Nicola Roberts: 'I'm nice to people who called me ugly'

Nicola Roberts has admitted that she doesn't hold grudges against people who used to criticise her appearance.

The Girls Aloud star told The Mail on Sunday that she would never "degrade" herself by retaliating.

"You have to be nice to everyone in this business - even people who call you ugly. You have to put grudges to one side. People have said truly horrible things about me. I don't think in terms of forgiveness; I just try to be professional about it.

"When I meet people who've called me ugly or whatever, I smile through it. I'm not going to make an issue of it. I haven't got it in me to be as nasty to other people as some people have been to me. I would never degrade myself by bringing myself down to their level. I would never frivolously slag someone off.

"I'm a far better person than that. I'd make a good psychiatrist. I can work people out very easily and very quickly. I've been like that since childhood. I've always been a keen observer of people. In any social situation I'd much rather be on the periphery of things than at the centre."

Roberts added that she "never felt at home in the celebrity world" when she started out on Popstars: The Rivals and would often get tongue-tied when talking to the likes of host Davina McCall and judge Louis Walsh.

She has admitted in the past that being described as the "ugly duckling" of Girls Aloud left her in tears.

Listen to Nicola Roberts's song 'Sticks + Stones' below:

> Nicola Roberts didn't write personal lyrics to be 'self-indulgent'