UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Bardot's Belinda Chapple

This is Outspoken. The podcast is not afraid to say exactly what you're thinking. Our names are Amy Kate and Sophie Torber. We're identical triplets, but we often don't have identical opinions, so sometimes things can get heated. Outspoken covers all things reality TV, influences, entertainment, and issues facing women. That is so fat.

Thank you. I remember seeing the ad in New Ideas. I remember what I was wearing, I remember the weather, I remember everything. Us girls, we had a lot of say in everything. People think that we were manufactured and in ways yes we were, but in a lot of ways it all came from us. Again, we didn't see any profit from that.

You guys were just being screwed left, right and centered by the sound.

Oh yeah, big time, big time.

Yeah. She came out on television recently and just said that she stole from so because she actually stole the most from me. Oh wow, that's all true.

It's hard to believe. It's been twenty years since Bardo's single Poison debut at number one in Australia. As massive Bardo fans, we're thrilled to be joined today by former band member Belinda Chapel Belinda officially welcome to Outspoken. Thanks for joining us all the way from Singapore.

My pleasure Fairsie, how are.

You coping in isolation, because I understand there's some pretty strict rules in Singapore in place.

Yes.

Well, I was actually unwell at the beginning of this year, so for me, I had to take a little bit of time off work and kind of working from home a lot more. And it's been a big change now that I'm better. You know, I can't go anywhere, I can't see friends. It's and my husband and I were both working from home. Everything's closed. It's really busy, and I guess the evenings in Singapore are so happening till very late, and it's we go out for a night

It is freaky. I was gonna say, last time I went to Singapore, there were so many beautiful dogs. I know there's beautiful dogs everywhere, but Singapore seems to have real designer dogs. Do you find that when you're walking around.

I don't know. I think maybe their dogs get extra spoilt because so many people have helpers and live in maids, and often you'll see the maids walking everyone's dogs, like the owners don't walk them themselves. You see a lot of that, and I think the maids look after them and get them trimmed, and maybe that's why they're looking extra Designerny.

It's funny Amy said that because I was actually noticing all the beautiful long haired women and then the handbags. So obviously Amy and I are looking at different things signs, design of dogs and bags. Well, now we're all spending so much time inside. Do you have any recommendations of Netflix or podcasts or books that you're reading or watching whilst you're in isolation?

Oh? Look, I mean I've watched so much on Netflix, but have done? I love all the documentaries. I think I've watched almost every documentary on Netflix, and I can't even name them because there's too many. But as far as series, I loved A Zark. I thought it was just brilliant. I don't know that actress's name, the blonde girl with the younger girl with the I don't know if you've watched a dark but I love the lead actors in it, and I just think it's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

You've got to get into Melbourne. You've got to watch Real Housewives of Melbourne. It is amazing.

Did watch it? I did watch a few. It's a bit of a car crash.

I don't know.

I just I think it's I just loved I loved the women on.

Beverly Hills. Yeah, more so.

I'm embarrassed to admit, but I love that. I love that kind of thing as well. It's a bit of fun.

Oh, there's definitely no judgment here. We loved I was gonna say. We stumbled across some old episodes of pop stars on YouTube and oh, my gosh, that that was such a blast from the past. Have you rewatched any of the episodes?

I did. I recently watched the whole thing on YouTube, probably about I don't know whenever. It was uploaded four or five months ago, and I hadn't watched it since then, and so that's eighteen years ago or whatever, and just parts of it I was cringing and oh my god, it was like I have my hands over my eyes. I don't know if we can watch some of these, but no, I mean it was just it's really weird to watch yourself that up close and personal, you know,

You honestly don't look like you've aged a day since appearing in Pop Stars though, because I haven't. I hadn't obviously seen you since you know, you're on pop Stars, and I looked up on Instagram and I was like, oh, my god, Belinda looks exactly this, Like your hair is so fabulous and oh my goodness, you're killing it. What are your secrets?

Oh god, I don't know. I think I know my mom looks she looks good for her age. I haven't had children yet, unfortunately, so that could be why I have maybe less lines on my face.

