'You have to be nice to everyone in this business - even people who call you ugly': The world according to Nicola Robert

By Jon Wilde

Last updated at 10:00 PM on 3rd December 2011

The singer on dealing with cruel comments, the terror of meeting famous people and why the fun has gone out of the pop industry

'Be careful what you wish for. I always longed for recognition, and I got it. But nobody prepares you for it... The success was a blessing. The fame was more like a curse,' said Nicola Roberts

Four years on from her last interview with Live and Nicola Roberts is almost unrecognisable.

Gone is the painfully self-conscious wallflower, replaced by an ultra-confident woman keen to voice her opinions. It’s now nearly ten years since she was plucked from obscurity as a shy 16-year-old from Runcorn and propelled to global stardom as a member of Girls Aloud.

In 2002, the group achieved the Christmas No 1 with their debut single Sound Of The Underground, the first of 20 consecutive top-ten hits. Currently on hiatus, they’ve sold over ten million records worldwide.

In 2008 Roberts launched her own make-up range, and recently she released her debut solo album, Cinderella’s Eyes, to widespread acclaim.

Now 26, she lives in Surrey with her boyfriend, businessman Charlie Fennell.

'When I meet people who've called me ugly or whatever, I smile through it'

The fun has gone out of the pop industry.

In a way Girls Aloud rode the first wave of modern celebrity. When we started out as a band, we’d all go to a club, get very merry and pour ourselves into taxis at 4am. There were no camera phones clicking away. Then everything became so much more heightened. It became a different industry, a totally different world. It’s become too serious, too hard-nosed.

You have to be nice to everyone in this business – even people who call you ugly.

You have to put grudges to one side. People have said truly horrible things about me. I don’t think in terms of forgiveness; I just try to be professional about it. When I meet people who’ve called me ugly or whatever, I smile through it. I’m not going to make an issue of it. I haven’t got it in me to be as nasty to other people as some people have been to me. I would never degrade myself by bringing myself down to their level. I would never frivolously slag someone off.

I’m a far better person than that. I’d make a good psychiatrist.

I can work people out very easily and very quickly. I’ve been like that since childhood. I’ve always been a keen observer of people. In any social situation I’d much rather be on the periphery of things than at the centre. When I’m standing at the edge I’m comfortable in my own skin. When I’m standing in the middle it’s all confusion.

I grew up much too fast.

I went straight from school into the big world of Girls Aloud. Looking back, it was a crazy transition. I didn’t feel strong at the time. It was hard for me to enjoy it all. If I could go back in time and have a word with my 16-year-old self, I’d tell her to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and concentrate on what makes her happy.

For ten years I was trying to be two people at once.

I was a successful pop star, but I was also this bashful girl from Runcorn. I couldn’t let go of the shy girl, so I had to be both people. But the person I had to be for work didn’t go with the person who would go back home and hang out with her mates from school. It gave me a serious identity crisis, because I just didn’t know how to be. I was these two people, and neither of them felt right. They were too remote from each other. It was a full-time job trying to reconcile them. Only recently have I learned how to bring the two together. It makes life so much easier.

'I grew up much too fast. I went straight from school into the big world of Girls Aloud. Looking back, it was a crazy transition. I didn't feel strong at the time. It was hard for me to enjoy it all'

Without the band I’d be working on a cruise ship.

I’d still have been out there trying to be a singer. I’d probably be working the nightclubs or cruise ships – anything to get my voice heard. It’s inconceivable that I’d be doing anything else, like working in a shop or a factory. Music was in my blood and bones. Whether or not I was successful, that’s what I was going to do with my life. There were no other options.

Meeting famous people filled me with terror.

I never felt at home in the celebrity world. However many hit singles Girls Aloud had, I never felt equal to anyone. It wasn’t just other pop stars – I’d meet Davina McCall or Louis Walsh and be completely tongue-tied. It felt like they were the famous ones, not me. It didn’t help that I was completely rubbish at small talk. These people weren’t my friends. It didn’t seem normal to me to chat away to them like I’d known them all my life. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I kept my gob shut. The problem was that I was too aware of myself. I’m better at socialising now. I treat famous people as I would any normal person. I don’t let the fame get in the way and I’m much more of an open person. If Madonna walked in now, I’d have no problem having a chinwag with her.

'Without the band I'd be working on a cruise ship. I'd still have been out there trying to be a singer'

I’m no Alan Sugar, but I’ve got a decent business head.

I’ve always been older in my head than my body. At 16 I felt like I was 25. I’d like to have been a carefree teenager without any responsibilities, but I always acted a lot older. Now I can be whatever age I need to be. When I go back home for a night out with my mates, I can be the frivolous 16-year-old I never was. If I’m at an important business meeting I can be as mature as I need to be in order to make decisions for the team.

London never ceases to amaze me, but Runcorn does better fish and chips!

I was made in Runcorn, but remade in London. Runcorn made me the person I am, but London gives me everything I need. The best feeling in the world is spending an entire day at the studio, then driving home late at night through the deserted streets. There’s no sight more beautiful or romantic than the capital after dark. The city is always teaching me, showing me something new every day.

It’s disgusting that hard-working people lost their homes and businesses in the summer riots.

I was at home in Surrey when the riots kicked off. So I was close enough to feel scared at what I was watching on television. I come from a poor area myself, and I wouldn’t condone looting your own neighbourhood in any way. But I wouldn’t just blame the looters. The riots showed just how out of touch the Government is with normal people. They showed us that British society is in a mess.

My first live solo gig was horrendous.

I’ve done huge gigs with Girls Aloud where there were much bigger audiences, but this was me out there on my own, and I’d forgotten what a crowd looks like and feels like. I hadn’t performed live for two years. I’d been locked in a studio in my tracksuit all that time. Suddenly I’m out of the studio bubble, in front of the music, with 10,000 people watching me perform my own songs for the first time. I hadn’t prepared myself for what it would be like, so my nerves were jangling.

Be careful what you wish for.

I always longed for recognition, and I got it. But nobody prepares you for it and nobody can see into the future and predict how it’s going to affect you. No way could I imagine a life like the one I got. I had no concept of what fame was going to be like and the kind of pressures it would put me under. The success was a blessing. The fame was more like a curse, as I was hopelessly ill-equipped to cope with it.

Nicola Roberts is an ambassador for MasterCard; pricelesslondon.co.uk