‘I’ve never been on a first date!’
Chart-topping singing sensation Ella Eyre on her music career, dishing out dating advice and how she met her boyfriend…
When it comes to pop stars, you never quite know what to expect. But when we catch up with singing sensation Ella Eyre over Zoom, she’s as down-to-earth as they come.
The bubbly 26 year old, famous for catchy hits like Waiting All Night and Came Here For Love, is relaxed, straight-talking and – most importantly – nothing is off-limits with her. All personality traits that make her the perfect host for dating app Badoo’s new six-part series The Truth Flirts.
Ella is taking over the reins from Spice Girl Mel B as the presenter of the second series, which tackles the highs and lows of modern-day dating. She’ll be joined by the likes of Love Island star Megan BartonHanson and TOWIE’s Vas J Morgan, as they get real about their own dating experiences, from ‘cross-culture crushes’ to the ‘corona effect’.
Here, Ella, who is in a relationship, tells us why she’s the one her friends turn to to hear it like it is, and the reason she’s waiting at least another 10 years until she even thinks about having kids…
Hey Ella. The Truth Flirts sounds like a lot of fun…
I love dating stories! I’m the classic girl with my girlfriends where we all talk about relationships.
I get way too involved with all my friends’ relationships, but with good intentions. So when
I was approached about this,
I was fascinated.
So you’re very honest with your dating advice?
I’m the one that people don’t come to unless they want to hear what they don’t want to hear. I came to peace with that and, actually, I’d prefer to be that way, and I’d prefer my friends to be like that with me, too. But I could definitely learn to be a bit softer!
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I was at the end of a relationship that should have ended a while ago. I’d been allowing bad behaviour for way too long and when we finally broke up, I called my mum and said, ‘What do I do?’ She asked if he was out of the house and then said, ‘Pack your stuff up, turn your phone off and just get out.’ For somebody who had been in denial about whether they should leave a relationship or not, the impact of getting out and them coming back to a completely empty home with no warning was so powerful.
How about the biggest dating disaster you’ve experienced?
Weirdly, I’ve never actually been on a first date. I always end up dating
my friends…
Is that how you met your boyfriend?
I’ve been with him for three and a half years, nearly four. I met him through a mutual friend years ago and then we reconnected relatively recently. We bumped into each other on a flight to Los Angeles. We both had partners at the time, so even then it was platonic. I don’t know anybody in LA so bumping into someone on the plane was a godsend. We hung out and, as the years went on, we suddenly started looking at each other in that way. It was really natural. They say that by the time you’re 21, you’ve met the person you’re going to end up with, and I think if this one lasts, it’s definitely true.
Are marriage and children on the cards for you?
If you ask my mum she says, ‘Ah,
I’m never having grandkids!’ As I’ve got older I’ve realised that is inevitable but I’m not in a rush. My mum had me really late, I think she was 36, and I’m only 26, so in my eyes I’ve still got 10 years!
Was it tough being in a relationship during lockdown?
One of the topics we talk about on the show is called the corona effect, which was all about dating in lockdown. My experience was what it was like to be in a relationship during lockdown. I’m quite a naturally independent person, so to be locked down with someone, where I had no option to go out apart from my one exercise session per day, was definitely testing. If anything, it shone a light on how we could be better at communication. But we got through it!
Do you ever use your experience from relationships when you’re writing music?
All the time! That’s the one thing I take the most inspiration from as that’s the thing that I know the most. The things that draw the most emotion and reaction from me are my closest relationships, whether they’re positive or negative. At the moment I’m in a really boringly happy relationship, so I’ll take inspiration from my friends or draw from my old experiences.
‘I get way too involved with all my friends’ relationships’
Have you been working on new material throughout lockdown?
I did a lot of Zoom writing sessions with people I really like working with and can feel natural and normal with. I have this weird anxiety about singing in front of people in a writing room so in order to share that with someone you have to be comfortable. But I was really productive. My proudest moment of lockdown was when I shot my music video for my song Dreams.
It was a full-on production, where all the cameras arrived at my door. I’m really proud of the end result and I’m really lucky that I get to look back at lockdown and think, ‘That’s what I did!’
Did you do all the other lockdown clichés, too?
I did banana bread once and thought, ‘I’m still a banoffee pie kind of girl.’ And I watched quite a few Netflix series. I loved Too Hot To Handle, so I was so gassed when we had Kelz Dyke on The Truth Flirts. He was one of my favourite people on there and I found him really funny, so having him on the episode was really cool as he was exactly like he was on the show.
Ella hosting The Truth Flirts with Megan and Sarah Mulindwa
Ella loves to travel
What’s the biggest pinch-me moment from your career?
I think when I won a BRIT award. I went to The BRIT School so I went to the awards about four years prior to winning. I remember videoing Adele singing Someone Like You on my s**tty Nokia phone, and saying to myself, ‘I’d really love to have that kind of impact on people.’ So it was a big pinch-me moment to be on that very stage where Adele sang that song four years before, winning my first BRIT for the first song I ever put my voice to.
What’s next for you?
My entire goals revolve around travelling the world. I love going to other places and exploring, and trying new foods and things. I would love to go to Korea, China and Japan and I’d love to tour parts of the world I haven’t been to before. So my ultimate goal is to have my music be successful enough that it warrants a trip! Rianne Ison
‘It was a big pinch-me momentwhen I won my first BRIT award’
The Truth Flirts