Beauty Means Loving to Be Different, Says Nicola Roberts

Competition within a girl band, especially if all members are one prettier than the other, must be fierce. Not only that, but being constantly compared with the other band members is extremely frustrating and can eventually end up destroying the confidence of a less pretty (or at least considered so) girl, which is what happened to Nicola Roberts of the Girls Aloud. But not anymore, the singer says for Grazia magazine.

These past couple of years have seen Nicola emerge as an uber-confident woman who is slowly, but surely, developing her own style meant to make her stand apart from the other four women in the band. She’s still experimenting, she admits for Grazia, but, for once, she’s no longer insecure about her body and looks. Quite on the contrary, she’s come to embrace the fact that she’s unique and to lay emphasis particularly on it, even if it was extremely hard for her at first.

“I was called ‘the ugly one’.” Nicola says – and she’s right, she was called that. “A lot of girls go through an awful time growing up, thinking they’re too fat, too thin, have a nose that’s too big or legs too short. I did all that surrounded by four of the most gorgeous girls in the country. My thing was my white skin and red hair. I hated it and hated myself.” she further explains.

It wasn’t until recently that Roberts realized that it was precisely the alabaster skin and fiery hair that could make of her a style icon. So, she learned to accept that she would never be like the other four band members – all with their perfect dimensions, perfect, fake tan and out-of-the-box looks – and started working on who she wanted to be as a woman and a public figure. She has also discovered the perfect “playground” where she can be just as unique and quirky as she wants to be: the fashion world.

“I’ve begun to accept myself. I love my white skin, I love my hair and fashion has really been part of that journey of acceptance. I’m just a girl who loves fashion. I’m finding my way, finding my style and whatever anyone thinks I’m enjoying myself. Everything I wear now, I wear because I absolutely love it. I think I look good in it. I feel confident and I’m having fun. The fact I have white skin and red hair is my thing. It’s my different thing and in the fashion world, that’s OK.” Roberts explains for Grazia.