When I was having my hair and make-up done backstage at a fashion show, I would sneak in a copy of Dostoevsky and read it inside a copy of Elle or Vogue. But it would be pretentious of me to say I was more intelligent than the other supermodels.

Now I'm not going to go, "Oh my God, what are people saying about me?" I had a choice to be a student and not become a model, and becoming a doctor was another one of my dreams. I had a choice between not becoming a singer or becoming a songwriter and writing behind the scenes; nobody would have seen me writing songs for other people. I had the choice of not marrying my man; we could have just been hidden lovers, but I couldn't cope with it. I had these choices to do all these things, so I'm not going to cry over a life which has been really lucky.

In reality, I don't see myself as a man hunter. In fact, when it comes to love, I am rarely the one to make the first move.

It's always astounded me to have succeeded at having kids. It's crazy!

Public people are definitely captives. It wasn't really my ambition, but that's what happened. If I could find another word that would be more precise, I'd tell that I'm captive of my need for acknowledgement. People ask me, "Isn't it terrible to be famous?" Not for me! I sort of need it. To be honest, I always enjoyed it. It's as if it gave me some structure. It's as if I needed someone else's eyes to look at myself.

People can have political opinions and put them into songs. I'd never deliberately do that, but that's a personal choice I'm inspired by my man but not by his previous position. I'm more inspired by people that are left out by society.

I think the important thing being a wife of a president is to know who you are and find a cause that corresponds to you. The truth is, it's hard to keep a job in that position. I kept playing music because no one could stop me from playing music at night.