moment that I needed to take better care of myself. In my 20s I was all about vanity — I wanted the abs or the arms — but now I exercise so my body can hold itself up.”
BONDI BOOST
As well as fine-tuning her approach to fitness, Kelly’s also transformed her attitude towards food.
“I have an 80/20 rule now,” she says.
“Eighty per cent of the time I eat the things my body needs and 20 per cent of the time it’s wine or chocolate.
“Right now I’m eating for my blood type, which means lots of vegetables and fish, but I’m a southern girl, so sometimes I treat myself to burgers and bacon.”
When I ask if it’s hard to stick to her wellness goals with all the travelling she does, Kelly thanks Sydney’s obsession with all things health for keeping her on track.
“Sydney is a great environment to be in. In Bondi, I watch people surfing and jogging up and down the beach, and it motivates me. Sometimes I do fall into a rut, but then immediately someone will jog by and I’ll think: ‘OK I need to get my ass down to the gym!’ ”
And that’s the thing about Kelly — whether it’s her music, fitness or her role as a coach, she doesn’t like to do things by halves.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to win,” she says, and we have a feeling she’s talking about more than just The Voice.
* The Voice starts tonight on Channel Nine at 7pm.
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