Most children's first words are 'Mama' or 'Daddy.' Mine were, 'Do I have to use my own money?'
I didn't live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. My diapers were nappy cloth. I didn't live in a big house.
As a child, I seriously believed my family was going down the road to bankruptcy. I was denied virtually every popular trend, from heavily logoed Tommy Hilfiger windbreakers to amusement park season's passes.
I never have issues in handling the fame. I was in a boarding school, as I am from a middle-class family. We didn't have a lot of money, so we all learned to respect money and understood its real value.
I grew up barefoot, dirty, climbing trees. It made me appreciate things more.
I don't go throwing money about - if I did, I think my mum and dad would be on my back because that's not the way I've been brought up.
Because we had no money when I was growing up, when I started dancing, I wasn't allowed to be frivolous - my mum made me go to every lesson because she was paying for it.
I'm known for value for money. I was brought up to be frugal, and it's definitely a factor in my success. I was born in the Fifties, which was a frugal era, and my family had to be very careful with money out of necessity.
Growing up in Britain, we didn't have much, worked for everything. To leave food on the plate, Mom classed it as being rude and so we ate because we were hungry, not ate because we had a choice in the fridge.
I always felt like an outsider growing up. In school, I felt like I never fit in. But it didn't help when my mother, instead of buying me glue for school projects, would tell me to just use rice.
I grew up as a kid with very little. I could enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or peanut butter crackers.
I've been working since I was 14, and my father, being very conservative, has always been strict about my having a savings account.
I grew up with my mom being very, very cheap, so when it's free, I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's free - I have to take as much as I can!'
