Ellis-Bextor: 'I was a freaky teenager'

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has said that she is happy she was a "freaky" teenager.

The singer, who is married to The Feeling bassist Richard Jones, insisted that she did not mind being ignored by boys when she was younger because it taught her not to rely on her looks.

The 30-year-old told The Guardian: "I think my looks stood me in good stead because when I was a teenager, boys were just not interested. I didn't see myself as a good-looking girl and that was good, because I didn't rely on it."

She continued: "It's not a big deal to be pretty - there are loads of pretty girls out there - so it's good to stand out. A lot of what inspired many musicians is celebrating differences. People relate to that - more people feel like the unpopular, freaky one than the one in the in-crowd."

Ellis-Bextor, who has sons Sonny and Kit with Jones, added that she still feels like an outsider sometimes, saying: "I still feel like that all the time. But now I have found lots of like-minded weirdos so it is okay now. And now I'm producing my own crazy-looking offspring."