By Claire Donelly When Kelly Osbourne asks you out for sushi, you know it's going to be a lively night. And from the minute the 18-year-old daughter of hell-raising rocker Ozzy flounces into exclusive Los Angeles restaurant Sushi Roku, all eyes are on us. In a city where celebrities are 10 a penny, and famously ignored, her bright lime green jacket, striped socks, ridiculously short skirt and colourful language make our table centre of attention. Kelly shot to fame last year when she starred in reality TV show The Osbournes. Plonking herself down opposite me she introduces herself by telling me about her outrageous antics the night before. "I was in a club and some guy came and punched me in the head for no reason," she explains matter-of-factly. "But it's OK," she shrugs before giggling hysterically, "I just spat gum in his fucking hair." Welcome to the weird and very loud world of Kelly Osbourne, one of the UK's liveliest exports and Beverly Hill's most unlikely teen queen. She's foul-mouthed and manic and we get on like a house on fire. She likes my handbag, I think her mum's great and we both love TopShop T-shirts. As the sushi keeps coming we're having a rare old time until she glances up and her face drops. Staring over at the attractive brunette on the next table, she hides her head in her hands before letting out an ear-piercing shriek. "Oh my God," she squeals. "Natalie Imbruglia has just walked in." "Is that a problem?' I wonder. "Er, yes," she explains, with one eye-linered eye on an oblivious Natalie, "I called her a cunt once in an interview. "This is soooo bad. Oh my God, we've got to leave." So after the quickest of desserts - she orders green tea ice cream but spits it back into her bowl - we head off into the night. Our next port of call, Kelly gleefully informs me, is the notorious Viper Room, the nightclub where actor River Phoenix died after taking a lethal drug cocktail. It is a rock chick's heaven: small, dark and packed with grungy teenagers moshing to a heavy metal covers band. "You'll love them, they f***ing rock", she confides, in an accent more Home Counties than Valley Girl. F-word addict Kelly is no stranger to rock and roll excess. Her 17-year-old brother Jack has just come out of rehab and her dad is back on the wagon after hitting the bottle when her mum, Sharon, was diagnosed with cancer. But despite the foul language and tough image, she seems more interested in the music than drinking. Earlier, over the first of many lemonades, she had spoken for the first time about Jack's ordeal. She explains: "I started getting really worried about him, I didn't like what he was doing and didn't like his friends. "We used to be so close. I tried to tell him to wake up but he wouldn't listen. "If I mentioned the drinking he'd knock me about - when you're abusing yourself you don't want to hear people telling you to stop. "It nearly destroyed our relationship, it got so far down hill we hated each other." After months of partying Jack checked into rehab in March. Devastated Sharon, 50, told friends she blamed herself and the family's showbiz lifestyle, especially The Osbournes TV show. Kelly agrees but only to a point. "When you read interviews with celebrities' kids and why they've screwed up it's always about their father never being there," she explains. "They use that as an excuse. I can't relate to that crap you just think fucking shut up. "I don't think Jack's problems were about having Ozzy Osbourne as a dad, it was about growing up. "He got so wrapped up in trying to be this cool kid everyone loved he got frightened people wouldn't like him and so he tried to impress. "I suppose an element of that is the show but I don't regret it. "You make your own choices no matter who your parents are. "Because of my dad it sometimes seems like people are waiting for us to fuck up. They want to be able to say he's been a bad influence. "But that's not the way it works. We were taught right from wrong." FOR 18, Kelly sounds very wise. Despite being 10 years her senior I feel I've lived a very sheltered life. Driving around Beverly Hills in her red Mercedes sports car, she counts A-list film stars such as Elijah Wood among her friends. Such is the bizarre nature of life at the Osbournes' £3.9million LA mansion, it's easy to forget this is someone's real life. "It's true," she laughs, "I've had a crazy f***ing life. "How many people can say Motley Crue were their babysitters? "I went on tour with my dad when I was three weeks old, as a little girl I'd be backstage playing while the music was blasting out. "It didn't make me a bad person. People assume my family is dysfunctional when we're probably the most normal you'll find. "I'm going through a mature phase, I have had to grow up fast. I did my thing of getting p***ed when I was younger - I'd try and stay out until I was sober to avoid the lecture. "I'm not impressed by drugs because I've grown up with them. They're not glamorous. I have tried drugs, I just don't like them. "I don't drink caffeine, hardly drink alcohol and don't eat red meat - how rock and roll is that?" But Kelly has had an awful year. As she says: "All the worst things that ever happened to me happened at once. I was dumped by my boyfriend, dumped by my record company and my mum nearly died. "At the same time my dad and my brother relapsed. What else was there to go wrong?" She admits she used to spend her nights comfort eating. A gruelling schedule promoting her solo album, Shut Up, only made things worse. "I was working and doing media and it was making me f***ing miserable. "I'd get up, do an interview on some f***ing TV show I didn't want to do then go back to my hotel, eat and sleep. "I weighed 165lbs - I only weigh 100 now - I was just eating day and night. I'd sit on my own have a cry and eat. Ex-boyfriend, singer Bert McCracken, 20, who ended the relationship by phone on Valentine's Day, is still a touchy subject. "I know I was in love," she sighs, "I just thought it was going to last for ever. How wrong was I?" A couple for seven months, they sealed their love with matching heart tattoos - Kelly's eighth. Showing me the red symbol on her left little finger she says: "It's going to be a reminder of how I got my heart broken. "A huge part of the reason I'm not with him is because my parents made his life a living hell. They didn't like him because he didn't shower and he was a drug addict. "My mum and dad can be like any other parents - embarrassing." Her whole family's strength was tested to its limits as Sharon underwent months of chemotherapy to fight colon cancer. Kelly says the situation pushed her and her siblings, especially sister Aimee, 19, further apart. Shrugging, she explains: "You would think my mum's being sick would have brought us together but it made things worse. "Jack locked himself in a room, my sister decided to become a bitch on wheels and boss everyone around and I was in the middle. I'd do anything for Aimee but in her eyes whatever I do is wrong and I don't know why. For my dad it was all too much and he started drinking. "Imagine if the thing you love most is in pain and you can't help, he was scared he'd lose her." Kelly admits being filmed 24 hours a day was difficult. She says: "Having the cameras there made things really hard. I NEEDED to cry but it was difficult with them at home and every time I went out paparazzi were following me. "The world is watching you cry." But there is good news. Sharon is now in remission and Jack is home clean and sober. Despite buying her own £1million Los Angeles house, Kelly's moved back home until she heads off on her UK tour this summer. She will play this year's V Festival and support Robbie Williams on tour next month. "I'm terrified and happy," she explains. "Singing in front of that number of people will be scary but it's what I want. "Imagine being me at 18 doing what you want all day with your best friends, I feel fucking lucky." "Maybe you have to hit rock bottom before you can truly be happy." On that cheerful note I head off to the bar. But when I look back, she's has gone, disappeared in to the Los Angeles night. Quite where I've no idea - you get the impression Kelly Osbourne just does what she wants. - KELLY plays Rock City, Nottingham, on June 24; The Electric Ballroom, Camden, London on June 25; and the Manchester Academy on June 26. |