My Saturday

Mica Paris

Sharing the weekend with singer and presenter

The singer and presenter, 51, spends her day jogging with her dog, watching Star Wars, and cooking plantain, rice and peas

6am I’ve never been a big sleeper and don’t set an alarm.

It’s prayers first – I have my little moment with the universe when it’s quiet. 7am Coffee is very important. I make mine with a De’longhi machine.

I have a seven-year-old dog, Dalí, half bichon frise and half poodle, so I drive from Notting Hill where I live to Hyde Park, and I run and walk with him. 9am My daughter Russia, 14, has a lie-in, then I make her crêpes with fresh strawberries. Morning isn’t my time to eat. 10am I’m really into facials – I’ve got a collagen algae face mask by Bielenda. I recommend every woman over 40 to buy it. 11am Presenting BBC One’s What Not To Wear makeover show taught me lots of [styling] tips. I’m really tall – nearly 5ft 11in – and I just bought a fantastic faux-leather jacket with gold buttons from Zara. 12 noon Usually I’m in the studio writing a tune. For my new album, Gospel, I wrote the song The Struggle flying back from Atlanta after I had interviewed Gladys Knight. I realised I’m not the only one who suffered as a singer. What is wrong with the music industry is that it’s mostly governed by one force, which is white male. We need more females at the top and more colour. 1pm I do a light lunch, sea bass – I fry it so the skin is crisp – and broccoli al dente. Russia really likes broth soup, so I get a small chicken and boil it in garlic and thyme. 2pm I love to read – at the moment it’s Gurdjieff ’s Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. He’s brilliant at breaking down why we do what we do. 4pm We watch Star Wars while I cook – we are sci-fi freaks. 7pm I was a semi-finalist on Masterchef a couple of years back [in 2015] so cook everything, but a lot of it is Jamaican, such as plantain, rice and peas. Prior to lockdown, I was only cooking once a week, but now if I don’t cook Russia says, ‘God, Mum…’ When the first lockdown happened I didn’t see my other daughter, Monet, 28, who is training to be a therapist [and her 18-month-old son, Ruben] for three months – that was really hard. 1.30am I go to bed and I don’t need to wind down. I’m knackered.

Mica Paris’s new album, Gospel, and single, Mamma Said, are available now

MY SPIRIT ANIMAL WOULD BE... A lioness. I was obsessed with David Attenborough when I was a kid and he made a fantastic episode on lionesses – I tell women to watch it.

MY SIGNATURE SCENT IS... Montale’s Fruit of the Musk. I had an Italian boyfriend who first bought it for me years ago. £82 for 100ml edp (unineed.com)

MY DREAM DINNER PARTY GUEST WOULD BE… Nina Simone. She was an amazing artist and also very intelligent.

Mica with her elder daughter, Monet

£1,000, delonghi.com

£69.99, zara.com