Well, I think if Pop Idol inspires young kids to do something with their lives then it's a positive thing. Whether there's any talent coming from it is another question. I'm all about inspiring youth. I think that's really important. I do like that band Blue though. They have some good tunes and they sound a bit authentic at least and not totally manufactured.

Regrets? Oh, I don't know. I had a bloody good laugh I know that. I guess our manager could have been better. We didn't really make any money out of the band. We used to earn about £60 a week I think. There were eight of us in the band so once the royalties were split we didn't have much. The only time I made money was when 'Iko Iko' was used in Rainman with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. I was flown to LA, met the producers. It was great! We got rid of our manager eventually. I also wish we'd had more choice in the singles we put out. 'Iko Iko' is not exactly my favourite song and if I'd had my way we would have released something else but hey, you can't argue with a hit right?

A bloody good piss-up!

Ooh, I'd say probably Bananarama. We were always compared to them but we were different because they were basically a manufactured girl band while we played our own instruments.

I think there's just as much to react to and get angry about now as there was with Thatcher. Young people's resources like youth centres and playgrounds are being torn down. I work at a local Youth Centre in London and it's being torn down to build some penthouse flats. What good does that do? The kids end up roaming the streets with nowhere to go. I don't think anybody is listening to young kids.

Yeah, there was some. Certainly with people like roadies who wouldn't actually do anything unless our manager (a man) told them. When our manager wasn't around it was hard to get our point across. Men wouldn't listen to us. But I don't really want to moan about that. There's so many other things going on in the world that problems like that now seem insignificant.

I didn't say yes immediately. I was wary at first of the amount of time it would take up because of my work at the charity. The pop music lark just seems like a lifetime away now. I now work for S-Teem, a charitable organisation that helps young people get a start on the ladder. We also organise drug awareness projects. We also use music to educate and engage kids. To be honest I'm doing this because I need the soddin' money!

No, I'm really excited. This tour will be like a holiday for me. I'm looking forward to it. Some of the kids from my youth projects are going to come and see me too so I'll get stick when I go back to work!