'Kids definitely come with their challenges'

Heidi Range talks about how motherhood has completed her and her tough experience of having two miscarriages

- ELLIE KIRWIN-JONES

Heidi Range may be best known for being in one of the biggest ever girl bands in the UK, but when we call her for a chat over Zoom, the former Sugababes singer admits her music career “feels like a past life”.

Heidi, 39, hung up her mic when she became pregnant with her first daughter. She has spent the past few years being a full-time mum to Aurelia, five, and 19-month-old Athena, who she shares with her husband, Alex Partakis.

But rather than regretting her retirement from music, the star, who enjoyed a string of No1 hits with the band, including Push The Button and Hole In The Head, beams as she tells us she is forever “grateful” to have been at home with her two girls these past few years.

“When I was with the Sugababes, I lived out of a suitcase for about 15 years. And when I had Aurelia, I just wanted to be at home and I was lucky enough to be in a situation where I could make that decision,” she tells us. “That’s been my main focus since I had her and then Athena came along. It’s all been about the girls.”

Heidi – who was originally in Atomic Kitten before she joined the band that would make her famous – goes on to reflect how much her priorities have changed since having kids. She says, “When you’re in a band, there is so much tension on you as a person and everything is always about you. But when you have kids, it’s suddenly not all about you any more.

“The focus isn’t on how my hair is or if I’m a size 8 or a size 12, there’s bigger fish to fry.”