Ariana Grande: I'd prefer a guy to cheat on me with another guy

Ariana Grande says she is convinced an ex-boyfriend cheated on her with another guy – but says it would be much worse if he had cheated on her with another girl.

The 21-year-old Problem singer says she is ready to be honest about her love woes and reveals all on a new track from her upcoming second album.

‘There is a song called Break Your Heart Right Back which is about a boy that cheats on a girl with another boy. It’s one of my favourites on the album and it’s really funny to me,’ the pop beauty told Guilty Pleasures in an exclusive chat.

‘I believe it has happened to me. I’m not going to say I’m 100 per cent positive, but I’m 99.9 per cent positive,’ she said, adding the heartache would be more traumatic if a guy left her for another woman.

‘I would rather he cheats on me with a guy than with a girl any day! Oh please! Oh my god. If I found out my boyfriend was gay, I would be like “Ok!” I’d be so relieved,’ Grande laughed.

‘It would be so much better than finding out he was cheating on me with a girl. Of course we would be friends! Absolutely,’ she added.

With her album, called My Everything, due for release on August 25, fans of the singer can expect to hear other tales from her love diary.

‘A lot of the album is about love. It’s definitely really fun to sing about,’ she said.

Grande also revealed she she won’t scrap her duet with former lover Nathan Sykes from her future live set lists – and might even call up her ex to join her on stage.

The American beauty recorded a track called Almost Is Never Enough with former The Wanted star Sykes when they dated last year but says the memory of what they had and lost won’t impact her performing their track.

‘I don’t think it would be awkward to perform with Nathan. That would be professional,’ Grande explained, adding she has no ill feelings following her four month romance with 21-year-old Sykes.

‘I wish him well. He’s a great person, it just wasn’t right. You know?’ she said of their past.

The singer explains that love is a frequent influence when it comes to penning her tracks and says it can be upsetting singing the songs once the love is no longer there.

‘It brings back the memories but I love it because it was real and I get to capture that in the song. It’s like a love-hate thing. That can be so emotional sometimes,’ she said.

Boys aside, Grande is thrilled to be featuring on new single Bang Bang alongside Nicki Minaj and Jessie J after the girls reworked the song she originally wrote.

‘All of a sudden [music manager] Monte Lipman sat me down in his office one day and played it for me with Jessie and Nicki on it and I had a heart attack! It was the best surprise ever!’ she gushed.

Ariana Grande discusses Kabbalah and spiritualism

Ariana Grande is following in Madonna and Ashton Kutcher’s footsteps by joining the celebrity Kabbalah craze.

The 20-year-old lover of The Wanted’s Nathan Sykes shared her drastic spiritual switch exclusively with Guilty Pleasures as she took up hosting duties backstage at the star-studded MTV EMA in Amsterdam.

‘I was born Roman Catholic but I lost faith when the Pope decided to tell me everything I loved and believed in was wrong,’ said Grande, who added she started losing her faith when the Vatican apparently started criticising her favourite cartoons.

‘[The church] said Spongebob Squarepants is gay and he’s a sinner and he should burn in hell. And Harry Potter was a sin. And working women. I was like “Enough! First the gays, then Spongebob and now Harry Potter? Get out my house!” I was not having it. And the working woman thing? It was a moment for me. I needed something else to believe in,’ she ranted.

The star says following Madge’s lead has given her a winning approach to life.

‘It is the practice of being a good person and how that will manifest good things in your life. People don’t really realise that if you are kind you can make all sorts of things happen for you,’ she added.

On Sunday evening, the pop babe was racing about backstage interviewing performers from the night, including Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus – but confessed to Guilty Pleasures she is surprised by her own success in Europe.

‘London, Paris and Berlin have been crazy! We got mobbed in Paris. [My creative director] lost his soya latte in the crowd, I lost my mom. I was like “where is my mom? Can y’all calm down?” My videographer Jones and my guitarist got lost in the mob. It was crazy. But that’s one way to die, huh? Death by love via Parisian fans!’

[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures, Monday 11 November 2013]

Nathan Sykes: Cyber bullies are cowards

Nathan Sykes of The Wanted has hit out at online bullies – having seen first hand how savage some Twitter users can be.

The 20-year-old has seen both the good and bad side of fame but does not like to let internet trolls get the better of him.

‘I’m in a position where I’ve seen hate from people who maybe don’t like the band,’ he told Guilty Pleasures from America, where the band are currently out performing.

‘When the One Direction argument, or whatever it was, was going on between a few of the boys, for no reason I was suddenly getting death threats and stuff off young girls and I was quite confused by that.

‘I didn’t know what I’d done but then realised they associated me with the band. But the way they say things – the fact people can hide behind a computer screen, they’d never say it to your face.

‘They have that power, almost, of hiding behind a computer so they can be more expressive and a lot nastier.’

The We Own The Night singer does has some sound advice for anyone who is suffering from abuse online.

‘You can block these people, you can remove them from you’re time-line, you can unfollow them. You don’t have to be “friends” with these people and you can ignore them,’ he said.

‘That is the best way of dealing with it. And also speak to your friends and keep on interacting with your friends as much as possible and that will make you feel a lot better.’

