There’s so much airbrushing and photoshopping going on these days, but your photos are exactly the same as how you look like in real life!
I’m a bit older obviously, but I’m quite proud of the fact that I’ve had nothing done and I’m still trying to hang on in there. I look after myself.

Your body is absolutely incredible – what size are you?
In certain shops I’m a six, but generally I’m an eight bottom with a twelve top.

I think you get your stunning looks from your mum Carol, who has come with you today. You’re quite close to your mum, aren’t you?
I’m really glad she’s come with me today because I’ve been so busy touring. It’s lovely to spend time together when I’m in England. Sadly, my nan died last year at the age of 95 and she looked amazing. I used to look at her and hope I looked like her when I was older.

You came to the attention of the British public via glamour modelling. You deservedly own the right to the title of First Lady of Glamour Modelling. How did you get into it?
It was 1983 and there was a story in the Sunday paper that read, ‘Girls, you can be the face and shape of 1983’. It was one of those Sunday afternoons where we were all sitting around reading the papers and we just decided to send a photo in.

Was it something that you wanted to do? You were an actress before, weren’t you?
I went to drama school, yes. To be honest, I didn’t really know why I wanted to do it. I knew from a young age that I definitely didn’t want to work in an office. I knew I wanted to entertain - at any party I’d always be the first one up singing or getting on tables. When my granddad used to play darts in the pub he always got me to sing on one of the tables and then I’d go around with his hat and collect all this money. It was either singing or anything in the entertainment industry that I wanted to do.

I was so young when I started and I still lived at home, so mum used to come to a lot of the shoots with me. I started doing this at sixteen, when I was still at school. I was the youngest ever Page 3 girl. Then they put me on a contract for four years to just be their girl, which was really nice. They really protected me and looked after me.

You were exclusive to the Sun, is that right?
Yes; the Star had just come about and they didn’t want me to be a Star girl, so they signed me up for four years.

At what point did you realise just how massive you actually were?
It was probably when I got asked to go on Terry Wogan and Des O’Connor, so when I was suddenly asked to go on major chat shows with 9 million viewers. That’s when it all really changed.

How did that make you feel, knowing you’d suddenly become a household name? How did you cope with that at such an early age?
I think mum would never have sent the picture in if she ever felt that I couldn’t have coped with the fame or coped with the industry. I mixed with a lot with adults at a young age when I was at theatre school doing plays or musicals. You learn a lot from those sorts of people. I was quite astute for my age; I had an old head on young shoulders. Someone like my sister, on the other hand, was very young for her age. We were different.

How did your sister cope with all the fame you were getting?
It was a bit difficult for Vanessa because she was at school – she was eight or nine – and she used to get a bit of a ribbing, bless her.

“I knew from a young age that I definitely didn’t want to work in an office. I knew I wanted to entertain - at any party I’d always be the first one up singing or getting on tables.”

Did you meet a lot of undesirable people in the industry who were only out for themselves and just trying to get a bit of Samantha Fox?
My family really grounded me and I was very well looked after. Mums aren’t stupid, are they? They always know best! Some photographer would walk in and she would say, “Are you going to take that lens cap off? You’ve taken fifteen pictures already and your lens cap’s still on!” It was quite funny some days.

You moved straight on from glamour modelling into the world of pop music and stormed the charts both here in the UK and internationally. ‘Touch Me’ was the big song that catapulted you. What part did you have in that? Did you write that? How did that come about?
No, I wish I did! Basically, Madonna had just had a massive hit with ‘Like a Virgin’ and it was the first kind of controversial song that was around at that time – the mid 80s. She was huge. The record company Jive were looking for a British Madonna and they had a song called ‘Touch Me’ – again – controversial, a bit like ‘Like a Virgin’, but they just needed the right person.

There was an audition and I think about 200 girls turned up. I auditioned and they were quite shocked when I walked in because I was very well known as a Page 3 girl at that time. I’d really learnt the song well and I did my best. They told me to stay behind and they gave me a four album deal then and there. It was amazing. Still, ‘Touch Me’ was a risk for me at the time – 1986 this was, so I would have been about eighteen.

You would have also been travelling the world. It made the top five in the US and Canada, is that right?
It went to number one in twenty seven countries. It was number three in America with Cyndi Lauper and Madonna above me, so there were some really strong women battling for number one!

How did it make you feel knowing you’d accomplished that?
It was a great thing because there were a lot of people who had said I was never going to make it. But when people started playing it, they realised I could actually sing. It all changed when the album came out because I think people then thought I was serious about it. A lot of people bring out singles, but they don’t bring out albums. This was a four album deal, so people knew that that’s all I would be doing for the next four years or five years of my life.

