'I became a mum again at 45 - but I find it easier this time' says Nicole Appleton

As the 90s resurgence continues, Nicole Appleton says she’d be absolutely thrilled to get back on stage with All Saints – and she’s eyeing up Glastonbury for their big comeback.

The singer, who shot to fame in 1997 alongside her sister Natalie and bandmates Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, exclusively revealed to new that they would all jump at the chance to play Worthy Farm later this month, providing their fans wanted them to.

“All Saints would love to perform at Glastonbury, absolutely,” says Nicole, 49. “If people are hungry for it, then definitely.”

The group’s latest release, a cover of The Police’s Message In A Bottle featuring Sting, came in 2018, but Nicole insists they keep in touch regularly. At the moment, there are no plans to tour or perform, though – unless Glasto comes calling, of course.

“We’ve spent 25 years together,” explains Nicole. “But when it comes to performing, not this year.

“We’re all sort of doing our own thing at the moment, so it’s kind of nice that we can have a little bit of a break. I’m quite happy doing what I’m doing and the girls are happy doing what they’re doing, but it’s all good.”

For Nicole, who is currently hosting a radio show on Magic FM, personal time is spent with her husband Stephen Haines and their daughter Skipper, four, as well as Nicole’s son Gene, 22, from her six-year marriage to Liam Gallagher.

Unlike a lot of busy mums, she is not worried about her work-life balance. “I have a husband and my daughter goes to school, so it’s really not difficult,” she says.

She became a mum again at the age of 45 in 2020, having kept the pregnancy a secret from fans. But despite being older this time round, she hasn’t found it any harder. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“It’s been the best,” she says. “I find it easier now. I don’t know why. I was younger before. But [the second time around you’ve] been there, done that.”

And Nicole urges any other older women who are considering having children not to think twice about it. “If I had any advice for women who want to become mums later in life, I’d say if you can, just go for it.”

Career-wise, Nicole, who is regularly seen out and about with her showbiz pals Emma Bunton, Christine Lampard and Holly Willoughby, is focusing on her radio work, with no plans for anything else just yet. “I think the show’s going pretty well and I’m loving it,” she says. “I’ve been doing it for a year now and I’m really happy that I just get to do radio right now. It’s just been brilliant.”

As for TV work, Nicole has no intention of following her sister Natalie into the jungle any time soon. Natalie famously quit I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004 after being nominated for five Bushtucker Trials in a row by the public.

“I’m always asked to do I’m A Celebrity, but I’m not interested,” says Nicole. “I wouldn’t be able to survive in there. I can’t even survive in this jungle!”

Strictly is also off the cards. “It’s lovely, but it’s not for me,” she says, admitting that she feels very differently about performing in front of a huge audience now, compared to when All Saints were at the height of their fame.

“I’m very different to when I was 20,” she explains, when asked how she feels about getting back on stage. “You don’t have the same sort of sexiness, so singing Bootie Call [the band’s raunchy 1998 hit about calling someone up for sex in the middle of the night] sometimes makes me feel a bit different now.”

Back in the band’s heyday, Nicole was a regular in the tabloids. She got engaged to Robbie Williams in 1998 and he said in his Netflix documentary that she was “kind and fun and sweet… a good soul”.

He said, “With my relationship with Nic, it was very important to me to learn to become the man I was supposed to be.”

The couple split after Nicole made the heartbreaking decision to terminate a pregnancy following pressure from her record label. She described the trauma in her 2002 autobiography Together, which she wrote with Natalie. “I couldn’t believe what I had done,” she said. “I wanted to kill myself. Afterwards, everyone pretended it hadn’t happened.”

She then went on to tie the knot with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, but they divorced in 2014 after she found out he was expecting a baby with another woman.

Nicole finally found happiness with businessman Stephen in 2018. They married in 2021, shortly after the birth of Skipper. And now life is a lot calmer for the Canadian-born star. “I feel a bit more grown up now,” she says.

With a gorgeous family, a job she loves and a strong group of gal pals, it’s clear Nicole is loving every minute of her new life.