I always really loved soul music but all my friends were into the new romantic scene. I'd go to new romantic clubs and then go home and listen to soul music. I was sort of ashamed of listening to disco and soul music!

Manchester has always been a massively innovative city, loads of great scientific findings have come from Manchester. The first computer in the world was there and took up a whole building. So Manchester has always been very innovative.

It's good to write about love because it never goes out of fashion. And I'm quite a romantic.

I'm like two different people. The way I sing comes from the music I listened to when I was younger, from black American R&B singers. My speaking voice is something else. It's what my mum and dad taught me.

I've never been a twerking kind of girl. I've always relied on my talent.

I work out with weights, do yoga and run on the treadmill at the gym.

For a sore throat I take arnica, just a tiny pill dissolved under my tongue. And because your throat is like a muscle, I keep mine warm drinking herbal teas, usually camomile.

As a rule I start the day with a delicious health cocktail which includes soya protein powder, porridge oats, water, vitamin C, sunflower seeds and honey, plus Dr Udo's Ultimate Oil Blend for all the essential fatty acids your body needs.

People get trapped sometimes and they don't feel they have a voice. And if you can in some way help someone by writing a song, it's really lovely.

The power of music is a wonderful thing. It can make us happy, make us cry. It can make us forget and make us remember.

If there's one thing I wish I'd done differently it would be to have invested money in property.

Having money hasn't made me any happier. There are some negatives associated with it too, like having to be away from home when you don't want to be.

I go through phases with money. I'll spend it liberally and then I'll panic and won't spend anything.

I was the first white British woman to reach No 1 on the R&B chart - the American black music chart.

I was really skinny and I had greasy hair and I was knock-kneed. There's something still in me that's like that, and I catch myself, you know when you're walking or something, and you think, 'Oh no, you're still that drippy person.'

You know, Rochdale is a really nice place, but it's not the most interesting place on the planet.

I've got a good imagination, so I can see someone arguing over a parking ticket and imagine they're getting a divorce or something.

You never know what to expect in life, so just roll with the punches and make the most of it. Because you've only got one life and you may as well have a really lovely time. And try not to hurt anybody on the way.

Honestly, I think if you don't have happiness and you don't have love in your life you can have all the money and all the symbols in the world and it won't make any difference.

One of the only things I've regretted was saying yes to a TV special, 'Motown Mania,' and I said I'll sing you a Diana Ross song. It was just naff.

Well, I always leave massive gaps between albums.

I always remember when I first started out and first became a little bit famous, I went to a celebrity party. For me it was really intimidating.

I think I popped out of the womb singing Diana Ross.

Singers like Gladys Knight are mostly responsible for how I learned to sing.