Nicola Roberts Biography

Nicola Roberts was born on 5 October 1985, in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and was raised in Runcorn, Cheshire. Her siblings include a younger sister, Frankie, and two younger brothers, Harrison and Clayton.

At the time of her birth, her mother was merely seventeen years old. Her father was employed at the Royal Air Force, but in order to improve the financial condition of the family, he took up a job at Ford Motor Company. For the same reason, her mother, too, began working as a photographer.

Nicola went to St Chad's High School and was a good student; however, she was not inclined towards studies. Instead, her interest from the beginning was towards music. Due to this, she enrolled at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Additionally, she began auditioning and participated in various competitions.

Nicola Roberts formed – The 5 Musketeers – her own girls’ band and performed at a local disco in the beginning.

In 2002, a 16 years old Nicola auditioned for the ITV realty talent show Popstars: The Rivals. Initially, she could not make it to the top ten; however, following the departure of another contestant, Nicola Ward, she was called back as a wild card entry.

She eventually became the second contestant to become a part of the group that was called Girls Aloud. The other members of the group included Sarah Harding, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Cheryl Cole.

The group’s first single Sound of the Underground bagged the top spot at the UK Singles Chart thereby bringing them a record deal from Polydor Record.

Between 2003 and 2009, Nicola and the group released five studio albums – Sound of the Underground (2003), What Will the Neighbours Say? (2004), Chemistry (2005), Tangled Up (2007) and Out of Control (2008). All these albums were certified platinum.

During the period, the group delivered 20 consecutive UK top ten singles, including four number ones as well as two UK number one albums. They also won a Brit Award for Best British Single, The Promise.

The group became one of the most successful reality television acts and accumulated a joint wealth of £25 million by May 2009.

It also recorded two entries into the Guinness Book of World Records – first for Most Successful Reality Television Group and the second for Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a female group.

In July 2009, after the Girls Aloud’s Out of Control Tour, the group parted ways to pursue their solo career.

Earlier, in 2008, Nicola Roberts launched a makeup line for girls with pale skin called Dainty Doll as part of ITV2 television series documentary The Passions of... Girls Aloud.

Nicola Roberts has pale skin and red hair and to look attractive, she had initially used fake tan to darken her skin tone.

In 2010, she appeared in a BBC Three investigative documentary titled Nicola Roberts: The Truth About Tanning wherein she explored the culture of tanning in the UK. In it, she shared her own experience with fake tanning and revealed the risk associated with the use of tanning beds.

She – along with National Assembly for Wales member, Julie Morgan – also backed a bill that banned the use of tanning beds for under 18s.

In June 2011, she released her first solo single Beat of My Drum followed by a second single Lucky Day in September. Both singles were critically appreciated with the first one peaking to 27th position and the second one 40th spot in UK charts.

In September 2011 she released her first solo album Cinderella's Eyes. The album received positive responses from critics and peaked at 17th spot on UK album chart. It included a critically appreciated ballad Sticks and Stones which dealt with her bullying (she was bullied for her looks and red hair and was called the ugly one). The third single Yo-Yo further received appreciation from critics but failed commercially.

In 2012, she appeared as a judge and a mentor in Sky Living television series Styled To Rock. The series, executive produced by recording artist Rihanna, had fashion designers battling out with each other to create best outfits for one or more music acts every week.

In 2012, she co-wrote a track Going Nowhere for the British girls group Little Mix's (formed in 2011) debut album DNA.

In November 2012, the Girls Aloud group first released their new single Something New. The track, the official charity single for�Children in Need, climbed up to the second spot in UK Singles Chart. Later, the same month, the group released their second greatest hits compilation, Ten to commemorate their tenth anniversary.

In December 2012, ITV presented a documentary special 10 Years of Girls Aloud that followed their days from formation to their reunion after three-year break.

The group finally split again after their sixth and final concert tour Ten – The Hits Tour 2013.

Roberts co-penned two songs – See Me Now and They Just Don't Know You – for Little Mix's second album Salute released in 2013.

She also collaborated with her friend and former Girls Aloud group member Cheryl Ann Tweedy and penned four songs for the latter’s fourth studio album,Only Human, released in 2014. The four songs included It's About Time, Throwback, Goodbye Means Hello and Yellow Love.

In 2018, Nicola Roberts and Cheryl got back together again after four years to co-write lyrics for latter’s songs Love Made Me Do It and Let You. She was cast in the role of Avril/Mallory in the West End’s 2020 musical comedy City of Angels.

In 2018, she also competed in ITV’s reality singing competition The Masked Singer– and emerged as a winner.

She received the disc award for her contribution in writing lyrics for Little Mix debut album DNA which sold more than 700,000 copies worldwide.

Nicola Roberts suffered from hypoglycemia which limited the kind of food that she could eat.

Between 2012 and 2017, she was stalked by a former boyfriend until he was given a lifetime restraining order so as to prevent him from approaching Roberts or her family members.

She serves as the ambassador of Barnardos Young Supporters charity and as part of it visits children and their school event regularly.