Spicing up my life

Jess is thrilled she’ll be supporting her childhood idols The Spice Girls next year

Jess Glynne’s recordbreaking career has seen all the flame-haired North London star’s childhood musical dreams come true. Jess, 29, has had more No 1s (seven) than any other British female. This year, her second album Always In Between followed her debut to the top of the charts and she ended the year on a high with a sell-out arena tour.

Childhood dreams will continue to become reality next year when Jess supports her early loves The Spice Girls on their comeback shows.

“I’ve been a fan of them since I was a little girl,” she smiles. “Obviously if you told little me then that I’d be doing that, it would have been hard to imagine.

“So yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun, I think. I’m excited.

“I knew about it for a couple of weeks before it was public. It was quite mad. I had to really bite my tongue.”

As a kid she copied Spice Girls dance routines but favoured no one Spice more than the others.

Jess insists she wouldn’t want to take Posh’s place and won’t be joining the Spices on stage either.

Stardom has been a learning curve for her, finding the balance between her private life and public fame not always easy. “I think at the beginning I did struggle with the balance,” she admits. “But I think I’ve got quite a good way of living as I am right now. I’m quite good at keeping myself to myself and doing what I need to do for my job and for my fans.

“I’ve learnt that it’s important to have ‘me time’, and not to say yes to everything. I’m very lucky to be able to do what I love every day.”

And despite guesting on The X Factor at Cheryl Cole’s house she has no wish for a sideline as a talent show judge.

“I mean, it was really fun doing that with Cheryl. We had a right laugh and it was a really great experience to be a part of the show. But it’s not really something that I’m looking to explore in my career.”

Similarly, although she’s had success as a songwriter for Little Mix, it’s not something Jess wants to pursue. For the immediate future, her focus is on making Brand Glynne ever more popular.

“I take every day as it comes but I do have goals. I have to set myself tasks in my own mind. So it’s all a part of life. You always have a goal in order to keep going. I definitely do. I’m a driven person.” ■ Always In

Between is out now