Mutya Buena reveals she thought she was ‘ugly’ during height of fame with the Sugababes

Mutya Buena has admitted she thought she was ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ when she was at the height of her success with the Sugababes.

The singer, 37, told how she struggled with her body image while in the limelight with the group, which was made worse when she suffered a bout of the ‘baby blues’ after giving birth to her daughter Thalia, 17.

Speaking on BBC Sounds’ When I was 25 podcast presented by Vinny Hurrell, Mutya also told how she ‘lost work’ after leaving the Sugababes because she was told she couldn’t be ‘under the same roof’ as them. 

She said: ‘In my eyes I was fat, I was ugly…I just didn’t feel good. And on top of that having baby blues with the girls, it didn’t make me feel good. I felt like I had this baby belly. I felt crazy fat.’ 

The hitmaker said she has since adopted a strict, healthy diet and now feels happier than ever.

She explained: ‘For the last two and a half months, I’ve been on a strict diet making green juices. Now I’m starting to feel the happiest I’ve been for a very long time.’

Elsewhere, Mutya discussed the Sugababes many line-up changes over the years, which saw her and original members Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy replaced by Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewan over the years. 

The singer, 37, told how she struggled with her body image while in the limelight with the group, which was made worse when she suffered a bout of the ‘baby blues’ after giving birth to her daughter Thalia, 17 (pictured with the Sugababes in 2001)

Mutya admitted it was sometimes tough to watch the group after she left in 2005 and she also said she was told she ‘wasn’t allowed’ to be near the girls after leaving.

She said: ‘Sometimes it was hard to watch. There was a lot of complications going on. 

‘I remember being told I wasn’t allowed to be under the same roof as the girls. I was told I was making people uncomfortable.’

Asked why she was told that, Mutya said: ‘I don’t know. I couldn’t perform anywhere the Sugababes were. It was very unfair. I lost out on a lot of work.’

Mutya said: ‘In my eyes I was fat, I was ugly…I just didn’t feel good’ (pictured in June 2022)

Mutya also discussed her battle with postnatal depression, which she said was more stigmatised around the time she had her daughter.   

She said: ‘You couldn’t talk about things back then, because talking about it made you look crazy… Sometimes I would sit in the dark with the curtains closed. ‘

Asked how she got herself out of it, Mutya said: ‘When I realised I needed to do better for my daughter. When I realised I needed to do better for myself.’ 

Claims: Mutya admitted it was sometimes tough to watch the group after she left in 2005 and she also said she was told she ‘wasn’t allowed’ to be near the girls after leaving (Heidi Range, Keisha Buchanan and Amelle Berrabah pictured in 2006)

The Sugababes recently announced they are heading on their first UK headline tour in over two decades later this year.

Of their tour Siobhan said: ‘We’re going on our first UK headline tour for quite a while! The tickets go on sale on 1st July and we are touring in October and November.’ 

Keisha added: ‘We are so excited and already brainstorming ideas, and we have an amazing band… look at us now, we’re doing it!’

She said: ‘I was told I was making people uncomfortable. I was told I cannot be under the same roof as the girls’