She’s flying the flag for the girls who make it on their own. Meet Pixie Lott, pop’s new powerhouse

She's conquered the worlds of music and fashion and earned her place as head of the new pop pack, but don't for a moment think Pixie Lott's had it easy. Her rise to fame has been fast and furious, but Miss Lott is keen to point out that, unlike some of her chart rivals, she's not the latest pop starlet off the reality show production line.

Not only does this lady write all her own tracks - and damn fine ones at that - she's been doing so since she was eight. It's taken her 10 agonising years to finally realise her dream. There was no intense exposure on a TV show, or a well-connected svengali to clear her path. She did it all on her own - and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"People can go on The X Factor and automatically attract millions of viewers and a massive fan base," she says. "But I think it's better to work your own way up, through hard work."

There's no doubt 18-year-old Pixie would ace an audition in front of Cowell and co. Hugely talented with model good looks, she's got 'sign me up' written all over her, but the TV route was never one she wanted to take.

"When you've earned success, you feel like it's really deserving and long-lasting. I've never wanted to go on a show like that because it's so easy come, easy go," she explains.

Pixie certainly plans on sticking around. In June, her debut single, Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh), shot straight to No1 after shifting more than 200,000 copies. The other 11 tracks on her album are a mere showcase of the 100 plus she's produced. Her tracks are such hot property, even Simon Cowell selected one - You Broke My Heart - to feature on the album of his X Factor protégé, Alexandra Burke. Pixie believes her writing credentials set her apart from Alexandra and her ilk - and she can't help but have a little dig at her contemporaries.

null

"Being a writer makes you more of a real artist," she says. "You can put your own stamp on your work. When I'm singing my own tracks I give a more honest performance."

Born with ambition coursing through her veins, Pixie (her real name is Victoria, but it's a nickname that stuck) was determined to be a star. While her five-year-old friends were playing with Barbie, she signed up for acting lessons. Aged 10, Pixie nagged her mum to get her an agent and at 11 she won a scholarship to the prestigious Italia Conti stage school in London.

"I'd always wanted to get into the business," she says. "I'd see programmes about the rise of stars like Christina Aguilera and be inspired. Then I'd do research on the internet about auditions to see how I could get there. I was priming myself."

"Being a writer makes you a real artist"

Her big break came four years ago when she came across an ad in industry mag The Stage that simply stated: "Looking for next pop diva". They were after a female singer aged between 16 and 21, but 14-year-old Pixie begged her mum to let her fib about her age. Her plan worked. Within minutes she had wowed music manager David Sonenberg, who represents, among others, the Black Eyed Peas. More recently she's been working with uber cool producers like RedOne (Lady Gaga and Enrique Iglesias' fave, don'cha know).

By any standards her CV is mind blowing, and Planet Pixie seems like a cool place to live right now.

"Life's amazing," she says. "If I wasn't doing this, I'd be dying inside."

Ask her what she could possibly want to make things any better and she yawns, saying with a smile: "A bed". The one she craves most is in the room she still shares with her 21-year-old sister, Charlie-Ann. Yes, Pixie may be a pop princess, but there is no room for ego when she returns to the three-bed house in Brentwood, Essex, where her parents, Beverley and Stephen, and 19-year-old brother, also called Stephen, live.

"My room is beyond messy," she says. "I've got so many clothes they can't fit in my wardrobe. There are things piled up everywhere - you can't see the floor."

These aren't piles of Primark fashion however. They're Dolce & Gabbana and Moschino, gifts from the fashion world that has embraced her with the same enthusiasm as the music business.

"I don't know how much I'm worth"

The impact of her signature style - at once kooky, cool and cute yet sexy - has been so swift that earlier this year, Fabulous crowned her Pop Princess of the Fash Pack. The honour is well deserved - not only has she found a way to appeal to her fans, but she's also caught the eye of fashionistas. This explains why she received a personal invite from Karl Lagerfeld to perform at the Fendi party during Paris Fashion Week.

The fashion world may have made her their latest muse, but it's her music that pays the bills. Pixie earns the sort of sums most adults could only dream about - not that she even knows how much is in her bank account.

Singing at a wedding aged 13

"I don't know anything about my money. I don't even know if I have any," she says, suddenly sounding her age. "I'm 18. I'd still do anything for £50, any of my friends would. I have someone who looks after those things. I don't have a clue how much I'm worth, but everyone gets commission, so you don't end up with much."

Having worked for her spoils, Pixie's not about to fritter them away. Sure she's a regular at swanky London clubs, attends industry parties and, yes, she's been offered drugs, but Pixie insists there's never been the slightest temptation.

"I don't see the point," she says. "If I wanted to take drugs, I would have by now. I was offered cocaine before I was famous. There's as much of it going on in real life as there is in music."

Drugs may be a no-no, but Pixie isn't a goody-goody either. "I'm an ordinary 18 year old. I drink. I've got in at 10am, done the walk of shame and the falling over. So what?"

"I'm an ordinary 18 year old. I drink. So what?"

But there's little chance Pixie will go off the rails, not with mum Beverley by her side. In between seeing what's being said about her daughter on the web, she keeps an eye on the shoot, stepping in when she thinks Pixie is flashing too much flesh.

No doubt top of Beverley's concerns are boys. According to some reports, she's already had to bat away the advances of one Mr Brand. Although Pixie refutes the rumours that Russell asked her out on a date.

"We were at the airport and he just walked past and said: 'You're pretty'. Mum laughed," she explains.

Single for now, Pixie's songs are full of the pains of love, but she insists she isn't drawing on reality, saying: "I've only ever had a boyfriend for a couple of weeks, then I think: 'This is silly'. I've never been dumped."

But her unattached status must make her the most eligible girl in Britain. Is she sure there isn't a special man?

"I've got someone on the sidelines. He's a friend. It's not serious or anything. I've known him for ages, he's not famous," she says, tugging on the sleeves of her black jumper dress.

Pixie has been affected by problem skin

Pixie may have escaped heartbreak so far, but some aspects of teenage life are impossible to avoid, like spots. Just as her career went stratospheric and the paparazzi started following her every move, poor Pixie suffered an acne attack.

"There were times when I barely wanted to leave the house," she says. "I'd go to a photo shoot and feel horrible. I'd never had spots before. I think it was my age and the stress, I was so anxious about everything."

Today her skin is clear and she's left with few hang-ups. She's 5ft 8in and claims to be oblivious to what she weighs, only knowing that she's a size 8 on top and a 10 on the bottom.

"I don't feel any pressure to lose weight," she says. "Sometimes I'll pig out, but generally the food I like is healthy."

Safe from the size-zero body obsession, the only thing Pixie seems in danger of is not stopping to enjoy the moment.

"I do have to pinch myself sometimes," she says. "Last week I was getting styled for a performance and I had someone doing my face, another person doing my hair and somebody painting my nails. I was thinking: 'What is going on?' It was like I was floating up high, watching myself from above."

You better get used to it Pixie - we don't reckon you'll be crashing back down to earth any time soon. l Pixie's album Turn It Up is out now. Her new single Cry Me Out is available from November 30.

PHOTOGRAPHY: CAPITAL, PA, THE SUN HAIR: ENZO VOLPE AT MODELS 1 USING MOP HAIRCARE MAKE-UP: AIMEE ADAMS USING MAC PIXIE WEARS: SHIRT, FRENCH CONNECTION; LEGGINGS, OASIS; HAT, BEYOND RETRO; SHOES, FENDI

This article has 11 comments