The Saturday’s Frankie Bridge – I’ve finally learned to say no

After more than 20 years in showbiz, Frankie Bridge says she has learned an important lesson. “I’ve finally learned to say no,” says the singer, presenter and podcaster, 34, who shot to fame in 2001 as part of pop group S Club Juniors.

When they split in 2005, Frankie and fellow band member, This Morning presenter Rochelle Humes, 34, went on to join The Saturdays, who from 2007 to 2014 were hugely successful, with 13 UK Top 10 hits.

“In the music industry you’re taught that you shouldn’t say no to anything, because it’s an opportunity to be seen and heard,” says Frankie, now a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women and founder of fashion brand FW Bridge.

“To stay relevant, you’ve got to constantly remind people that you’re there. So it’s really difficult to say no. As a result, when I was younger I worked all day, every day. A day off wasn’t a given – it could be taken away if something came up.

“You’re always thinking about longevity as pop music can be so short lived. You can be huge one minute and gone the next.

“Having been in a band already, I knew what that felt like during my time in The Saturdays.”

While working in both S Club Juniors and The Saturdays, decisions were taken out of her hands, from the clothes she wore to the food she ate.

“All my days were planned out for me, from ‘this is when you’re going to work’ to ‘this is when you’re going to finish’. I didn’t have to wake up and think about what I was going to wear that day, or what to eat for lunch,” explains Frankie.

“And as a result, I didn’t really know who I was. If you took me into a clothes shop I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what my style was. Despite being a singer, I didn’t know what music I was into.

“When each band ended, I had quite an unnerving period when I had to ask myself, ‘who am I?’, ‘what do I like?’ and ‘what do I want to do today?’

“It sounds ridiculous but I had people around me making all those decisions all the time. Now I have autonomy – I’m self-employed – and I have my power back.”

It was exhausting, admits Frankie. And it was also hard to live in the moment.

“When a single did well, we’d have to work on the next one, and the video, and then there would be a tour. We’d perform at Wembley, then head to Birmingham, and then appear on Lorraine. I was constantly ‘on’,” she says.

“And I think now, I don’t really remember that Wembley performance. I’d come off stage

On and think, ‘I don’t even know what happened there’. It’s a shame.

“It was hard to appreciate it at the time.

“It’s only when I look back now and I think, wow I managed to be in two successful pop groups. Most people would dream of being in one.”

With fame, also came glitzy showbiz parties.

“I was out seven nights a week. I couldn’t do that now. These days if someone says to me that dinner is at 8pm, I would think that’s really late.

But when you’re young you end up running on air,” says Frankie, who is a brand ambassador for Vitabiotics Perfectil.

“I remember going through a stage of going to the cool parties, as they were deemed at the time,” she continues. “I would stand there and think, I don’t actually want to be here. I don’t like anyone here. What am I doing? I didn’t want to pretend to be cool.”

Frankie met her husband, former Chelsea footballer and I’m A Celeb contestant Wayne Bridge, 42, in 2010. The couple married in July 2014, and live in Cobham, Surrey, with their two sons, Parker, nine, and Carter, seven.

“Having kids has helped me to live in the moment,” says Frankie, who came third in a later series of I’m A Celeb in 2021.

“Watching Parker and Carter makes me think about how nice the ‘now’ is. Children really simplify things. If they’re on a trampoline, they’re just enjoying it.

“They’re not thinking about what they’re doing in three weeks’ time while they’re bouncing.”

Learning to say no has come with age and experience, she says.

“I used to not want to let people down, but now I’m learning that it’s OK,” says Frankie.

“Before I would say yes to everything without being aware of the repercussions.

Despite a singer didn’t what I was “But I’m getting better at it. Now I’ve learned that I can say no with confidence and I don’t even have to give a reason.”

Tough love from Wayne helps too.

“He says to me, ‘why have you said yes to that? I know you, you’re not going to want to do it’.

“And I say, ‘I know, I know – I won’t do it again’. But I’m getting there,” says Frankie.

If there was one thing that she would tell her younger self, it’s to care less about what other people think.

“I think that’s hard in life generally, not just when you’re in a girl band. Being in the industry since I was 12, I have got more used to it. Someone somewhere is always going to be unhappy,” says Frankie.

“Generally I don’t get much stick from people, but social media makes it so easy for people to tell you what they think.

“It depends on the kind of day you’re having, and if it touches a nerve or focuses on something you’re selfconscious about. These days I find it harder if someone says something about my parenting or my kids than how I look. But now I know that it’s OK not to be everyone’s cup of tea.

“As long as my family thinks I’m great, that’s all that matters.”