CELEBS...CELEBS...CELEBS...CELEBS...CELEBS...CELEBS...CELEBS...

THEY’RE SMART AND SUCCESSFUL, BUT THE SUGABABES FACE THE SAME HIGHS AND LOWS AS THE REST OF US, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MEN.

Interviews by Rachel Richardson

Amelle Berrabah

For Sugababe Amelle Berrabah, the last year has been the toughest of her life.

She used to be a ‘glass half full’ girl, but the 23 year old admits that a punishing past year has left her feeling cynical.

First, her boyfriend Freddie Fuller, 25, was arrested for an alleged sex attack.

Then Amelle was arrested after a brawl.

And at Christmas, she saw Freddie almost die after a machete attack virtually severed his arm and leg.

 

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“All this bad stuff has made me a person I don’t want to be,” she says.

“I feel paranoid and wary, but that’s not me.

When Freddie was attacked, I had 30 seconds with him before he went into surgery.

I told him that he was going to be OK, but really I thought it was the last time I’d see him.

He was soaked in blood the only part of him that wasn’t red were the whites of his eyes.”

And four operations later, Freddie pulled through.

Doctors saved his arm and leg, but the trauma has had a lasting effect on Amelle.

“I still feel like I’m in a dark hole,” she confides.

“I’m desperate to get out of it, but something’s changed.”

The knife attack followed a series of events that pushed Amelle’s relationship with ex-tree surgeon Freddie to the brink.

In February 2007 they split after he was arrested for an alleged sex attack on Amelle’s sister Samiya, 20, who waived her right to anonymity to tell the story to a paper.

The charges were later dropped and Amelle and Freddie reconciled.

Then, last Christmas Eve, Freddie was attacked outside a pub, and Amelle was questioned by police over claims she smashed up a car, although no further action has been taken.

“The girls have never told me to dump Freddie though,” says Amelle.

“They stood by me through all of this and wanted to protect me.

"Despite what’s been said, my problems have never been an issue for the band. We’re a family.”

So is her success worth the pain it’s brought?

Amelle sits in silence, weighing up the question.

Her sigh says what she doesn’t. “I love being in the band, but fame magnifies everything,” she concedes.

Life is getting better though, with Amelle now preparing to move into a new flat with Freddie.

“I want to be with Freddie for the rest of my life. After this awful experience, we’re closer than ever.”

The Sugababes’ new single Denial is out March 17, from the album Change, available now. The band’s UK tour starts this week.

 

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CLICK TO READ THE INTERVIEW WITH KEISHA

CLICK TO READ THE INTERVIEW WITH HEIDI

 

Credits

Photography: Bradley Page, Famous. Styling: Cynthia Lawrence John at Naked. Make-Up: Catherine Crawford at One. Hair: Tim Pateman at Phamous. Heidi wears dress by Kyri, Amelle wears dress by Ruth Tarvydas, Keisha wears dress by Amanda Wakeley and tulle. Petticoat by Angels and Bermans. All Jewellery by Butler and Wilson.

 

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