I woke up this morning... at home in Richmond. There's nothing lovelier than London when the skies are blue.

I'm scared of... nothing. I've had breast cancer, Crohn's disease since I was 13, and I have a heart disease. It's normal to me and I've learnt to laugh at adversity. You can't stop certain things from happening.

The hardest thing I've done is... get into this business. I signed to a record label at the age of 30, and they suggested I say I was 24 and I went with it. I spent ten years lying about my age. I'm not with them now.

My hero is... my mother. She's 65 and was campaigning in Las Vegas for Obama.

The biggest lesson life has taught me is... don't take things in business so personally. I want to make people happy, and don't want to disappoint them. I used to be persuaded against my instincts. The older you get, the wiser you get.

My favourite way to relax is... a painful Thai massage. I have back problems.

I fell in love... and I thought I just needed a vacation. I had known him for years, he was my bodyguard and I had a boyfriend at the time. Suddenly I was looking at him in a different way. I knew I was going to be with him until I was old and grey. We got married last April.

Last night I dreamt... I was in Mexico having a spinal tap in a hotel. Then I couldn't get out of the country.

The greatest gift my parents gave me is... my voice. I never had lessons and I never warm up. I just get on stage and sing.

Before I die I'd like to... live a long and relatively healthy life. I don't think about what I'd like to do, I just live for today.

My biggest turn-off is... people who don't tell me the real deal. I won't give you a false answer and I don't like fluffing. I don't like the “yes” community. I'd rather hear someone tell me I stink and move on.

Anastacia's album, Heavy Rotation, is out now

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