Sharleen. Your questions popped deep withinside of her. Part the first.

She’s back with a simply smashing album of songs from the movies (called The Movie Songbook) and to mark the occasion agreed to lie still while we popped your questions inside her. She is, lads and gentlemen, Sharleen Spiteri!

Have you ever been asked to be a judge and/or mentor on X Factor or similar; or, have you been asked to take part in Strictly or somesuch. If the latter, were you offended? Betty Windsor
No, I haven’t been asked to be a judge on X Factor or anything like that. They don’t really use musicians do they? I’ve been asked to take part in a couple of those Celebrity things but it’s not really anything I feel I have any need to do. I think it depends what you want in your life. Have I really got to a point in my life having sold so many records that I need to stand and be fucking judged? No. I’m not that desperate to be a celebrity. I have no interest whatsoever. I do what I do and don’t want to be judged on something else.

Where can I buy those cool aviator sunglasses you wore in the Elvis moment on the greatest hits tour? Can you *please* tell me which brand/model are they? Holly Smith
You can’t buy them. They’re Steve McQueen’s. They are actually Steve McQueen’s sunglasses. They were given to me buy the guy who made all of Steve McQueen’s sunglasses, who makes all of Elton John’s sunglasses.

What’s your favourite cake from Ottolenghi (on Upper St)? I see her in there all the time but I’ve never seen her with a cake. Dave Wealthy
That must be a lookey-likey. Really seriously. I’ve been in there once and I was with one of my best friends and I was going to buy meringues but the queue was so frigging long. But I do go to Otto Lenghi in Westbourne Grove. You end up buying lots of stuff you don’t frigging need and it never gets eaten.

You’ve worked with some of the biggest names in music: Dallas Austin, Xenomania, Bernard Butler, Milke Hedges, Dave Stewart, Trevor Horn, Ian Brodie, The Wu Tang Clan, Roger Sanchez, Rick Nowles, Ash Howes, ‘Spike’ Stent and recently Phil Ramone. Which collaboration did you most enjoy and would like to work with again? Collaborations
Wu Tang Clan. We were first to do that sort of thing. I remember going to the Brits and they were like, ‘We’d really like you to do Say What You Want as a duet. Maybe someone like Smokey Robinson’, and I was like, ‘I would love to sing with someone like Smokey but, me and my big mouth, I told them we’d just been working with Wu Tang in New York and no one will fucking expect Method Man. And that was how it happened. And it wasn’t even on the list of the great Brits moments. And do you remember when Diana Ross and Jamiroquai did ‘Upside Down’? That wasn’t in either.