Sophie Ellis-Bextor

“I was an only child, but then my parents resettled with different partners, and I am now one of six.”

“Trust your instincts: they tend to see you right. By listening to them, at least you can sleep at night.”

“I learned to stand up for myself at school where I was never too popular.”

“I'm a sucker for sad disco pop.”

“In terms of clothes, everything is on the same level for me. If I like it, it doesn't matter if it cost £200 or £2.”

“I try my hardest not to read reviews.”

“I'm a sucker for good black skirts and pretty little shirts and kooky tops. I have to admit that shopping satisfies my craving for immediate gratification.”

“I wrote the worst novel ever.”

“I love getting dressed up. Being a pop star is the most brilliant job for that. A lot of girls love shopping, but they might see the most amazing outfit and think, 'When am I going to wear that?', so it's my duty to exploit the fact I do have events I can wear these things to.”

“I started my music career at 18 and for a long while I let other people handle my affairs.”

“Two premature babies was not a genetic thing; we were just unlucky.”

“'The X Factor' is great entertainment, but it doesn't prepare people for getting chewed up and spat out by the music industry.”

“You have to apply yourself because you'll never get a better opportunity than the one you have right now. Having said that, people know by now if they like me or not. I don't need to prove anything.”

“There are a lots of clowns in our family - our house is a fun house.”

“I must confess I knew very little about the trance scene, I'm more house and commercial dance but it was really interesting and different.”

“On my wedding day. I didn't want a natural, blushing-bride look - I had a full-on hairdo and red lips. I thought it would be disingenuous to do the whole virginal look, so even though I had the white dress, I had pink net underneath.”

“I don't know why people think I'm polished - I often leave the house with buttons missing and ladders in my tights.”

“Writing songs about fancying people in dance clubs is all very well but it's not the be-all and end-all. There are other topics.”

“In terms of influence, my style icons have been a mixture of Julie Andrews and Olivia Newton-John. When I was little I used to watch 'Grease,' 'Mary Poppins' and 'The Sound of Music' a lot. If you put all those things together you do kind of get my outfits. A slightly tarty nanny in a second-hand outfit. That is pretty much what I wear.”

“I don't think anyone doubts my motives, really. I do what I do and it's not very complicated. Of course, you might hate the music that I make, but I don't think people feel threatened by me just getting on with what I'm up to.”