Sophie Ellis-Bextor Quotes

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

It's funny how intimate it feels to get a text.

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

Like my mum, I sometimes buy things I shouldn't and fill my house with rubbish.

Getting up to dance to your own stuff looks pretty pretentious. And leaving the dancefloor when it comes on is just awkward.

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 get really frustrated if people don't smile.

That's part of the reason I called the album 'Shoot From The Hip.' I did feel it was time to open up more.

I tasted huge success with my first album, and when it's happening it feels like a roller coaster you can't get off. You should be very careful about wishing for success on that scale.

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.

You should make an effort on stage because it's a performance. The stage should be glittery and camp, but I don't go down the shops in full stage gear.

You need to have a life outside your career.

I think I'm fairly good with money, but I've developed some strange tics - in shops I don't like to go to the counter unless I've got at least two things to buy. If I'm walking around with just one thing in my hand I'll put it back and wait a few weeks because that doesn't seem like a proper purchase.

I've been DJing a little bit, so you get used to the fact that music sounds brilliant when it's loud.

You learn that, when your children are all right, everything is right in the world.

But I quite like that the public has a very short attention span. If I haven't been on telly for a little bit, I can sense it. People don't take as much notice of you, it's really quite palpable.

I'm too frightened of confrontation, so I will always tip - even if the service has been really shoddy.

My little boy Sonny makes me laugh all the time. He has good comedic timing.

I would love to record something with PJ Harvey or Alison Goldfrapp.

Philately is normally a boys' hobby but for some reason it was in vogue at my junior school. Between the ages of eight and ten I collected avidly. I'd pore over my Stanley Gibbons book, obsessively checking my collection's value. I always hoped I'd stumble across a really valuable one, a Penny Black or an Inverted Jenny, but it wasn't to be.

I'm a sucker for sad disco pop.

I like the influence of the macabre, but I don't believe in ghosts.

Some people are really good at packaging themselves, but that's not really me.

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

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.

For every person that says I'm the new Audrey Hepburn, someone else says that I look like an alien.

Everybody remembers Robbie Williams said I had a face like a satellite dish.

Come rain or shine I walk short distances rather than taking my car.

There's so many singers, you watch them and a lot of it is waving around. You don't get this feeling that they're really thinking about what they're saying.

Also, I think women really come into their own in their 30s.

I used to be hung up on my figure, but it's a waste of time. I don't believe in diets. Have four pints one night, be healthy the next.

I really love being in London at weekends - there's always so much to do.

Not all my shoes are designer. 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'm attracted to things rather than labels.

My parents are good role models because they've worked hard and gave me a happy childhood.

A career in entertainment has a lifespan, like one in sport.

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've got quite a curvy shape so I try to wear stuff that's tailored.

My parents separated when I was four. It wasn't the smoothest of divorces, but then as my mother always says, you can't have a passionate marriage without a passionate divorce.

I didn't feel so great when I was a teenager, but who does?

I don't want to sound like an old grandmother but actually it's quite nice when you get up early and then, by the time it gets to 10am, you're quite perky and already quite switched on.

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

I don't think writing or co-writing my songs makes me a better singer, but I haven't really got an excuse not to do it as I've got too many opinions!

I try not to wear anything I have to fidget with - there's nothing worse than wearing something and pulling down the hem and re-adjusting the top. My pet hate is when girls wear those strapless dresses and spend the whole night yanking them up.

I'm big in Russia, but no one's quite sure why.

Dance music is great, but it's not a time to be reflective or particularly wistful.

I've got a thing for footwear; I have about 200 pairs of shoes from all over the world.

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.

I'm happy that I have a look, but I don't over-analyse whether or not it's beautiful or ugly.

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

I'm really interested in fashion but at the same time I find it quite competitive. Second-hand stuff leaves you more open to whatever your own personal style is rather than feeling dictated to by shops.

A lot of what inspired many musicians is celebrating differences, and people relate to that - more people feel like the unpopular, freaky one than the one in the in-crowd.

Now when I say Sophie Ellis-Bextor I feel that's not really me because that's become this entity from doing the gigs and the shows and the make-up contracts and whatever else.

It's hard to feel comfortable in your own skin when you're younger.

When I first started out, I got criticism for the way I looked. I think, now, it's a good thing because, why would you want to look like everyone else?

I can definitely tell when mum has got money because then she likes to go shopping to spend it, whereas dad is steadier and avoids splurges. I like to think I've inherited both sides.

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.

My rule for the corporate stuff is the same as with my music - I do whatever means I can sleep at night and whatever means I can be dignified.

When it comes to my family I never quite know how protective I have to be, or what I should or shouldn't say.