'I was banned from school choir because I was too good': Jessie J speaks ahead of MOBO Awards

 
Too good: singer Jessie J
Alistair Foster17 October 2014
The Weekender

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Jessie J has revealed she was banned from her school choir for being too talented and had a defiant message for her former teacher: “Who’s laughing now?”

The singer was already performing on the West End stage at age 11 when she was barred from the choir at Mayfield Secondary School in Redbridge by a man she branded “evil”.

She told the Standard: “I won’t name him because I don’t want him to get abused. He was awful. He didn’t let me in the school choir because he said I was too good and that the other parents would complain.

“I was 11. He was like, ‘You’re too loud’. And to rub my face in it even more, they sang Whistle Down The Wind - which was the show I was in at the time in the West End - for the school concert. So who’s laughing now?”

The star, 26, was speaking ahead of her appearance at the MOBO Awards on Wednesday, which takes place at Wembley Arena.

She said: “The MOBOs are about great music. I think music of black origin is about music with soul, and as Lionel Richie said, ‘Soul doesn’t have any colour’. For me it’s about the UK celebrating good music.”

Jessie is tee-total and must watch her diet after being diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and suffering a stroke aged 18.

She admitted her work schedule makes things tough, adding: “I’ve struggled sometimes and that’s not a bad thing, but it’s real. It still exists and I have to really make sure I get enough rest, so I have learnt how to take naps.

“I don’t eat junk food ever, I don’t drink when I’m on the road and if I do it’s when I’ve got a few days off. If I go out I just dance – I try not to talk when I don’t need to. I only drink water, I don’t have caffeine.

“It’s not easy – I‘m not going to say that it is – but I’m coping and I’m doing a really great job. I’m so proud of myself – I have to say that to myself to power on through. Because what I’m doing in my life is the hardest diary I’ve ever had and I’m still doing it - it’s a big achievement for me personally.

“I need a good bath, good food, jokes – laughing is probably my biggest release. I need to have that every day where I nearly wet myself laughing. I really do love to be clean – mentally and emotionally.”

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