Sykes also revealed that The Wanted fans were supportive – even when it came to his bandmates’ girlfriends, Kelsey Hardwick, who dates Tom Parker, and Nareesha McCaffrey, who is seeing Siva Kaneswaran.

‘On the whole they’re great and look out for them and defend them. I think a bit more with the reality show [The Wanted Life], Nareesha’s quite opinionated and there are obviously people who disagree with her opinion.

‘So you’d get people who are like “Oh you’re out of order”, but it’s a reality TV show so people will side with her opinions.’
And while Sykes told us he and fellow singleton Jay McGuinness sang All By Myself while in the car together, would-be girlfriends will be sad to here he doesn’t have time for dating himself.

‘I’m not really looking for a love-life at the moment. I’m very focused on what we’re doing and we’re so busy over the next few months so I think now would be a stupid time to start looking for a girlfriend,’ he explained.

‘I hold huge respect for Siva and Tom who have managed to hold down such strong relationships. It is hard in this line of work.’

The band released their new single We Own The Night this week, have an album due this autumn and will then be heading on their first world tour.

[Originally published Metro Guilty Pleasures 12 August 2013]

The Wanted: Nathan Sykes back on stage at Summertime Ball

Nathan Sykes sensationally returned to The Wanted on Sunday, rejoining the band to perform for the first time since undergoing career risking throat surgery.

The pop hunk caught up with Guilty Pleasures after storming the stage at Wembley Stadium during the Capital Summertime Ball.

‘It feels incredible,’ he said, explaining his excitement at being on the line-up. ‘It’s very lucky that I had this opportunity to perform at Wembley – as we do every summertime ball.’

‘I was nervous about returning but it’s a very special moment that I got to comeback. It’s great.’

Adding: ‘I was pretty petrified about singing too soon. I thought if it goes wrong, it goes terribly wrong, but if it goes well, it’s kind of a dream.’

However the 20-year-old revealed there were some high points to being off sick.

‘I’m going to miss my days of Jeremy Kyle and Playstation,’ he laughed.

Nathan’s bandmates are also glad to have him back on board after several appearances without him during his recovery.

‘It’s pretty awesome’ said 24-year-old Max George, adding: ‘It’s been over two months just as a four – so we can do a lot less now!’

Meanwhile, as the on-going feud with One Direction trundles on, Jay McGuiness, 22, has conceded that there may never be a way to bury the hatchet – as everyone will just jump on what they say.

‘I think every question we answer spurs it further,’ Jay said. ‘So I think silence – dignified silence like The Queen [is the only way]. Never deny and never confirm.’

Meanwhile fellow bandmates Tom Parker, 24, Siva Kaneswaran, 24, and Max are excited for the forthcoming single Walks Like Rihanna and have had some positive feedback from the lady herself.

‘We met her management in New York and they said she likes it,’ Tom revealed, adding: ‘Which is good. If she didn’t…’

‘We’re putting it out anyway!’ Max joked.

Fans of the Glad You Came hitmakers were so excited to have Nathan back in the group they were quick to have the hashtag ‘#NathanIsBack’ trending on Twitter.

One excited fan wrote: ‘I THANK GOD FOR ARE YOU BACK, I’M VERY excited, PROUD, OH MY GOD YOU BACK, I LOVE YOU VERY NATHAN #NathanIsBack

With another adding: ‘So happy that I got to see Nath come back. He looked so happy and proud to be back :’) #NathanIsBack

[Originally published Metro Guilty Pleasures 9 June 2013]

One Direction: Too busy to fight The Wanted

One Direction have refused to take on The Wanted in the boxing ring after their rivals threw down the gauntlet. The boyband said they were too busy to waste a day off settling old scores – and claimed their challengers had backed out of a fight before.

‘I already offered Max,’ revealed Zayn Malik when Guilty Pleasures grabbed him for a quick chat.

‘I asked him if he wants to fight. I’ve already said to him I’ll fight him and he didn’t want to.’

Louis Tomlinson added: ‘It is such b******* because they will not live up to their word.’ And Liam Payne claimed: ‘We’re all too busy anyway. When is this ever going to happen? We’d have to do it on a day off and that would be boring.’

The two bands have been feuding for months after Zayn tweeted that Max George had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. But the 1D lads claim they’re now getting tired of the exchanges. ‘I love an argument but it’s even got boring for me now,’ said Louis. ‘I mean… grow up.’

It seems a loving relationship between the groups may never come to fruition – even though they hit it off when they first crossed paths.

‘We met them on the X Factor and they were proper nice and we thought we really like you,’ said Zayn. ‘We looked up to them,’ Louis admitted.

Liam said he liked the idea of ending the row through music, with a battle-style duet. ‘Lets do one and call it The Homeboys Part II,’ he said. But Louis was more reluctant, saying: ‘I don’t think our musical styles would be suited. Our sound is quite different.’

One Direction are working on their third album, which the boys said will have a bigger, rockier sound.

They are currently on the road around the world on their Take Me Home tour.

[Originally published Metro Guilty Pleasures 7 June 2013]