I don't know.

I get a lot of sleep. I look after myself. You know. I've always done lots ogre and recently lots of meditation because I suffer from anxiety. And yeah, so no, I don't know. I mean I think if you saw me, you would see of aged. Obviously you put a nice filter. I don't go crazy with my filters and air brushing at all, but I always put a nice little filter, so you know, you look a little bit better.

But yeah, one of the things I loved watching because we watched we actually watched the episode of pop Stars the other day when it was the big concert in Sydney and you guys were trying on some amazing outfits. Katie was wearing her kind of like robot outfit that was flashing, and there was like a space outfit, a space outfit, yeah, and there was some like I think Tiffany had like cowb heerd cowboy hat. I was just loving the two thousand fashion. Have you kept any of those items of clothing?

Yeah? I actually did. I had a suitcase that I folded all my like my cat suits that I designed because I designed all my outfits in Bardo. So yeah, I mean I think I wore a few iconic like sort of things from Bettina Leano in the day. I don't know if you remember Bettina Leano.

Sorry for what from Real Housewives of Melbourne. Sorry, just throwing in some trivia there for you.

Ah, Okay, you're right, She's okay, because I'm sure I met her. She's quite different to the sister right as she Yeah okay, very over.

The top makeup and very like glamorous.

Yeah yeah yeah that one.

Okay, yeah, get it, get it. No, But I so yeah, I definitely kept, especially the pieces that I designed and had made. So I kept all my costumes, my outfit from Poison, my outfit from Asap, yeah, and that kind of thing. But because a lot of it wasn't like leather or it was like PVC and whatever, a lot of it just disintegrated over the years and I didn't. I didn't package it properly. I just put it in a suitcase and put it in my mum and dad's

They're still good.

Because you do sound familiar. I do remember those now that you're saying that, I was going to say that, now that you've revealed you've got all of these outfits, I'm a little bit disappointed to hear, you know, to see that they weren't on your zoom call of course, to commemorate the twenty year anniversary of poison. Can you tell us how did that all come about?

Ah?

Well, we.

I think Sally Polyroonus from Barto she was always trying to get us back together once we split over the years, and she sent us a message about six months ago whatever it was in staid, guys, you know, it's twenty years coming up. If we're going to do something, we better start looking at it now. And we I think Sally was really hoping that Sophie would be involved and kept messaging her and that Sophie wasn't interested at all.

You know, this was all in discussion.

Then Sally changed her mind didn't really want to do anything at all, sadly, and so then the three of us were just left and we hopped on a call. We were chatting and catching up and we were like, right, let's seing. So we just we did that video and we obviously couldn't do it there and then.

On the spot because of the lag.

So if you're doing a zoom call and you've got three people in it, there's three seconds lag, so you certainly can't do a capella like that. So then we found this app and we did it on that and it was unrehearsed and completely You just add yourself in the box and then send it to the other person and then you harmonize on top, and so it was just completely random and then we came.

Up with that.

We just were like, cool, let's post it. So that's how it happened.

It was so good. You guys sounded amazing. I would love for you guys to come back. And I mean, even if this is the three of you, I feel like it would be there'd be so much demand for at least one song or a few.

Yeah, we're thinking.

I kind of agree with you actually, and I think we yeah, there's no reason why not kind of being I sort of feel, and you know, even if it's just a new track, but yeah, we're looking at it. Put it that way. Cool.

We're talking about talking about Sophie. You and Sophie were great friends when you guys were on Pop Stars. I mean, is it sad that we don't want to slag off Sophie? Because we love Sophie Monk as well. But is it just a bit disappointing that she can't come back, even if it was just a barbecue, if it wasn't publicized, is it a little bit disappointing for you guys?

Well, look, to be honest, for me, I haven't seen her since the last concert, so yeah, so you can imagine that much time. I don't really have any sort of feelings. It's like a stranger, you know. I have wonderful memories of the time in the band with her. Her and I in our stupid sense of humor, we had an absolute ball together, you know, like it was just constant banter and just I mean, we just get each other going with our humor and we'll laugh our heads off most of the time. So we really had

Yeah, yeah, just a bit lighthearted. I was going to ask you if you watched her on the Bachelorette, but I'm guessing no, if you haven't seen No since the last Singapore Yeah, I don't know. If the Bachelorette gets there.

