UTINI ...THE RISE OF AMBER ANDERSON
most unheard of because eful, new-agey thing.” ou picked on? “I think who to bully. I think they me kind of resistance to I was very shy, quite lot had happened to me by six and I had folded into s separating, you mean? ad separated, we’d moved n different religions. We’d land partly because of the ug. It was all quite amazing. But I’d folded d I think they’d probably hat. I think they could see y school her Englishness a trigger too. “I think I was sh kid. They picked up on all know is a very tough nd.” s a student at a music s attached to a regular e so she stood out because matically you were the eek. And if you’re turning ots and a woolly jumper violin case … It’s kind of et.” o London when she was ry tumultuous first year ways I now see as the Basically I ran out of wo months and I was uld sit in the Covent and look through my ay and try and find friends eep on their couches. I fell g social circles and had a d boyfriends.” nk of going home? “Yeah I k to Scotland. After eight I had to because I didn’t live, I had no money and only afford to lend me 40 hich at that point could buy an Oyster card and frozen veg and rice.
“So I went home and started commuting on the night bus. And then, sod’s law, suddenly work got really busy.
“There was a week where I was on four night buses between Inverness and London because it was actually cheaper to get a £20 night bus than it was to stay in London.”
It was worth the sleepless journeys. One morning she got off the night bus and went for an audition for an advert for Match.com. She sang an Amy Winehouse tune at the audition and got the job. The ad featured a couple singing a duet in a music shop. It was meant to run for three months and ended up running for 18.
“By the end of those 18 months I was modelling a lot. So thank God for Match.com.”
Her modelling career took off. Now it’s the turn of her acting career. And like she says, there’s a new romance too.
Amber Anderson is most definitely not talking about Paolo Nutini.
When I mention his name she purses her lips. It is the most deliberate example of lip pursing I’ve seen this century. Is that your only comment, Amber? She purses her lips tighter.
Well, can we confirm that relationship is history? “No bad vibes, but history, yeah. I have a new boyfriend.”
“Oh yes, that’s … the guy from Rizzle Kicks,” I say, showing up the fact that I’m not quite down with the kids. She graciously overlooks the fact that I can’t remember Jordan Stephens’s name.
“That came out a few weeks ago. I didn’t even know about it because I don’t really read the tabloid stuff. Suddenly I was getting friends texting me. We read it in bed together.”