Born in 1971, she was brought up in Croydon, South London. As a child, she sang in a gospel choir with her sister, Easther.^[2]

Eternal edit

The band was formed in 1991^{[citation needed]} and released their first single "Stay" in 1993 which achieved their first top ten hit in the UK and their first top 20 hit on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[6]

Nominated for four Brit Awards, the band went on to sing the soundtrack for the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and achieve several top ten hits. They sang for the Pope in the Vatican, took part in the anti-apartheid movement by performing in Johannesburg's biggest ever outdoor concert with Midnight Oil, Sting and other well-known artists in South Africa^[7] and featured on a Pepsi campaign. The band sold over 10 million records and achieved their first number one in 1997.^[8]

A total number of five albums were released throughout the band's career: Always and Forever, Power of a Woman, Before the Rain, Greatest Hits, and Eternal. In 1998,^{[citation needed]} Kéllé Bryan was controversially dismissed by the Bennett sisters' solicitor,^[4][5] and the latter self-entitled album and its lead (and only) single "What'cha Gonna Do" only included Vernie and her sister, before the group disbanded altogether.

Post Eternal edit

Soon after the group disbanded, Vernie Bennett returned to her studies and completed her law degree. She went on to complete her Bar finals and has since settled down to family life with husband Bryan.^[3] Vernie was voted one of the top 50 sexiest women in FHM, and in 1998 featured on the front cover of Pride Magazine^{[citation needed]}. She was a TV presenter for Songs of Praise, Gala Bingo and at the MTV Music Awards.^[3]

In December 2013, it was announced that Eternal would be reforming for the second series of the ITV2 reality-documentary The Big Reunion.^[9] Louise Redknapp chose not to take part, but wished her bandmates all the best.^[10] Vernie, Easther and Kéllé did the reality show without her. The reunion on ITV2 led to the group performing a number of select gigs in 2014 before disbanding one last time.

In 2014, Vernie talked to The Express newspaper about her anguish over losing her brother to lung cancer.^[11] That same year, she walked half a marathon for charity on the 'Shine Walk' raising money in his honour. On 25 November 2015, Bennett appeared with her husband Bryan on ITV's game show All Star Mr & Mrs and raised a further £30,000 for charity, which she donated to Cancer Research UK and CMV Action UK.^[12][1]

During the 2015/2016 Christmas season, she took her debut acting role on stage in Jack and the Beanstalk as the 'Spirit of the Beans',^[13] and continues to be a supporter of the charity known as CMV Action UK.

In 2018, she was a guest on the ITV game show Big Star's Little Star.^[1]

After the split, Vernie stepped out of the limelight and went back to university to finish studying law and has since become a practising lawyer. In 2006, she gave birth to her first child. In August 2010, she signed with ASM Artist Management. She currently lives in London with her husband and their two children.^[14][3]

In September 2023, Louise’s team reported Easther and Vernie refused to perform at a number of LGBTQ+ Pride events as part of an Eternal reunion tour.^[15] Louise’s team further reported the Bennett sisters said they "can’t support the LGBTQ community now it has an alliance with the trans community".^[16] Denis Ingoldsby hits back at this stating this is ridiculous. The girls have supported the lgbt community and played many events.^[17] Denis went on to state Louise has thrown the girls under the bus.^[18] Vernie stated she had concerns about trans activist and their impact on women and children^[19] Concerns now supported by the Cass Final REPORT ^[20] Louise’s team has stated Vernie believes that the gay community is being "hijacked" by the transgender community.^[21] In response Bryan and Redknapp withdrew from the purported reunion, each posting messages of support to the LGBTQ+ community.^[22][23] Since this Easther and Vernie have replaced both Louise and Kelle with a new member Christel Lakhdar. The Mirror stated her vocals will take the group to the next level. Easther has stated she’s really looking forward to the new era.^[24] Most recently, the sisters were interviewed on BBC London radio with Jacqueline Shepherd raving about their new member and how excited they are to be playing festival gigs this coming Summer ^[25]