I think I'm pretty sure I did watch one episode online because you can find something. Yeah, and I think my girlfriend, my best friend, was watching it and sending me little memos. I'm like, oh, this is going on, and she loves Bachelorette. So yeah, So then I definitely looked it up and I watched one episode. But other than that, I can't really I don't know I did.

So if we transported you back to two thousand, now, when did you first hear about the pop stars audition? And do you remember that audition process?

Well, yes, so I've actually written a memoir, a book which hopefully we'll be coming out this year, and all of that is in my book. Yeah. So, but no, I remember. I remember seeing the ad in New Idea. I remember what I was wearing, I remember the weather, I remember everything. It was at a little corner store by my house in Bronti. I lived near the beach at that time in a beach shack with my sister

I'd get really nervous.

But for some reason with this, I just thought I wanted it so much and I just thought, right, I'm going to get this, Like I had that attitude going into the audition, and I think that's half of it, isn't it. In life, you really really want something, you'll make it happen. So my energy or my attitude or whatever I got me through two thousand girls or whatever it was out of and I got it. So I

That's so true. I was going to ask. I've recently read that when they showed, you know, when they aired you hearing that you'd got into the band, that that was actually refilmed, like you'd found out early. What actually happened. Was there a mistake on their behalf or what happened? No?

No, no, so I didn't they actually rework misinterpreted what I said that journalist. I Actually what happened was I was told before the day of filming. So I was told two days earlier that I'd been chosen for the band, and that was due to other reasons which I won't go into. But then so when they came round to my house, I think it was because I wasn't sure I was going to sign the contract. Actually that's what

Yeah, so no, so you touched on before that, before you obviously got into the group. You were driving around in like an old bomb Honda. But I do vividly remember all that, you girls getting a beetle, a different colored beetle, and oh my gosh, I still want a yellow beetle to this day, because I've seen you guys driving around. But obviously you guys were insanely recognizable. Then did and you're and the number plates had your names

Was that true that we had them taken away?

I think I remember on an episode there was you guys got them and then maybe maybe I'm not remembering quickly, but do you did you not get to drive around them for very long because you were too recognizable?

No, I think we had them for a while. I think they changed them around and they were borrowed. Even though we did their whole campaign on television. They didn't give them to us. They were borrowed and we had to give them back. But no, I don't think our names are on the number plates. If I from memory and I remember I had a blue one for a while and then I had a green ones.

But yeah, I think it was about a year we had them. No, I don't know. I didn't feel like it was that.

I don't know. Maybe it was because I was living in Bronti. Not many people watched pop stars in Bronti. I don't know, But I don't remember the car bringing that much attention. I don't know, well from a short side it anyway, So I didn't see it.

I was twelve at the time, and it made a great impact on me. What a great marketing campaign. I still want one twenty years later. Is that.

Money?

Yeah? There were a lot of scandalous well not a lot, but there was a Sorry, there were a few scandalous moments on pop stars, and I'm sure we're going to find out more from your book, which I personally can't wait to read. Are you able to touch on any of the moments that involved Chantell Barry because she's often forgotten, But she got sort of turfed out of the group, and there was rumors that she stole money from Sophie Monk. What actually happened? Can you say what happened?

Well, I won't the details are in my book.

But no, it was interesting that she came I found it fascinating that she came out on television recently and just said that she stole from Sophie because she actually stole the most from me.

Oh wow.

So yeah, but yeah, she only stopped from both of us. But yeah, that's all true.

That's disappointing because I read that you guys were getting one hundred dollars a week allowance. I think that's what Chantel said.

I mean, yeah, twenty dollars a day per ms. Yeah, something like that.

Yeah, is crazy. I know it was twenty years ago, but one hundred dollars twenty years ago was still not very much money. How were you guys.

