My mum and dad used to make me stand up at dinner parties and sing to their friends. I had this conservatory in my house - three steps went to up to kind of a raised part of our kitchen. I used it as the stage. Every night after school I used to download backing tracks of songs I loved and perform to myself. My mum was trying to cook and I was pretending I was at the O2 arena.
My mum was a big fan of E.L.O. and Elvis Costello. She used to play that, consistently, all the time when we were kids. And my dad, he would claim to be a singer... You know, he loves singing, and he used to sing a lot when he was a kid and at parties and stuff like that. So I come from a very party-musical family.
We had poverty in our house. Even on the council estate I knew I was one of the poorer kids. I used to go round my friends houses on a Sunday to get their Sunday dinner because my mum couldn't cook either so I used to love going round my mates and say: 'Can you ask your Mum if I can come in for Sunday dinner?'
My dad is an art director for BBC TV shows, and my mum does screen printing workshops. Both of my parents played instruments, too, and my mum used to have crazy house parties when me and my brother were young - dub and garage would be banging through my house.
I told my mum recently, when I used to envisage my adulthood, it was just me working at a corner shop that mum and dad could drive me to and pick me up from. I couldn't ever imagine living on my own and having a job that I wanted to do. Because I never saw it.
My dad is Greek and my mum Jamaican. My grandparents brought me up for most of my childhood, but I saw my mum and dad all the time.
Music was always a big part of our family life. My dad's brother used to play the harmonica at family parties, and my mum was in the Luton Girls Choir, who did lots of radio broadcasts and performances in the 50s. I have older cousins who used to play me their soul and ska records.
My love of music comes from as long as I remember. I begged my mum to learn piano for a year when I was 4; she wanted to make sure I was serious, and I wanted to be Chuck Berry when I grew up! We were a very musical family; my mum would play guitar, and her, my dad and aunt would sing and harmonize!
Mum and dad were very much friends, and up to life. There was no anxiety for anything when I was growing up, they just taught me to be me.
Mum and Dad were very much friends and up for life. There was no anxiety for anything when I was growing up; they just taught me to be me.
When I was nine or 10, I remember having a dinner party at my mum and dad's house. I wanted to have a Thanksgiving dinner because I'd watched so many films that had Thanksgiving in it and I thought: 'Why do we not celebrate this?' So I cooked this big Thanksgiving dinner for probably 10 people and I wouldn't let anybody help me.
Once, I was up north with friends and, after dinner, one lady who was at the table said, 'Would you sing for me?' and I went 'Well, sure.' And the other women are looking and going, 'You never sing for us.' Well, you never ask me.
I may not be loud but that doesn't mean I'm not strong within myself. My mum and dad instilled in me to stand up for what I believe in - and I do.
I love Vegemite sandwiches, Milo, ham sandwiches, chicken breasts, and that's all I used to eat. I wouldn't eat anything else. So at home there was always two sets of dinner, one for Mum and Dad and one for me, because I was so fussy.
I'm a huge romantic but I've been unlucky in love. My mum and dad have been together since my mum was 18 and the problem with that is that me and my sister are always looking for my dad. And he doesn't exist because, well, Dad's Dad!
I hate dinner parties, you know, can't stand them. Friends don't bother inviting me any more, because they know I won't come. I could never think of anything to say between courses - it's a confidence thing, I suppose.