“I knew we could be sexy and sex sells, that was fine, but I wanted to do it with a smile on my face and make it cheeky.”

The video is still around today – the video with all the denim, the leather, and the beating of the drum. I loved it when you went through the crowd. How was that for you?
I almost fell off that rope! The director wanted it from loads of different angles. I just had the one leather glove on and that kind of held my strength, but I must have done it about ten times and by the tenth time I just let go and fell on all these boys’ heads! But they didn’t mind, they liked it!

It was filmed at Heaven, wasn’t it?
It was, yeah. The night before the video I went on the Terry Wogan show. He liked me, Terry, and I liked him as well. I promoted the video on his show, telling everyone to come down to Heaven nightclub the next day and be in the video. Next thing, we’re in Heaven getting our makeup done and there were police horses outside. 4,000 kids were outside in the Arches with police horses and they actually broke the glass doors to get in. They’d all bunked off school for the day and it was so funny because there was me going on Wogan the night before telling everyone to come down and be in the video.

Did you not understand the impact that you’d had?
No, I didn’t. I really, really didn’t. It all went so fast; it was like a rollercoaster. It’s only now I look back and I think, ‘wow’. Its twenty-five years in the business – a long time – and sometimes I can’t believe what I’ve done. It’s unbelievable.

After ‘Touch Me’ and that album, you followed it up with the Samantha Fox album. You took a whole new dance route and worked with Stock Aitken Waterman – it was pure pop. Did you enjoy that album?
I love that album because, while the first album did really well, it was still quite rocky. I’d released ‘Touch Me’ which was a big success, but then I released a song called ‘Do Ya Do Ya Wanna Please Me’ which was a bit too rocky, I think. It was a bit shocking for a lot of the dance fans I had. By the time I came to do the second album I kind of found my fan base. I found out by touring the previous year with the album what they liked and what they didn’t like from me.

The second album was probably my favourite album out of all of them. I got to write as well; I wrote a love song called ‘Confession’. It gave me a chance to expand and spread my wings a bit.

“I started doing this at sixteen, when I was still at school. I was the youngest ever Page 3 girl. Then they put me on a contract for four years to just be their girl, which was really nice. They really protected me and looked after me.”

Which songs did you do with Stock Aitken Waterman?
I did ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’, which is one of my favourite Dusty tracks and another great song called ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now’, which they wrote in ten minutes. I turned up at the studio and there was Mike Stock, who was very talented and so quick with lyrics and melodies. He told me that he thought nothing was going to stop me now that my career was on the up. Then he just wrote ‘nothing’s gonna stop me now’ on a pad, wrote the rest of the song and within an hour I was singing it. That was the biggest song I did with them. That was a great summer song.

Did you write any of your early songs or is it just the later songs that you wrote?
At the beginning, for my first album, no. I was a novice and it was the first time I’d ever made an album. By the second album I was writing B-sides and the odd album track. By the third and fourth albums, I was writing more and more.

The videos were becoming more spectacular and glamorous. Did you enjoy making the videos? Did you have a lot of input with those as well?
Of course, definitely. I think after being a model for years you become very creative in that aspect of photography, whether it be film or photography. The main thing I used to say to the director was that I wanted my sense of humour in the videos. I knew we could be sexy and sex sells, that was fine, but I wanted to do it with a smile on my face and make it cheeky.

Can we talk about the video you did with Gunther in Germany? You looked like you were having fun with that one.
Being international is quite a good thing because I tend to do a lot of duets with people in all these countries where they’re very big. Because they’re so successful in their country, when it becomes a big hit I then become very successful. Gunther is like a sex symbol and he lives in Sweden. Young girls absolutely love him. He’s so tall - when I did the video with him we had to do a lot of laying down scenes, otherwise it just didn’t look right. The song went to number one, so there you go!

What did you think when you first saw Gunther?
I heard he was going to cover it, so I heard his version and thought it would work in Scandinavia. Then I read his bio and realised how successful he was. It was then that I thought, ‘Mmm maybe I should be a bit of a guest star’, so I got myself in there! Next thing I’m doing the video in Sweden. It was an experience.

