Claire & her Mum talk to OK! magazine

Claire on her Mum:

Sum up your mum in a few words… 
Kind, caring and extremely protective.

Are you a mummy’s girl or a daddy’s girl? 
Bit of both, but as I’ve got older, Mum and I have become more like best friends.

How similar are you? 
I’m a shopaholic just like her! I’m the opposite of her in some ways; she’s outspoken where I’m reserved and she likes to confront problems while I like to shove them under the carpet.

Did you ever rebel? 
I’ve not got it in me to be rebellious! I did go through a stage of going out a lot when I was 16 or 17, but in the end I could see it was upsetting my mum and I thought, this isn’t worth it.

What do you like doing together? 
Shopping! I love it when we can murder a few hours with the credit cards, then have a lovely lunch.

What do you admire about her? 
She’s such a rock – the one who holds the whole family together. When we went to America for ten months supporting Britney Spears I was so homesick! She couldn’t bear me being unhappy, so she jumped on a plane to be with me – even though she’d slipped a disc and had to stand up the whole flight to LA.

What are you buying her for Mother’s day? And what will you write in her card? 
I’ll buy her flowers and chocolates and a few little presents like I always do, and the card will have a poem that sums up how I feel at the time. I always spend ages choosing it.

Nina on Claire:

What was she like as a baby and a little girl? 
She was a gorgeous plump baby with blonde hair, always happy and hardly ever naughty.

Describe her character… 
She never loses her temper and she hates confrontation.

Has she ever pinched your lipstick? 
When she was younger she often borrowed my makeup. By the time she got a Saturday job, she used to buy her own because my stuff was too staid!

How alike are you? 
We’ve always been on the same wavelength. At Christmas we handed each other a parcel and found we’d bought each other the same novel.

What’s you earliest memory of her performing? 
She used to hum tunes by The Police when she was just 13 months old!

When did you first realise she was a star? 
Probably when I saw her on Top of The Pops . But the most emotional moment came when STEPS performed at Wembley, because I remember when Claire was at school she used to steward at Wembley and I remember her saying that one day it was going to be her up on that stage. And I believed her.

Describe your relationship. 
We speak on the phone about ten times a day and she often pops in after work to have her dinner.

What’s the best – and worst – thing about her? 
She’s very loving and caring. The worst thing is her time keeping; if she’s got ten minutes, she thinks she’s got an hour!

How did you feel when she left home?  
Because she’s so close, I don’t really feel that she’s moved out.

What’s the nicest present she’s ever bought you? 
A house! It was on my 27th wedding anniversary and it was fantastic!

To read the interview with Claire and her sister from Now magazine, click here.