The singer, 48, on anxiety, domestic abuse and the joys of moving back to Leeds
I grew up feeling different. My dad is from Nevis in the Caribbean, and my mum is an English rose. There weren’t that many mixed-race kids in Leeds, so I was always called horrible names: half-breed, redskin. But I was brought up with a lot of love and confidence-boosting from my parents. They said, “You be who you are.” I was nicknamed “The Breeze” as a kid, because I ran everywhere. I was hyperactive and a sponge.
We were barred from the working men’s club on our street, because my dad was Black. It gave me a proper idea of justice and of taking a moral stance. When I got into the Spice Girls, I went back to that club and said, “I’m going to report you. No, in fact I’m going to buy this place, because you didn’t let me in when I was a kid.”