Staring on that? Well, they, I mean it was like living in a bubble. They paid for everything, so we you know, we were able to.

And I'm pretty sure in the end they were.

Yeah, so they covered all our living expenses, but they were making a lot of money from us, as you can imagine over the years.

But yeah, no, it's we were on p dms. Yes, that's true.

Wow.

So what was it like living all together? I think it was in the same apartment. But let me know if I'm wrong, but like, how did that go and how did you guys all manage to get along? Or were there times when there was like fighting? Because I mean, as we're triplets, so I lived with my two sisters for thirty years and we fought like every day, So I can't imagine it would have been easy living with four other girls that you hardly knew.

No, I mean, I think we did really well. You know that. I don't recall a lot of negativity at all in the band, not in the first year, not really even after Katie left. I'm sure. Yeah, sure there were moments of stress and you know, where two personalities would clash or whatever, but nothing major, nothing at all, nothing that tore us apart or you know, or really caused problems. I think it was remarkable really how we all sort of got on under such pressure.

When I look back, you know, it was, Yeah.

That's pretty impressive. What about did anyone steal each other's clothes or just the allowance just sorry?

We were given a lot of free clothes.

That's good.

And because we helped but launch Bardow the clothing label, they gave us a lot of free clothes, so that was cool. Yeah, so that.

Was going to be one of my questions because I do recall there was that association with the Bardo clothing line. So I'm assuming you guys didn't have much say in the name of the band.

No, Sophie and I we we named the band. We came up. I sort of had the idea that we should be called Hepburn after Audrey Hepburn, and the idea of us being named after a beautiful movie actress, like someone feminine, someone very well known, and yeah, and Sophie's like, what about Bridget Bartow? And then it was Barto, So that's that's how it happened. And so yeah, yeah, we named us girls. We had a lot of say in everything.

Oh that's takesful. So did the clothing line come off the back of you guys naming the band bud O then no.

So when we went to register bard O the name, they obviously we did a search and we found there was this little company in Melbourne in a backstreet, unknown, completely unknown. So we cut a deal with them and then they launched and just went all over Australia. They were in every single westfield and the Yeah, we basically launched their brand and I think our company that owned bou and they did a deal with them. But again

So you know, you probably can't say too much, but you guys are just being screwed left, right and centered by the sounds.

Oh yeah, big time, big time. Yeah.

Was that one of the decisions for the split because you know, you guys were doing so well and I read in an interview you were talking about how disappointed you were and how I suppose frustrated it yourself in a way for signing the signing the release that.

Said it was related.

Yeah, yeah, it was money a reason for the split. Were you guys wanting to go Were there some members wanting to go their own way?

If that was the case, I don't know. It was never verbalized to me from any of the members, and we had actually just restructured everything, so we started to make some money finally sort of the last five months before the band ended. So no, we were in a much better space financially, and we owned our name again. They'd given us the name Bardo and yeah, so it was all positive. Everything was onwards and upwards. But again I go into the details of how it happened, but it's it'll all be in my book.

I can't wait. When when does your book drop? When?

When?

Where can we find it when it's released?

Well, at this stage, I'm like just finalizing exactly those details, so I won't sort of say how and when yet, but soon I'll be able to reveal that.

Okay, just back to you guys all living together. We recently did an interview with I don't know if you watched austraiin Idol, but with Rob Mills who was on the first series, and he mentioned that they used to sneak out of idle h sorry, out of their idle mansion. Did you guys ever manage to sneak out and did you have disguises that you'd wear or were you guys all pretty good?

Well? I was the only Sydney girl. If I recall in the initial stages when we were in that house when we were filming pop Stars, and yes, I with my car and go and see family and my boyfriend, and yeah, I remember the other girls not so much because they didn't have a car and didn't have family and friends in Sydney, so they all sort of stuck it out in the house most of the time. I didn't get out a lot, but I definitely got out. And yeah, as far as like disguises and stuff, I

Did you have any crazy kind of stalker fans or was it because it was predominantly women, it was a bit more chilled.

