The NHS is a bit iffy when you sprain an ankle, but when it's a high-priority issue, it's fantastic. They don't mess about. They're incredibly efficient when things go wrong.

Philately is normally a boys' hobby but for some reason it was in vogue at my junior school. Between the ages of eight and ten I collected avidly. I'd pore over my Stanley Gibbons book, obsessively checking my collection's value. I always hoped I'd stumble across a really valuable one, a Penny Black or an Inverted Jenny, but it wasn't to be.

The X Factor' is great entertainment, but it doesn't prepare people for getting chewed up and spat out by the music industry.

I never manage to get to bed early on Sunday night but this doesn't matter, as I don't know one level of exhaustion from another.

I do find it a bit disconcerting when your name becomes a brand.

Having a successful first album is one thing, but a successful third is another.

Two premature babies was not a genetic thing; we were just unlucky.