Looking at the new crop of young women singers out there today – the Britneys and the Christinas and so on – do you have any favourites out there at the moment?
All the press surrounding Britney is very unfortunate; it’s a terrible thing that’s happened. The good thing is that the album is very good - I must admit that it’s one of the best albums Britney’s done. Hopefully the success of that album will pull her through and also show that she’s still got a lot of fans out there who love her, so hopefully we can pull her out of that. Some of Britney’s videos remind me of some of mine. She was with the same record label as me, you see.

You’ve always stayed grounded, haven’t you? You’ve never become a diva - you’ve always been Sam Fox.
I’ve seen so many people come and go in my twenty-five years and I think the people who have gone are the people who had this attitude. They’ve had one hit and they suddenly think they’re like Elvis Presley.

Can we talk a little bit about your love life and personal life? You came out about 10 years ago, is that right?
It wasn’t that long ago. I came out about five years ago.

“A lot of lesbian women have actually said to me that they were frightened to even talk to their parents about their sexuality and to come out and that I’ve really helped them.”

A lot of lesbians look up to you. How do you feel about that?
It’s really nice. I came out about five years ago but I never really spoke about it; Me and Myra are quite private. Then we did Wife Swap. We really felt we wanted to do it because, for a lot of our life, people didn’t realise how close we were and how much in love we were. We wanted to show people that we were just like any other couple who love each other very much. I think that really came across on Wife Swap - we got a lot of letters about it and a lot of emails.

A lot of lesbian women have actually said to me that they were frightened to even talk to their parents about their sexuality and to come out and that I’ve really helped them.

So you and Myra, you’re very happy?
Very happy, yes. I think we know that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together and I’m sure we will.

How did you meet?
I was doing a movie with Neil Morrisey about nine years ago. I was in between management and I’d never had a woman manager, funnily enough. I’d had past manager who’d ripped me off. I was just at that stage where I didn’t really want a manager, but Neil said to me, ‘I know this woman, she’s always looked after mainly boybands, but she really wants to look after a woman. She’s had a nightmare with these boy bands and she wants to look after a solo artist’.

I went to meet Myra and talked to her about it. She was the first manager who actually said told me that I should take a bit of a backseat, write my book, share it with everybody and write a really good album. I just trusted her straight away because she wasn’t thinking about commission; she just wanted the best from me.

When did you realise that you felt deeper for her?
I liked her as soon as I saw her because she was so down to earth. She didn’t treat me like a commodity; she treated me like a normal person that she cared about. She knew that I hadn’t really stopped in my career for a long time and that I needed to take a backseat to look at what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I had kind of reached a bit of a crossroads in my life. We’ve got our anniversary coming up in May.

So when you were in relationships with men, did it feel right? Did you feel that there was something missing?
To be honest, I think the most important thing is love. It’s all about love. There were some of those men that I thought I really did love and at the time I did. And maybe one of them I wanted to marry one day, but then it got to a stage where we weren’t getting on and I was always away. There’s a point where you ask yourself if you really want to spend the rest of your life with that person, marry them and have their children. For me, the answer was no. I did have some lovely affairs, but I never met a guy that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And that’s what it’s about. She’s my soul mate.

“(Myra and I are) very happy. I think we know that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together and I’m sure we will.”

Have you met Madonna or Cyndi Lauper? Who has been a stand out for you?
I met Cyndi Lauper – she was great. I sang with Freddie Mercury at a party once and that was fantastic. I couldn’t believe it when he pulled me up. It was their private party in Kensington and it was amazing. As soon as you got into the lift there were naked women painted green, like a forest. It was weird. They had midgets with little trays of drinks. You just knew it was going to be a brilliant party.

Queen took the stage and they jammed for about an hour – it was amazing – and Gary Glitter got up, too! I was standing at the front with my mate Suzanne Dando – she was big in the 80s as a silver gymnast at the Olympics – when he pulled me up and asked me what songs I knew. And you know when you can’t think? I asked if he knew’ Touch Me’ and he laughed and said, ‘What about ‘Go Johnny Go’?’ We ended up singing that together - it was amazing to do a duet with Freddie.

Did you stay in contact with him?
No, he was very ill not long after that and became a recluse. It was when the big double album came out and I think in a way people knew he was ill then because at their party he had all his friends there that he’d worked with over the years.

I heard a story about you and Mother Theresa. Didn’t you get an award or something?
I did; it was so weird, I never really thought I was known in India. It’s such a faraway country and it wasn’t until I went into a local shop that the newsagent there told me I was very big in India. I went back and told my dad - who was my manager at the time - and dad rang a promoter in India and got me some gigs there. I arrived, they put us on this huge coach and they drove us onto Ghandi stadium. Suddenly, the stage was there and I’m playing to 70,000 people, and that was for 3 nights. Then I did the Bollywood film and after that Mother Theresa gave me an award for the most influential Western female. Not bad, is it?

