Charlotte Church has spoken out about how her life changed around the time radio host Chris Moyles said he wanted to take her virginity.
The singer, now 37, entered the spotlight at a young age as she performed as a classical singer, before moving into the world of pop as she entered adulthood.
She turned 16 in 2002, and rather than the regular 'Happy Birthday', Moyles, who was 28 at the time, announced on BBC Radio 1 he wanted to lead Church 'through the forest of sexuality now she had reached 16'.
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Church opened up about the comment in a new Channel 4 series, Kathy Burke: Growing Up, where she reflected on how public opinion changed of her as she got older.
After discussing the comment Moyles had made, Burke asked Church: “Is that when it started to get dark? When you were basically reaching puberty? That’s when they started to write about you differently?”
Church responded: “Yeah, there was just this sort of shift where I became fair game.”
Years later, Moyles himself addressed the comment on the Channel 4 programme, The Charlotte Church Show, where the radio DJ told Church: "You were gonna be 16, and I offered to take your virginity.”
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The broadcasting standards commission condemned Moyles for the comment at the time, saying it 'took the view that the explicit sexual content and humour had exceeded acceptable boundaries for the time of transmission'.
Though Church acknowledged Moyles' comment was wrong, she expressed belief that the direct misogyny she experienced at the time was actually less concerning than some of the more under-the-radar misogyny women experience today.
“It wasn’t good, but at least it was out in the open,” Church said in the programme. “That lads, lads, lads culture was dominant. It was very simplistic, it was unashamed, it was just out there and everybody knew what it was. But now it’s become more underground, and more dangerous.”
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The singer has previously discussed her experience growing up as she spoke with Life Stories host Kate Garraway, when she described how 'all of the normal ways in which we grow and how puberty happens and how girls become women, was stifled and such'.
"I felt I had to be this other eternally young, innocent, you know, little girl and that’s not where literally biological life was taking me," she explained.
Church features in the second episode of Kathy Burke: Growing Up; a two-part documentary on ageing.
LADbible has contacted representatives for Chris Moyles for comment.
Topics: Charlotte Church, Celebrity, Music
Emily Brown