“Americans are always mortified when I tell them this, but in England, it's a tradition to put your plaques and photographs and awards and gold records and stuff in your bathroom. I don't know why.”

“Crying is really bad for your vocal cords.”

“Even if I did have, you know, a 'Sports Illustrated' body, I'd still wear elegant clothes.”

“Heartbreak can definitely give you a deeper sensibility for writing songs. I drew on a lot of heartbreak when I was writing my first album, I didn't mean to but I just did.”

“I am never writing a breakup record again, by the way. I'm done with being a bitter witch.”

“I am quite loud and bolshie. I'm a big personality. I walk into a room, big and tall and loud.”

“I can't write another breakup record. That would be a real cliche.”

“I don't like going to the gym.”

“I don't make music for eyes. I make music for ears.”

“I don't really need to stand out, there's room for everyone. Although I haven't built a niche yet, I'm just writing love songs.”

“I don't want people confusing what it is that I'm about. I just stand there and sing. And I don't do stunts or anything. if I wanted to do all that, I don't think I'd get away with it.”

“I don't want to be in everyone's face. I'm a big music fan, and I get really pissed off when it gets like that... and I don't want people to get like that with me.”

“I doubt I'll be singing forever, because at some point people aren't going to want to hear my music, and I hope that I'll still get the opportunity to write songs.”

“I get so nervous on stage I can't help but talk. I try. I try telling my brain: stop sending words to the mouth. But I get nervous and turn into my grandma. Behind the eyes it's pure fear. I find it difficult to believe I'm going to be able to deliver.”

“I have insecurities of course, but I don't hang out with anyone who points them out to me.”

“I have never been insecure, ever, about how I look, about what I want to do with myself. My mum told me to only ever do things for myself, not for others.”

“I just want to make music, I don't want people to talk about me. All I've ever wanted to do was sing. I don't want to be a celebrity. I don't want to be in people's faces, you know, constantly on covers of magazine that I haven't even known I'm on.”

“I like having my hair and face done, but I'm not going to lose weight because someone tells me to. I make music to be a musician not to be on the cover of Playboy.”

“I like looking nice, but I always put comfort over fashion. I don't find thin girls attractive; be happy and healthy. I've never had a problem with the way I look. I'd rather have lunch with my friends than go to a gym.”

“I love a bit of drama. That's a bad thing. I can flip really quickly.”

“I love hearing my audience breathe.”

“I no longer buy papers or tabloids or magazines or read blogs. I used to. But it was just filling up my day with hatred.”

“I want to go and see things as a fan again. I am a fan, but I can't remember what it feels like to be a fan anymore. Because I've become an artist. I've become the artist.”

“I wanted to be a singer forever. But it's not really my cup of tea. Having the whole world know who you are.”

“I was adopting an Ethiopian child, that's not true. My house was haunted, that wasn't true. God, there's been so many rumours.”

“I wouldn't be able to write a song like 'Someone Like You' and get someone else to sing it because it's so personal. It's like giving away your heart.”

“If I am constantly working, my relationships fail. So at least now I can have enough time to write a happy record. And be in love and be happy. And then I don't know what I'll do. Get married. Have some kids. Plant a nice vegetable patch.”

“I'm a big personality. I walk into a room, big and tall and loud.”

“I'm like Johnny Cash. I only wear black.”

“I'm nervous whenever I perform.”

“I'm scared of audiences. One show in Amsterdam I was so nervous, I escaped out the fire exit. I've thrown up a couple of times. Once in Brussels, I projectile vomited on someone. I just gotta bear it. But I don't like touring. I have anxiety attacks a lot.”

“In five years' time I'd like to be a mum. I want to settle down and have a family, definitely sooner rather than later. I'd like to have finished my second album too, maybe even my third. I'd like a sound that sticks around that other people are inspired by and that people know is me.”

“In the songs I can still be really really direct but in interviews when I'm explaining my songs I shouldn't be so direct about who they're about.”

“It's never been an issue for me - I don't want to go on a diet, I don't want to eat a Caesar salad with no dressing, why would I do that? I ain't got time for this, just be happy and don't be stupid. If I've got a boyfriend and he loves my body then I'm not worried.”

“It's warts and all in my songs, and I think that's why people can relate to them.”

“I've always written down how I feel.”

“I've been singing properly every day since I was about fifteen or sixteen, and I have never had any problems with my voice, ever. I've had a sore throat here and there, had a cold and sung through it, but that day it just went while I was onstage in Paris during a radio show. It was literally like someone had pulled a curtain over it.”

“I've got some news... I'm delighted to announce that Simon and I are expecting our first child together. I wanted you to hear the news direct from me, obviously we're over the moon.”

“I've never been more normal than I am now.”

“I've never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that.”

“Mum loves me being famous! She is so excited and proud, as she had me so young and couldn't support me, so I am living her dream, it's sweeter for both of us. It's her 40th birthday soon and I'm going to buy her 40 presents.”

“My body doesn't have any rhythm, you know. I've got quite good rhythm when I'm singing but my feet are very much two left feet.”

“My life is full of drama, and I don't have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like.”

“My voice went recently, never happened before, off like a tap. I had to sit in silence for nine days, chalkboard around my neck. Like an old-school mime. Like a kid in the naughty corner. Like a Victorian mute.”

“People are starting to go on about my weight but I'm not going to change my size because they don't like the way I look.”

“Sometimes with pop music, you have to see it to love it. With soul music, it's sparse. There's nothing that's pretentious or planned. It's just so gutsy.”

“The focus on my appearance has really surprised me. I've always been a size 14 to 16, I don't care about clothes, I'd rather spend my money on cigarettes and booze.”

“The thought of someone spending USD20 to come and see me and saying, 'Oh, I prefer the record and she's completely shattered the illusion' really upsets me. It's such a big deal that people come give me their time.”

“The way I write my songs is that I have to believe what I'm writing about, and that's why they always end up being so personal - because the kind of artists I like, they convince me, they totally win me over straight away in that thing. Like, 'Oh my God, this song is totally about me.'”

“There is nothing that would upset me more than my dad being bribed by the press. It's like, 'Just let them run it, then. Don't you give them ammunition.'”

“You can't complain about your dressing room or you'll look like Celine Dion.”

“You have to prioritize what you stress about when you have a child.”