Kirsty Bertarelli is a songwriter and singer, a model and former Miss UK, wife of businessman Ernesto Bertarelli, mother to their three children, and a Trustee of the Bertarelli Foundation.
Kirsty Bertarelli leads the Foundation’s work in Stoke-on-Trent, her hometown. There she has supported – and continues to support – projects focused on culture, creativity and on opening-up access to opportunities in this sphere. These include the Creative Minds Festival at the Regent Theatre, the Stoke Literary Festival, and Creative Youth Minds with the YMCA in Hanley. In 2016 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Staffordshire University in recognition of this work.
Kirsty’s own creative career began as a child, when she would write poems and later songs. She took part in local musicals and theatre before signing up to a model agency in her teens. In 1988 she was crowned Miss UK and took part in the Miss World pageant in the same year, placing second runner up.
After moving to London, Kirsty began to write music professionally and was signed to Warner Records. In 2000, she wrote “Black Coffee”, which girl group All Saints recorded and took to number one in the UK. She later signed to Universal Music and then Sony/ATV Music, releasing several singles and albums, as well as performing live.
Kirsty now lives in Switzerland with her three children and husband Ernesto.