As she releases her new album, A Complicated Woman, the musician talks sexually explicit songs, becoming an actress and why people love to see confident women fail
I was apprehensive about meeting Self Esteem. Recent interviews with the Rotherham-raised singer born Rebecca Lucy Taylor have been heavy going — depression, therapy and, paradoxically, self-doubt have been recurrent themes. Fortunately, two days before we meet during rehearsals at the London theatre where, this week, she launched her third album, A Complicated Woman, with a five-night spectacular, I catch her on Celebrity Bake Off.
The smiley, whip-smart, joke-cracking blonde who almost won thanks to a peach pie adorned with George Michael’s backside was a joy to watch. She collapsed in giggles, hugged her fellow contestants and looked genuinely pleased when Meera Syal pipped her to “star baker”.
“Meera deserved it, but there was a moment I thought I had it in the bag,” Taylor says. “It was like the Mercury prize all over again. Hang on … I might win this. Nah, ’course I won’t.”…