22 Quotes by Kiki Dee

I was born Pauline Matthews and grew up in Bradford as one of three children - I had an older brother, David, and an older sister, Betty. My father Fred worked in the mills as a textile weaving supervisor, and my mother, Mary, was a housewife.

We had idyllic summer holidays, building sandcastles with my father on the beach at Bridlington. It might sound strange, but I think that secure cocoon of familial love was so nourishing, it gave me the strength to live life on my own.

This is where I break one last taboo: I'm incredibly glad I'm not a granny.

In my late 30s, I flirted with the idea of having a child without necessarily being in a steady relationship. But I've never had a strong maternal urge, and then I got cancer of the womb - luckily caught at an early stage - so that put paid to that.

Performers like to perform, and there's certainly no disgrace in entertaining people, in giving pleasure, you hope, through your singing. My work defines who I am.

I always enjoyed sport. I was a bit of a wild child, to be honest, and just loved running around.

I had a cancer scare in the early '90s, and for a few months, I wondered if I would make it.

I'm just a sensitive little soul who's put so much into her career that I haven't had enough energy or time left over to sustain a relationship.

I look back and wonder why I wasted my time talking about fried potatoes with the great John Lennon. But that's what was so fabulous about him - he was very down to earth.