Children should be able to live a life free from bullying and harassment and it is time that we all took a stand against this.
When I dance, I forget everything else and just feel completely happy.
You learn your lessons from the mistakes you make, not the things you achieve.
I did once shatter a chandelier. I was singing with my college choir in Wales. I was the soloist and I hit the high note and there was this massive bang and all this glass came down from the ceiling. I’d like that to be my party trick if I can perfect it.
I am fussy, about my diet and straining my voice. I know, sounds a bit over the top. But I’m not as bad as I used to be. These days I don’t drink alcohol for five days before a show – very dehydrating for the vocal cords, and all that acid reflux. I used to ban it for a fortnight. Nightmare.
Confidence is one of the sexiest things.
I do not understand where the idea came from that opera is only for privileged people, I am as happy singing before 70,000 people at the Millennium Stadium, as I am in front of a few hundred in a small concert hall.
I’ve only ever wanted to be a singer; I never wanted to be famous.
In Heaven, I believe my dad is somewhere doing something nice. I feel I’ve been too lucky to travel this far without somebody guiding me.
Marilyn Monroe was supposedly a size 16, which is probably why I love her style; it suits me better.
At the weekend, one of the paparazzi left their lunch box filled with half-eaten pasta salad on my doorstep: it was like a little warning, you know? ‘We have been here.’
I can’t leave the studio until everything is as it should be. And I can’t put a record out unless I am completely happy with it. I never want to be at a signing and hear my album playing and think, ‘Oh no, I could have done that top note better.’
People see you sing in a certain way, in a long dress, and you are put on a pedestal like you have never made a mistake in your life.
I’m not naturally a person that wants to exercise, but I find running is something I can do wherever I am in the world.
I’d love to play Carmen – it’s the perfect mezzo role.
I was such a geek in school.
Everything in my career is my decision – every picture, every outfit. You get one chance at this, and I never saw myself as being a puppet.
My idol was Marilyn Monroe, who was a size 16, I think, and curvy in all the right places. I will never be stick thin. I remember a shoot where I had to get into these tiny hot pants, and I thought, ‘God, I wish I hadn’t eaten.’