“a day in the life
of a saturday
is hectic”
of a saturday
is hectic”
The Saturdays have taken the UK by storm, becoming a house hold name and establishing themselves as one of the most sought after acts in the country. Una, Frankie, Rochelle, Mollie and Vanessa, first arrived on the scene in 2007, very much so in the shadow of Girls Aloud, however fast forward three years and these girls have firmly established themselves as a group to be noticed in their own right. With a platinum selling album, several top ten singles, a clothing range, a sell out UK arena tour, a jewellery collection and forthcoming book release – theses girls are well on their way to world domination.
“A day in the life of a Saturday is hectic,” said 21-year-old Rochelle Wiseman. “We’re always on the go, whether its interviews, appearances or rehearsals, but I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.” Rochelle, who is the baby of the group, is no stranger to the lime light having been part of S Club Juniors along with band mate Frankie Sanford at the tender age of 12. “It was a really good experience for me being part of the Juniors. It was where I got my first taste of the industry,” she explained “It’s so different with The Saturdays, but it was a lot of fun at the time. I don’t look back at S Club as being a proper band, it was just eight of us having a laugh singing and dancing. I feel like I’m in a band now, I feel like this is what I’m meant to do.”
Although she feels she’s now found her place, as part the band, Rochelle admits that now that’s she’s older, along with the fame and success comes some rather upsetting headlines, particularly those surrounding her weight. Feeling strongly about the attack and the impression the comments may have on her younger fans, she took to her twitter to hit back at her critics, tweeting: “I’m really getting annoyed reading that people are calling me fat - I’m a size 10 not 100. “I’m human and curvy get over it! It’s boring!”
She added: “I’m just starting to get sick of it, no wonder people get a complex - I think it’s a disgrace.“As a band we take pride in being role models to children and other young girls and I think that the best role model is someone who is comfortable in their own skin, something which I am.” When I asked her why she felt the need to stand up to the tabloids and those having a go at her, she said: “Some people would just let it go but I’m not that kind of person. Plus I was really annoyed that my fans would look at me and think well I’m bigger than her so I must be really fat. We’re just five normal healthy girls who really believe that looking and being healthy is much better than starving yourself to become or stay a certain weight.”
Airbrushing has been a hot topic lately, with The Girl Guides petitioning the Government to change the laws and inform readers if a photograph has been re-touched. Rochelle says that although it is something which is ‘normal’ and ‘accepted’ within the industry, extreme airbrushing is never a good idea. “I think people in public eye get a lot of flack for using airbrushing but almost every photo you see in a magazine have been airbrushed - it’s just the way it goes in this industry. I think it is fine so long as you’re not doing it unrealistically, for instance, to take someone who’s a size 16 to a size 6 would be wrong – I disagree with someone being made to appear smaller or be changed dramatically from their true appearance, but touching up a photo to make it look nicer should be ok.
clothing, fragrance and jewellery projects. A collection for RARE clothing came last year, something which Rochelle admits was a lot of fun and something which may happen again in the future, but for now the girls are focusing on their first jewellery collection. “Our collection is very Saturdays friendly,” explained Rochelle.“It has lots
of charm bracelets and long necklaces with charms on it – it’s very cute– something any girl or woman could wear.”
Each member of the girl group has their own individual look - Frankie being a big fan of khaki colours and the quirky, fashion forward looks, while Rochelle admits to being a big fan of the 50’s look and loving Kelly Brook’s style. Although all of the girls do admit to loving studs – as seen on their recent stage outfits – “We love studs” said the girls “We stick them on everything at the moment.” And the one thing all five agree not to leave the house without – sunglasses – the bigger the better. “I don’t go anywhere without my sunglasses and my Ugg boots. I love being comfy and can’t wait to get into them after a long day. Oh and sunglasses always come in handy, particularly when the paparazzi are around,” joked Mollie.
Paparazzi and cameras are part of the job as far as the girls are concerned, which is why they’ve decided to do their own reality TV documentary. The Saturdays 24/7 – on ITV2 Thursdays at 9pm – gives the public a taste of what it’s actually like to be part of the hottest girl group around and according to the girls, nothing is out of bounds. “We’ve had the cameras on us first thing in the morning,” said Una. “They’ve seen us without make-up, early mornings, late at night - they’ve really seen us at our best and worst. It’s a real fly on the wall show so hopefully people with get to see what it’s really like to be in the band. It’s been really weird and took a bit of getting used to,” explained Frankie. “You really do forget they’re there – I’ve actually had to stop myself doing and saying stuff. When we were first asked about the documentary we were unsure what to think of it but when we sat down and talked about it we thought it would be a good way to show people what we’re really like – what we’re like when we’re not in a music video - what really goes on in the industry. It’s a good way to scratch the surface of The Saturdays,” explained Rochelle.
The girls are jam packed with projects at the moment, least of all the release of their third album, Wordshaker – out now! Quick to dismiss it as a mini album, Rochelle explained the reason for releasing an album with both old and new material on it.“It’s a collection of our favourite songs recorded this year along with some of the fan favourites from previous albums. We were going to wait till next year but the songs just seemed really current so we decided we wanted to put it out now.”
Earlier this year Frankie collaborated with Kids in Glass Houses, so who would the Saturdays like to collaborate with – US R ‘n’ B master, Ne-Yo was top of the list when I asked Rochelle.“Collaborating isn’t something we’ve had the chance to think too much about but if we did, we’d love to work with Ne-Yo, he’s really cool and a great artist.” The Saturday’s story is just beginning and with the launch of their new book this September along with their TV show, hit album and numerous publicity appearances, these girls aren’t going anywhere – look out world it’s about to be Saturday every day of the week.
