Melinda Messenger's transformation from lads' mag favourite to wellness guru as the former blonde bombshell, 55, embraces her silver siren era

With her masses of blonde ringlets, surgically enhanced cleavage and megawatt smile, it was easy to see why she was dubbed 'Girl of the Thrillenium' in her Page 3 days. Yet three decades on and life couldn't look more different for Melinda Messenger, who has swapped lads' mags for wellness and changed up her signature look. The former glamour model, 55, found fame in the Nineties with her racy shoots while also pursuing acting work in raunchy projects such as Virtual Sexuality and Eurotrash.She also worked as a grid girl for Eddie Jordan’s Formula One team, and could be seen hanging out in the pit with fellow glamour girls Katie Price and Emma Noble.When she welcomed her first child in 2000, Melinda decided to drop her modelling work, and focus on presenting, going on to host the likes of Fort Boyard and Cowboy Builders.Yet despite finding no shortage of work, Melinda's heart wasn't in it, and in 2010 she decided to pursue her childhood passion of becoming a psychiatrist. Melinda Messenger's transformation from lads' mag favourite to wellness guru as the former blonde bombshell, 55, embraces her silver siren era (pictured in 1997) Three decades on from finding fame and life couldn't look more different for Melinda, who has swapped lads' mags for wellness and changed up her signature lookMelinda said of the decision: 'I thought, I have children, I have bills to pay. I was working in television and there was no sign of that letting up.'I thought, I can carry on doing what I'm doing but how painful would that regret be? I made the decision to go for it and I can tell you, it's the best thing I've ever done.'As far back as I can remember, I remember being around seven and thinking I wanted to be a psychiatrist.'My mum said "Oh no you'd have to go to university, you can't do that." We take in these ideas of what we can and can't do.'Melinda added that she also faced an 'internal struggle' because she was concerned about how others would perceive her modelling career.She said on Loose Women: 'A lot of it is an internal struggle. You can feel trapped by other people's ideas of you.'But if you know that's just a perception and not the truth, it's still a challenge not to be held back by that but you can still keep going forward. 'People will have ideas. The challenge is not to let that stop you.'Melinda persevered and became a licensed psychotherapist in 2015 as well as a master reiki practitioner. On the perception of her being a 'ditsy blonde Page Three girl' Melinda told new! magazine: 'It’s so far from the reality of who I am – in fact it’s the opposite of who I am inside. I guess doing my modelling was a protective front for me, a defence to hide who I really was. 'Because when you hide who you are, you can’t be attacked for it. It was easier for people to think I was a bit stupid, but that was never me. What I’m doing now, this is me. There was always a struggle between the real me and the persona.'Reflecting on her days as a grid girl, Melinda said on Loose Women: 'There were moments when I felt quite vulnerable and quite exploited but I just sort of accepted that that’s the way it was, I accepted, "Well, this is part of the job". I don't think I was really able to fully recognise it at the time at the age I was.''I’m also aware that the perception of women are affected, very subtly, and not so subtly, by these roles that we’re given and the roles that we play, so it’s really important that this changes.' As well as glamour modelling, she worked as a grid girl for Eddie Jordan’s Formula One team, and could be seen hanging out in the pit with Katie Price and Emma Noble (pictured in 1998) Despite finding no shortage of work (pictured on Fort Boyard) Melinda's heart wasn't in it, and in 2010 she decided to pursue her childhood passion of becoming a psychiatristShe added that motherhood had played a 'huge' part in her change of heart, saying she wouldn't be happy if her own daughter followed the career path she did - but that she would support her.Melinda said: 'In all honesty, I really wouldn't want her to take that route in life. If she wanted to, I would support her decisions. However, as all kids do, they rebel against their parents… she wants nothing to do with that kind of work […] she wants to work in marine conservation.'Nowadays, Melinda juggles her psychotherapy work as a single mother to Morgan, 26, Flynn, 24, and Evie, 22, following the 2008 breakdown of her marriage to Wayne Roberts. Melinda later embarked on a relationship with ski instructor Warren Smith after meeting on the set of Channel 4 reality show The Jump.She later admitted the relationship was a 'whirlwind' and went from 'zero to a hundred' with the pair sharing a room and all the contestants knowing they were together.The mother-of-three then started dating photographer Chris Harding - who she met after signing up for Celebrity First Dates - but they split in 2019. Her last known relationship was with survival expert Dr. Raj Joshi. They split in 2024 just six months after the pair got engaged in New Zealand.Since the split she has been embracing a new look, 'finding freedom and joy in just letting myself be,' after she stopped dyeing her hair. On Saturday, Melinda wowed fans with a striking selfie showing off her natural hair, as she explained: 'The grey grow out journey so far! I know not everyone wants to embrace the natural colour and I get that. 'I've had many wobbles, used highlights and toners to try and blend it in, and there are no rules, so whatever feels right for you is ok.'But I am enjoying staying with it and I've found my hair has never felt healthier. 'And more importantly for me, I found real freedom and joy in just letting myself be. I think that's the greatest benefit.'That and not buying into the conditioning that women are not allowed to age and that beauty is confined to the expectations of those that profit from it.'There’s nothing wrong with colouring your hair, embracing your grey, changing your mind or doing whatever makes you feel good. And this feels good for me. ✨' Melinda's last known relationship was with survival expert Dr. Raj Joshi. They split in 2024 just six months after the pair got engaged in New Zealand (pictured in 2023) Since the split she has been embracing a new look, 'finding freedom and joy in just letting myself be,' after she stopped dyeing her hair Melinda's decision to embrace her grey hair came a year after she claimed she was axed from hosting the Miss South Yorkshire beauty pageant because she'd gone 'too grey'.She had been announced as the star host of the 2025 Miss South Yorkshire Grand Finale.But just hours before the event, Melinda took to Instagram to clarify that she would not, in fact, be attending – after discovering that organisers were still promoting her as part of the line-up despite having withdrawn her weeks ago.She wrote: 'Just to let you know that I won't be appearing at the Miss South Yorkshire event tonight as originally advertised. 'The organisers made the decision to withdraw me from the line-up, and this wasn't communicated to the public in advance, so I just wanted to clarify directly to avoid any confusion for those who were expecting to see me there.'I was genuinely looking forward to being part of the evening and am wishing everyone attending a positive and successful event.'Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Melinda revealed the reasons she had been dropped – saying organisers had raised issues about her appearance and recent spiritual posts online.She explained: 'I was unexpectedly withdrawn from the line-up after concerns were raised about my appearance, specifically that I'd gone "too grey" and about some of my recent social media posts exploring light and energy phenomena.'There was also a request to reduce my agreed hosting fee. While disappointing, I prefer to focus on the positive.'I've always believed authenticity and openness are strengths, and I'll continue to express myself in that way. I wish everyone involved the best with the event.'The former glamour model ditched her platinum blonde locks in favour of the natural grey look in 2022, and previously said the look didn't go over well with some cruel trolls.She explained: 'It was definitely about embracing a stage of life. Most people were nice but some were like, "it looks disgusting, you look so old, why would you do that?"'