Kelly Rowland: Confessions of a fitness buff who loves butter chicken

Kelly Rowland wants to keep her body tight — tight like a tiger. At least, that’s what the ever-smiling songstress tells me during our interview on Tuesday, tacking on a cheeky laugh for impact.

Let’s rewind a bit. The Destiny’s Child singer and I show up to a small, elaborately-designed interview room in Atlantis The Palm designated for our afternoon chat. She’s effortlessly radiant in a pair of orange ankle trousers, a fitted grey V-neck, and chunky golden jewellery, with her bangs and shoulder-length locks blow-dried to frame her face.

She looks great donning her signature red lip and thickly coated lashes, but more than that, the 32-year-old is glowing. So when I find out that she’s a fitness buff, I’m not surprised — she looks it. I do have to wonder, however, why she needs to go the extra mile. It seems as though the multitalented performer would get enough of a workout with her gruelling schedule — she’s an X Factor judge, an ambassador for a global watch brand, and above all, a star of the stage known for her vigorous dance routines and calorie-burning concert presence.

Since turning 29 three years ago, however, that hasn’t been enough for her. As the star began to enter into her 30s, she wanted to ensure that “everything was going to stay up”, a point she illustrates with a lifting motion near her abdomen.

“I met my trainer, Jaenette Jenkins, and she just completely changed my life. It’s so hard to travel, and that was my complaint to Jeanette,” Rowland recalls. “You get tired, you can be jet-lagged — so many things. But she just taught me to keep it going.”

In October, Rowland released the second of two fitness DVDs with Jenkins titled Sexy Abs Cardio Sculpt. The 60-minute workout disc promises a variety of routines, including “kickboxing, sports drills, weight training, yoga, pilates, ballet and calisthenics”.

“I definitely say that doing the whole cardio sculpt, not just focusing on abs, has helped my body as a whole,” she says. “I actually like to change it up ... so 7 days a week, we do like 5 or 6 different workouts. I think it shocks the body.”

But it’s not easy to keep up a strict fitness regime for a woman on-the-go like Rowland, or even for the average person with a 9-5 job. I confess to her that, after finishing my nine hour work day, the last thing I want to do is move. She laughs empathetically, immediately opening up about her own struggle to motivate herself.

“No, that’s me, too. I feel like I can be honest with you — it’s been really hard for me to get to the gym this time around,” she says. “But I definitely will have a very moving workout tonight as I’m performing.

“But I say, at least tell yourself: just dedicate 30 minutes of your time. Doesn’t matter how tired you are. Just 30 minutes. Even if that 30 minutes is just walking uphill on a treadmill, if you can — if you don’t have a bad back, you don’t have bad knees — or just dedicating it to yoga or pilates ... It’s really about making the time. You have to make the time for yourself.”

That doesn’t mean that the four time Grammy-winner doesn’t indulge herself every once in a while. In fact, she divulges that the night before our talk, she had herself some guilt-free butter chicken.

“It was awesome. It was so good. I had it with rice,” she says proudly. “I’m very honest when I’m talking about food.”

With Christmas and Thanksgiving coming up, the Atlantan has plans for a holiday feast with her loved ones.

“Sweet potato pie, turkey, whole turkey to turkey sandwiches ... oh, I get it. I’m from the South — I love to eat, and that’s why I have to exercise.”

Rowland adds that despite having a steak every one or two months, and occasionally allowing herself dishes such as butter chicken, she can’t do it every night. “It would be nice, but no.” On the road, she usually sticks to some variation of fish and vegetables or chicken and vegetables.

“I like almonds. I need to drink as much water as I can with how much travelling I do,” she says, grabbing the bottled water in front of her for emphasis.

“No salt works for me. Very little sugar works for me. A lot of water works for me. Boring.”

Box: Tumultuous television

What isn’t boring, however, is Rowland’s time on the X Factor.

In 2011, she replaced Dannii Monogue as a judge on the X Factor UK, dishing advice to the four-piece girl band Little Mix who went on to become the first group to win the show.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Rowland had to give up her spot on the judging panel the following year, but was invited back by industry mogul Simon Cowell to the American version of the show in May.

The X Factor USA witnessed an all-time-low in ratings this year, attracting only 4.76 million viewers during the first live episode of its third season.

The talent show behind the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert and Jordan Sparks has thus been under fire from the media, with British publication Metro suggesting that it might even be axed.

Rowland, who had taken time out of her busy schedule to perform at the invite-only Dubai Airshow Gala Dinner, and put on a surprise pop-up show at Dubai International Airport, insists she isn’t bothered by the gossip — she’s grateful she can reach out to the viewers who do tune in.

“I’m blessed to still be here. I’m still able to put out music, still able to try out new opportunities,” she says.

“I think it’s a blessing to be in front of millions of people, usually, and possibly being introduced to [them]. For me, it’s definitely an incredible opportunity. And above all, it’s a wonderful opportunity for these contestants to start getting their names out, who really have been chasing this dream of singing and performing forever. That’s what I’m here for ... that’s what I’m there for.”

Box: Keeping time

When she’s not capturing hearts on-screen as the kind voice of constructive criticism, Rowland is an ambassador for oversized watch brand TW Steel.

Regardless of her commitment to designing time pieces with the Dutch company, Rowland — who had been about half an hour late to our interview earlier — looks like a child who’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar when asked if she’s a punctual person.

“Argh ... I could be better with my time,” she admits, laughing. “I like to be punctual, but I could be better.”

She confesses the next part under her breath, though the wide smile doesn’t leave her lips: the worst thing she’d ever been late to hadn’t been a doctor’s appointment or the first day on a new job like most of us, but something a bit more publicised.

“The Grammy’s,” she says. “I remember myself and the ladies [Beyoncé and Michelle] were walking down the carpet, and we were super late, we were among the last ones to show up — and we were late to get our Grammy. That was embarrassing. Yeah, that happened. We were in the back getting ready for our performance ...”

Speaking of making the best — or worst — of her time, the global sensation shares that she doesn’t get much of it.

“No regular schedule. We don’t know anything about a regular schedule,” Rowland says. “[What time I wake up] really depends on what time I go to sleep. I’m such a weirdo; I don’t even know what time I go to sleep nowadays. It depends on if I’m in the studio, if I’m, you know, working or whatnot, so it all depends on what time I go to sleep.”

Always on the run, Rowland knows a thing or two about being whipped from one time zone to the next with barely any time to adjust. She can’t immediately think of one that she prefers over another, but she ponders it for a moment before responding definitively.

“One where there’s a beach — sunshine,” she says. “That’s my favourite time zone.”