Cleaning toilets in a hotel in Croydon when I was 16. A guest once gave me a half-eaten bag of pistachios as a tip, so there were perks.

It was a double-edged sword, but being a major-label artist, I felt like a commodity, a thing to be sold.

I had a cafeteria job, serving food, and some people were really nasty. There was a stack of nice, cool plates, and a stack of hotter plates that had just come out of the kitchen. So, if a person was an arsehole, I’d hand them a hot plate with a smile and watch them deal with it.

I had to choreograph dancing cows for a commercial. I had to superimpose footage of dancing legs – some were mine – on to the cow. It was bonkers.

My father was a very macho, controlling man and we clashed a lot. He told me that I would never be able to keep a husband with my attitude. He was right! I’ve had two short, unsuccessful marriages.

Arrogance combined with egotism and selfishness.

At this time in my life, I quite like myself but, for a large portion of my life, I deplored being shy.

It has been in myself, for allowing individuals who I relied on to make important decisions in my life that left me alone to pick up the pieces.

Loving, sincere, honest.

Oprah Winfrey, as Maya Angelou and Tina Turner are no longer with us. These women are Afro-American queens who, despite growing up in the racist south experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse, rose to the top of their professions and are an inspiration to women everywhere.