The business has changed so much, hasn’t it? It’s so difficult for artists to get music out now.
It’s very difficult at the moment. Most artists today pay for their own albums and when you ask them when they’re going to do a video, they tell you that they have to get a top ten first. But how can you get in the top ten without a video?

It’s so difficult; it’s all about money. If they can just put records on the internet now to be downloaded, then there’s no money expenditure from the marketing department, there’s no packaging anymore. It’s not like years ago when you were a kid and you had your vinyl and looked at the pictures and the packaging; it’s so different now. It’s all got a bit cheaper if you know what I mean.

“I liked her as soon as I saw her because she was so down to earth. She didn’t treat me like a commodity; she treated me like a normal person that she cared about.”

What about the glamour industry? Obviously that’s changed so much with people having plastic surgery. Obviously body image is such a huge thing now, but it wasn’t so much in the 80s, was it?
It’s a shame in the way that Page 3 kind of banned silicones because there’s not many girls with naturally big boobs and pretty faces and little waists. It was weird for me. When I was younger - before Page 3 - I used to ask my mum, ‘Do my boobs look big in this?’ I was paranoid about it – I used to wear three cardigans at school. It wasn’t until about five years ago that I became sort of happy with them, really. It’s weird, isn’t it? I used to be really embarrassed about them. You don’t realise when you’re young what you’ve got. But I’m alright with them now.

You had all your other icons of the 80s like Maria Whittaker, Kathy Lloyd – what was the rivalry like? Was it really fierce?
Page 3 is really quite a solo career. I mean, you turned up with your bag and bits, knocked on the door and an hour later you’d be out and coming home. It was never really something we did together. The only times we used to really see each other was at the clubs. But I know that I did put a few girls’ backs up when I came along because I got the four year contract.

You did Playboy as well; you were Playgirl of the Month, weren’t you?
I did that when I was thirty, in October 1996. That was after I did Eurovision in 1995. I wrote that song for Eurovision. I wasn’t going to do it - I wrote it for another singer. I thought it was a great song and I sent it in under another name. I sent it in under Lauren Order. I got a phone call from the BBC saying they’d love to meet me. When I went and knocked on the door of the BBC, the publicist couldn’t believe it and they told me I just had to do it. They were thinking of publicity and stuff like that. It took some persuading but I did it in the end. It was so nerve wracking to enter a competition like that. It all depends on the night and so many things, but it was interesting.

You’ve got a brand new album coming out, is that right?
I have indeed. I’m hoping it will come out in Europe in the next three months. After this, I’ve got some touring to do and then some promotion. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Do you want to tell us a little bit about the album? You’ve written a lot of songs on this album, is that right?
Yes, it’s very much a personal album. It came about when I first met Myra and I started to write my book. Obviously, a lot of memories and a lot of emotions came to the surface, and so these songs just started flowing, really. They’re quite personal.

The track ‘Angel With an Attitude’ is the first song that I wrote for the album - me and Myra wrote it together because she’s my angel. It was a time when my life was going through a little bit of darkness and I met somebody who felt like my angel.

What’s the name of the album?
It’s called Angel With an Attitude.

If people want to get this album, where can they purchase it?
At the moment it’s released in Canada and Australia but you cannot get it on iTunes right now. You can get it on an import but they’re a little bit more expensive. If you go on my website (www.samfox.com), you’ll find some music on there that people may not have and that I still own the copyright to, so have a look on there.

Are you going to be doing any touring in the UK?
Hopefully, yes. I can’t wait to tour the UK again. It’s been a while; it’s been about four years.

Do you just want to concentrate on your music now or do you want to go into TV?
I’m thinking of doing some TV. I’ve been talking to some people for the last two years but it’s never been the right programme. At the moment I’m talking to quite a big channel about doing a show. I want something like a magazine show, something with music, something like when you open OK. We’re all nosy, aren’t we? I want a show that everyone tunes into because they’re nosy like me. I’d ask all the questions that people want to know.

Are there any websites that people can go to check out your music?
You can look at MySpace, where there are four tracks you can hear clips of. Go to www.samfox.com – which is my official website – and it takes you through to everything.

Find out more at www.samfox.com and www.myspace.com/samanthafoxx.

Want more? Then get the DVD of Sam Fox: All Around The World. Buy it online and save some money to put towards her Greatest Hits album.