Mutya has Sugababes regrets - May 31 2007
Former Sugababe Mutya Buena has opened up about her time in the band, saying she regrets working with a close friend and wishes she’d been able to finish school.

The 22-year-old left the Sugababes in December 2005, following five years of chart success. The split was acrimonious, with rumours of rows between Mutya and childhood friend Keisha Buchanan.

She is now embarking on a solo career, and told The Independent there were certain things she would like to change.

"I think mixing friends and business isn’t the key," she said. "You fall apart or you become stronger as friends. And Keisha knows, as I knew, we drifted apart. Most of the bickering was probably me and Keisha."

She continued: "I wish I’d stayed in school and finished off properly, done the whole teenage thing. I got kicked out of school when I was in Year Nine because we were working so hard that I was always late for school or I never went to school because I was so tired."

Mutya’s debut single, Real Girl, is currently at No 9 in the UK singles chart. The album of the same name is out next month.


Mutya’s flying fears - May 15 2007
Mutya Buena may miss out out on cracking the European and American market - because apparently she is terrified of flying.

The former Sugababe, whose single Real Girl hits the shelves on June 4, also revealed that she made her solo album to pay the mortgage.

She told the Daily Star: "I was never going to do a solo album. I wanted to work behind the scenes, writing and producing but then the record company suggested I do something. I’ve got a mortgage to pay so I thought, ’Why not?’"

The 22-year-old added that unlike fellow Brit singers Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen who’ve been touring the US, she won’t be hopping across to the States to promote her material.

"I’d like to but I’m still trying to get myself on a plane," the mum of one confessed. "I’m not even going to Europe because I’m terrified of flying."

Mutya: I don’t speak to Sugababes - May 11 2007
Mutya Buena has revealed she hasn’t spoken to any of her former bandmates in the Sugababes since she first met her replacement Amelle Berrabah.

The feisty songstress, who recently launched her own solo career, also admitted it was "hurtful" being replaced so quickly even though it was her decision to leave in 2005.

Mutya told the Daily Mail: "I made the effort to go and see the girls and say hello to Amelle and they threw it in my face. Apparently Heidi was shocked and upset and I made Amelle feel out of place and put them all off their performance. I haven’t spoken to them since."

She also revealed that when she left, she asked the band’s managers not to find someone else like her.

"But it was a cloning," she said. "I know it was me who wanted out but it’s still hard to see that. It’s like seeing your ex with another girl - you don’t want him any more, but it hurts anyway."

Mutya is now more philosophical about the way things have turned out.

"I don’t think that friends should really be in a band together. Eventually business gets in the way because you have different views on how things should be done. But maybe we would have drifted apart anyway."