I'm older than dirt & I've been written off in so many eras but I've had a big hit in every decade

Cher is struggling to write her book. She's been trying for a long while, but sighs: "It's so imposI've lived too long C sible because and done too much."

- SARA WALLIS

Producers are also trying to make a movie of her life, but they just can't "squish it all in".

This is not a great surprise. At 77, with a six-decade career behind her, the Grammy-winning singer and Emmywinning actress is still reinventing herself after her many comebacks.

She says: "I've been written off in so many eras and then come back. And people always go you always reinvented yourself'.

"And I thought 'no I haven't, I've just been out of work and then come back!' But who'd have thought I'd have this album now.

"I'm older than dirt, so it doesn't seem that this would be my time to shine. But in every decade there's been a big hit record."

Cher has just released her first ever festive album, titled Christmas, something she never thought she would do.

Her 27th studio album, it includes catchy dance track, DJ Play A Christmas Song - which she says is determinedly "not Silent Night".

Cher, who reveals she had her vocals whipped back into shape by her 96-yearold singing teacher, says: "It's not your mother's Christmas album. But I thought 'What if people don't get it? What if they just want Silent Night?".

It is not the first risk Cher has taken and for the mother of reinvention, it's just another venture in the pursuit of fun.

Cher is talking to megafan Rylan Clark in a BBC Two special, Cher Meets Rylan, to be screened tomorrow night.

While shopping together in London, the presenter asks if she's ever gone out in disguise. "Sure, I've had so many hair colours, I still go out in my jeans. I love wigs," she says.

But how much of Cher is the little girl who wanted to be a star and how much is the persona?

"I think they're one and the same," she admits, saying she was "Cher" from the age of five. She's always loved the wardrobe, for sure. "We were poor growing up, so for me it was just amazing every time I'd go in for a [dress] fitting," she says.