Kimberley Garner isn’t just the hot blonde on every red carpet from Made In Chelsea, she is getting her own big-screen debut in upcoming horror film Sweetheart
In the future, Kimberley might be snapped on the red carpet because of something she has done and not just something she has donned
RED-HOT premiere, check. The Cannes Film Festival, check. Royal Ascot, check.
Wherever there’s a lightning storm of camera flashes, you can bet that Kimberley Garner will be in the midst of them.
But there are no Hollywood blockbusters, pop hits or TV boxsets with her in the starring role.
In fact, you could be forgiven for wondering who on earth this willowy blonde regular on the red carpet really is.
For the privileged posh girl somehow manages to outshine some of the most famous stars on the planet — most recently in her skin-tight PVC trousers that diverted attention from Margot Robbie at the premiere of Goodbye Christopher Robin in London on Wednesday.
Yet her biggest claim to fame is having spent eight months on cable channel reality show Made in Chelsea five years ago. But while Kimberley is not exactly A-list material, every major party planner, doorman and event manager has her name on their guest list.
The self-proclaimed “mischievous” blonde is the daughter of property magnate Russell Garner and his wife Geraldine, whose sister just happens to be Countess Faye de Pelet of Kensington.
Kimberley had a gilded childhood and attended £11,450-a-term St George’s School in Ascot, Berks, where notable former pupils include Winston Churchill and Princess Beatrice.
After finishing her studies she decided on an acting career, attending top London drama schools LAMDA and RADA, followed by the equally renowned Lee Strasberg drama school in Hollywood.
But with her career on the big screen somehow failing to take off, Kimberley soon entered the family trade, becoming a property developer.
Keen to strike out on her own, she declared that her work was “nothing to do with my parents” and concentrated on houses “at the very top of the market — in the millions”.
However in March 2012 her career path took another swerve when she joined Made In Chelsea’s posh cast — though she doubts her own credentials for the so-called Sloane Ranger set.
She once said: “I wouldn’t call myself a Sloane — but I don’t know. Yes, I go to Ascot every year, yes I go to the polo, yes I go to (posh nightclub) Public. Maybe from the outside I am Sloaney.”
Born-again Christian Kimberley was introduced to viewers as a church friend of cast regular Oliver Proudlock, and she began to appear on screen increasingly often.
But eight months later she left in a whirlwind of chaos. According to show sources, she had had a confrontation with Harriet Loder, her co-star and close friend.
Harriet claimed that Kimberley had still been in a relationship with her ex-boyfriend Diego Bivero-Volpe when she began dating new partner Richard Dinan.
The row between the two women escalated and producers had to separate them.
Kimberley, who launched a swimwear company after leaving Made In Chelsea, later said of her time on the programme: “I probably would have stayed on if there wasn’t so much drama so I just hid my face and resurfaced with my swimwear company.
“I’m really glad I left, because it gave me a chance to pursue my business.”
Not surprisingly her swimwear brand, Kimberley London, is not at the bargain end of the market.
A teeny bikini will set you back up to £150, but Kimberley’s marketing states that her designs are “made from luxury Italian fabric, double lined to create structure.”
It adds: “Each piece includes 18 carat gold plated pendants and trims, made in Paris and heat protected for the beach.”
However she soon tired of flogging cossies and in 2015 she uprooted to Los Angeles to give acting another go — but not before she had mastered driving on the wrong side of the road.
She told a reporter: “I love it here. I’m a London girl through and through — the weather is so good and the people are so friendly.
“But I learnt the hard way you can’t do U-turns in LA. The road was totally quiet — there was just this one other car.
“It’s a drop-top Jeep and this girl just starts shouting at me and I looked again and it’s Lindsay Lohan.”
While in LA Kimberley also became great pals with Kelly Brook — and even advised her to ditch muscleman David McIntosh. She said: “We spoke about David and I told Kelly that he’s gross and she could do a million times better.”
Kimberley herself was dating a mystery man for three years, but they split in May this year. She said at the time: “I ended the relationship recently. It was a really wonderful three years and we are still good friends today.”
In July she was spotted in Capri with 18-year-old Canadian racing driver Lance Stroll on his £200million yacht.
But she could still be on the lookout for an American boy. She said: “I like the all-American California boy. I like the surfer boy.
“My mum keeps telling me to grow up because it always ends badly. I like an Australian accent, it makes me go weak at the knees.”
She regularly posts Instagram snaps of her whirlwind life, giving followers a glimpse of her five-star travel experiences in Dubai, New York City and St Tropez, as well as the Cannes Film Festival, London Fashion Week and Royal Ascot.
But in January her glamorous life took a knock when a burglar broke into her LA home and she was forced to hide in a wardrobe.
She posted about her terrifying ordeal on Instagram, writing: “Was just going to bed in our newly rented house. When we saw a large hooded man at the door at midnight, with a van outside.
“Just me and a girlfriend were alone in the house, which was big and up in the hills in Beverley hills totally isolated.
“We had no lock on our bedroom door. So were very silent and climbed inside the wardrobe in the dark.
We were in there for 20 minutes as we heard him try every door around the house, and listened as he
broke one.
“This man only had bad intentions, rob, rape or worse, and if we hadn’t seen him and hid to call the police I hate to think what he was going to do to us.” Luckily police arrived and caught the crook, and since then, life in LA has looked up for Kimberley.
In February this year she was spotted as she finally filmed her big-screen debut in the California desert. Toting a gun and wearing a silk negligee, she looked every inch the screen siren as she worked on the movie Sweetheart.
So for once, Kimberley might be snapped on the red carpet because of something she has done, rather than for something she has donned.
On these pages we imagine what she might say about her amazing life in her own words . . .
