THE EARLY DAYS - ‘I WANTED PEOPLE TO HEAR ME SING'

FROM A CHILDHOOD SURROUNDED BY DOGS AND PLAYING OUTDOORS TO HER TEENAGE YEARS. WE RECALL SARAH’S LIFE BEFORE SHE FOUND FAME

- KIRSTY HATCHER

At the age when most little girls dreamt of becoming nurses or teachers, Sarah already had her sights set firmly on the stage.

“I wanted to sing, and I wanted people to hear me sing,” she revealed in her autobiography, Hear Me Out. “At family gatherings, when I was little, I gave performances for my parents and anyone else I could get to watch.”

Born in Ascot to John and Marie in 1981, Sarah grew up in a small house in Wraysbury, near Windsor. She had a half-brother, Dave, 16 years older than her, from her mother’s previous marriage.

Sarah admitted that when they were younger, she didn’t have much in common with Dave, who later joined the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, where he was known as Sir Dangerous.

Long before Sarah shot to stardom with Girls Aloud, her musician dad John was in the limelight, performing and singing with various bands. “One of the things we have in common is that we’ve both performed at The Royal Variety Performance and met the Queen,” she revealed.

John’s influence led to music becoming a major part of Sarah’s life – and one of the few subjects she enjoyed at school. “What I loved most of all was playing Dad’s guitars,” she confessed. “He would restring them every weekend and let me strum away.”

The self-confessed tomboy would be found climbing trees and searching for frogs as a youngster. Later she enjoyed horse riding, cricket and netball. “You wouldn’t catch me dead in a dress,” she recalled.