Numero Una!

Una Healy is the kind of girl other girls could easily get very jealous of. Long fair hair, legs like skyscrapers, all the latest clothes.

Not only is she model material, but she has a gorgeous boyfriend (rugby player Ben Foden) and is in a band tipped to be the next girl-group sensation.

The Saturdays – Una, Mollie, Vanessa, Rochelle and Frankie – have progressed up the pop ladder at the speed of light. This time last year, they hadn’t even released their debut single; now they’re preparing to perform across the UK on their first headline tour.

They’ve had four top ten singles and a top ten album in the time it takes to have a baby, and said album, ‘Chasing Lights’, has now gone platinum. They make fun, catchy unashamedly pure pop tunes, they can sing and dance at the same time and (as the male population has noticed) they’re not bad-looking, either.

Why ‘The Saturdays’ – are your songs perfect for Saturday night?

Well you love Saturday, don’t you? It’s the day of the week you always look forward to. It’s just a nice, happy name. And it kinda sums up our music too, real fun pop.

How much has your life changed since the band?

Completely. I moved to London from Ireland – this is now my home. Everything I do now is different to everything I’ve ever done. One day is totally different to the next.

Do you have to pinch yourself sometimes?

I do! I feel like I’m in this bubble, and you forget it’s a public thing you’re doing, you forget that because you’re in it, you’re living it. Then you sit back and think, ‘Yeah, we did actually do the Comic Relief single this year!’

You’ve been support to Girls Aloud – did you learn from them?

They’re an inspiration. We were literally just starting out then; the first thing we did as a band was support them on tour last May. We would watch them on stage and see how tight they were and aspire to that. Now we’re doing our own tour in June. It was the best start, because we took off very quickly after that. We’re so excited about our own tour; we can’t wait to get into rehearsals!

Why are you any different to bands like Girls Aloud or The Sugababes?

Our music speaks for itself. Our album is nothing like either of those two, for a start. We have our own sound, we’ve definitely put our own stamp on the music. Our voices and our personalities are completely different to those in other girl bands, and people get to know that and recognize it.

How would you describe all you girls?

We’re always laughing and joking; we get on really well. I don’t like to label any of them, I don’t want us to be like The Spice Girls – we want to stay away from that. A couple of papers have tried to do it, but we’re avoiding that. People don’t need us to describe ourselves to find out what we’re like.

What singer do you love more than any other?

Sheryl Crow. She’s my idol, completely. My mother was the woman who first taught me the guitar but I would watch her with the guitar growing up and think, I wanna be like that. She’s a real sexy rock-chick...

Is there music in your family?

My uncle is Irish Country singer Declan Nerney; he’s my mother’s brother. My mum was a singer as well, she was in a band that did pop covers called The Saints that would gig around Galway when she was a student nurse, so I grew up with Declan Nerney CDs and records. Actually, maybe not CDs, more like cassette tapes back then!

What’s been your best celebrity moment?

We don’t live a showbiz life at all. I literally went out a couple of weeks ago for Michelle’s birthday and then again for Frankie’s birthday, and we were ‘papped’ then, but we’re not party animals. We’re too busy. We get invited to all these glamorous events a lot, but it’s not our scene really. When I get home, I’m so tired all I want is bed!