The OG lineup of Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán returned a decade ago as MKS, but were thwarted by industry shenanigans. Now they’re back, with the Sugababes name under their control, and won’t let anything – or anyone – stand in their way
Mutya Buena – the husky-voiced heart and soul of the Sugababes – is both late and early for our interview. We bump into each other in the street outside the band’s management offices in east London where Buena is huffing on a glittery pink vape. When she extends a heavily tattooed hand to greet me she accidentally pierces the skin of my palm with one of her razor-sharp nails. It’s 10.40am and when I mention the fact we’re both early for our 11am appointment, Buena looks confused. “I was told 10.30,” she says, “I thought I was late.” When it dawns on her she’s been told an earlier time, perhaps on purpose, she offers a characteristically blunt summation of the situation: “Little fuckers!”
Her bandmates Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy arrive shortly after. They all look incredibly fresh-faced despite battling extreme tiredness: Buchanan, 38, has just landed in London from Toronto via the red-eye; Donaghy, 39, is at her wits’ end given it’s the summer holidays and she has two small children to wrangle; and Buena, 38, has just returned from a family holiday to Disneyland. “There were 22 of us,” she sighs, pulling her olive -green bomber jacket up around her like a sleeping bag.
