The 5-minute Interview: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Singer-songwriter

'People expect me to be too posh, or more uppity than I really am'

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 28, is compiling a greatest hits album after achieving seven Top 20 singles and three Top 20 albums. She has joined forces with the campaign group Peta to oppose the use of fur in fashion and is also part of npower's Greener Schools Programme, which runs the educational website www.climatecops.com

If I weren't talking to you right now...

I'd be trying to find a place to have a little snooze. I'm knackered. I've just come back from two club gigs in Russia.

A common misperception of me is...

People expect me to be too posh. Or to be more uppity than I really am...

I wish people would take more notice of...

Being better mannered and less grumpy. I get really frustrated if people don't smile.

The most surprising thing to happen to me was...

I didn't expect to have a baby quite so soon – I'd been going out with my husband for only six weeks. But it all worked out really well so it was a happy surprise.

A phrase I use too often...

I do that thing of saying "like" all the time, which gets on my nerves. I also tend to be rambling. My new year's resolution is to be much more succinct.

I am not a politician but...

If I were, I would make a three-day weekend. It would be good to do something more environmental. I find it's really changed. It's really alarming: you look at the newspapers and they look like a mock-up of a film poster.

I am good at...

"Guess the intro." I always win. I can guess the songs immediately from the introduction.

I am very bad at...

Tidying up. I'm the messiest person I know.

You know me as a singer but in another life I'd have been...

If it can't be anything to do with music, I'd say maybe a food critic. Being a chef would be too much hard work.

The best age to be is...

Maybe the optimum is 24. You've seen life and had experience but there's still a whole world out there.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is...

Trust your instincts: they tend to see you right. By listening to them, at least you can sleep at night.

Alice-Azania Jarvis