We did have a few. Actually, in Tiffany sent me a photo of one the other day, he said, and he was in Adelaide and she was like remember him, and oh my god, yes, just to his face.

I was like, oh, that's.

Right back, guy, you know, nineteen years ago.

He's probably listening to this right now.

I don't know about that. And then who else, No, nothing, mate, We did. We had some girls that really sort of you know, would come to our homes and scream and you know, drive around the block and blare our music.

Was no, no, we were twelve, We couldn't drive.

We did.

We did go to your appearance at Marion Shopping Center and and I remember our mom finally agreed that we could go, but that meant that we parked like two streets away and then we're like crushed right at the back. So we were there, but we didn't really see anything. Ye what were those shopping and what were the shopping center appearances like? Because even now looking back, I don't think I've ever seen a shopping center so packed out for anybody.

Yeah, I mean they were saying there was twenty thousand at those ones in the initial stages, you know, the initial ones that we did, which you're talking about where we went all around the country just off the back of the TV show. But yeah, twenty thousand people like

In your throat.

So yeah, I have vivid, vivid memories of that performance in particular, but yeah, there were so many.

That's so cool moving on from moving from pop stars. So I suppose what you did after Bardo. I read online that you were the creative director for Asia's Next Top Model in Singapore. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how that all came about.

Yeah, I wasn't. No, I was creative director on a show. You might might have got that confused. I was creative director on a show that I did in Planet Hollywood in Vegas, a stage show with female a female review show. That was what I was creative director for but for Asia's Next Next Top Model, I was VIP for events. Yeah, just basically working for that company, Iced TV that launched one of the series here in Singapore. So yeah, that

Thank you for clearing that up. Was it bizarre working closely I suppose with another reality TV TV show though.

No, not really. I mean for me, I just love all that, Like I love that industry, and it's the industry, you know, anything creative and to do with television and stage I'm totally passionate about. So no, it was I loved that job. It was great. It was great to work behind the scenes actually enjoy what I actually enjoy working behind the scenes just as much as in front. So yeah, well.

We're really not surprised to hear you're an interior designer because your Instagram is very esthetically pleasing. Can you tell us a little bit more about your business House of chapel.

There's a few house for different things around the world, And actually I went when I went to register the name, there is a and when I went to put up my Instagram as a house of Chapel fashion label in America, so it's you know, household. It isn't that you know, people have done it before, but I think it's just for me. I just I quite like my last name and I love that it's my I don't have any brothers and sisters, and sorry, I don't have any brothers to take on the Chapel to keep the Chapel name,

But it's so expensive to.

Get a degree, isn't it. It's just it's yeah, so expensive. So and for me, it would just be an achievement that I wanted to do for myself. And I thought, you know what I can, I can put that money into the business. So I decided not to do that. But no, that's how it happened. And then I set it up organically and we have a house marbe Are in Spain, my husband and I, so we that's sort of where I opened up that sort of leg of the business. And then now I'm in Asia, so yeah,

I've got an interior design question for you. It's a bit of a personal question because my boyfriend and I we've moved in and we do not have the same taste at all. How do you work through those problems with clients, if someone, for example, because I like really modern looking houses and he likes really sort of the old wooden style. Yeah, yeah, yeah, how do you work with your work through those kind of problems and find a solution.

I have the same problem with my husband. I mean we yeah, absolutely, he's I mean, our tastes aren't two different. But then I've definitely got my clear vision of exactly what I like and he's got his things that he likes. So no, and I think that's really common. But you just try and understand both tastes and merge them. And I love doing that. I love being able to that's a challenge to me, and you know, usually you'll be surprised.

I feel vintage pieces with some really modern pieces.

Yeah, sorry, I mean to interrupt you. I was gonna say, I'll have to. I'll definitely have to hit you up when we do move into a new house, because that's I feel like we need someone being the mediator, and we'll need all your details in our show notes as well where people can find you.

Fantastic, great, Well, thank you.

So much for joining us. We had so much fun going down memory lane with you, and we do appreciate your time so much, so thanks so much for talking with us.

No problem at all, my pleasure.