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Since they hit the charts in 1997 with the "All Saints", the Appletons have lived, loved and squabbled in the full glare of the tabloids. Here they discuss the highs and lows they have experienced - and talk openly about the men in their lives, including Robbie Williams, Liam Gallagher and Jamie Theakston. Nicole and Natalie speak frankly, making no attempt to hide their mistakes - this is their story, the story of two sisters who landed on Planet Pop and how they survived thanks to each other.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2002
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 22, 2017
I was never that big a fan of All Saints, but after reading the biography Feel: Robbie Williams which touched on Robbie's relationship with Nicole Appleton, I wanted to read this and get her side of the story.
In my memory (which is hazy considering I was about 10 when first single Never Ever came out), the band was all about the Appleton sisters. They were All Saints to me. Then there was the one who got pregnant, and the black girl. It was always the sisters who stood out. Throughout this joint autobiography the Appletons give numerous examples of how it wasn't actually like that. They were last to join the band and rarely if ever were given lead vocals on any All Saints material. The hostility in the band was akin to the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford feud of old Hollywood. I had no idea.
I also had no idea of the personal lives of the girls, who lived in both America and England as children. Natalie's teen pregnancy with her abusive first husband was a pretty gripping tale, and Nicole's forced abortion (Robbie's baby) was genuinely horrendous to read about. It painted the music industry in a very bad light and I can believe the same things still happen in pop bands these days.
As the book is quite far out of date (pub. 2003) I'm not sure what the girls are up to these days, but this was a great read showing a slice of life at the time. This book turned out a lot better than expected.
In my memory (which is hazy considering I was about 10 when first single Never Ever came out), the band was all about the Appleton sisters. They were All Saints to me. Then there was the one who got pregnant, and the black girl. It was always the sisters who stood out. Throughout this joint autobiography the Appletons give numerous examples of how it wasn't actually like that. They were last to join the band and rarely if ever were given lead vocals on any All Saints material. The hostility in the band was akin to the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford feud of old Hollywood. I had no idea.
I also had no idea of the personal lives of the girls, who lived in both America and England as children. Natalie's teen pregnancy with her abusive first husband was a pretty gripping tale, and Nicole's forced abortion (Robbie's baby) was genuinely horrendous to read about. It painted the music industry in a very bad light and I can believe the same things still happen in pop bands these days.
As the book is quite far out of date (pub. 2003) I'm not sure what the girls are up to these days, but this was a great read showing a slice of life at the time. This book turned out a lot better than expected.
July 21, 2025
This book was really good, I’m not too into all saints but I’m a big fan of Oasis & Robbie Williams.
It was such an amazing insight into Nicole and Natalie’s lives, their struggles, their failed relationships, their children, their husbands. Figuring out how to deal with things, being in all saints and being overshadowed by Shaznay & Melanie, all they had was eachother.
Nicole’s struggles with Robbie, Loving eachother but Robbie was too vulnerable, too stressed, too broken and eventually ending their relationship because he didn’t want to hurt her any further.
Natalie’s struggle’s with Jamie Theakston, Being so crazily in love but when they split up, her alone being blamed for physically hurting Jamie, but she was emotionally hurt by him, and Nat being young but abused by Carl, she loved and depended on him but he took advantage of her, but she got her daughter Rachel out of it, and when she managed to leave him, never letting him see her again, and the father in her life becoming Liam Howlett.
And when it gets to the end, it goes into depth about how much Liam Howlett cares for Natalie, and how much Liam Gallagher did for Nicole (past tense used because they divorced 11 years ago in 2014)
And hearing about their children is so sweet, They both speak highly of Gene & Rachel, wanting to be with them every day, Natalie’s guilt in the early days of All Saints for leaving Rachel but trying to make up for it, and Nicole’s for leaving Gene to go on holiday with Liam in Japan when he was only a few days old, but Liam being very understanding, making sure they always brought Gene with them in the following years.
And hearing the story of Mel and Nicole’s friendship, two girls, having fun, to two bandmates, to avoiding eachother at every cost, but Gene’s birth bringing them back together, as Mel brought her daughter Lillyella with her, They were pregnant at the same time but Nicole was pressured into aborting it, but it was a baby girl her and Robbie were planning to call Grace, and Robbie wrote a song of the same name about the baby he’d never hold (before it was aborted)
“Another year together and we were all hear, Happy, healthy, together”
The last line in the book makes me tear up, they got their happy ending after fighting for it. As Sisters.
It was such an amazing insight into Nicole and Natalie’s lives, their struggles, their failed relationships, their children, their husbands. Figuring out how to deal with things, being in all saints and being overshadowed by Shaznay & Melanie, all they had was eachother.
Nicole’s struggles with Robbie, Loving eachother but Robbie was too vulnerable, too stressed, too broken and eventually ending their relationship because he didn’t want to hurt her any further.
Natalie’s struggle’s with Jamie Theakston, Being so crazily in love but when they split up, her alone being blamed for physically hurting Jamie, but she was emotionally hurt by him, and Nat being young but abused by Carl, she loved and depended on him but he took advantage of her, but she got her daughter Rachel out of it, and when she managed to leave him, never letting him see her again, and the father in her life becoming Liam Howlett.
And when it gets to the end, it goes into depth about how much Liam Howlett cares for Natalie, and how much Liam Gallagher did for Nicole (past tense used because they divorced 11 years ago in 2014)
And hearing about their children is so sweet, They both speak highly of Gene & Rachel, wanting to be with them every day, Natalie’s guilt in the early days of All Saints for leaving Rachel but trying to make up for it, and Nicole’s for leaving Gene to go on holiday with Liam in Japan when he was only a few days old, but Liam being very understanding, making sure they always brought Gene with them in the following years.
And hearing the story of Mel and Nicole’s friendship, two girls, having fun, to two bandmates, to avoiding eachother at every cost, but Gene’s birth bringing them back together, as Mel brought her daughter Lillyella with her, They were pregnant at the same time but Nicole was pressured into aborting it, but it was a baby girl her and Robbie were planning to call Grace, and Robbie wrote a song of the same name about the baby he’d never hold (before it was aborted)
“Another year together and we were all hear, Happy, healthy, together”
The last line in the book makes me tear up, they got their happy ending after fighting for it. As Sisters.
September 13, 2025
This book was really good, I'm not too into all saints but I'm a big fan of Oasis & Robbie Williams.
It was such an amazing insight into Nicole and Natalie's lives, their struggles, their failed relationships, their children, their husbands. Figuring out how to deal with things, being in all saints and being overshadowed by Shaznay & Melanie, all they had was eachother.
Nicole's struggles with Robbie, Loving eachother but Robbie was too vulnerable, too stressed, too broken and eventually ending their relationship because he didn't want to hurt her any further.
Natalie's struggle's with Jamie Theakston, Being so crazily in love but when they split up, her alone being blamed for physically hurting Jamie, but she was emotionally hurt by him, and Nat being young but abused by Carl, she loved and depended on him but he took advantage of her, but she got her daughter Rachel out of it, and when she managed to leave him, never letting him see her again, and the father in her life becoming Liam Howlett.
And when it gets to the end, it goes into depth about how much Liam Howlett cares for Natalie, and how much Liam Gallagher did for Nicole (past tense used because they divorced 11 years ago in 2014)
And hearing about their children is so sweet, They both speak highly of Gene & Rachel, wanting to be with them every day, Natalie's guilt in the early days of All Saints for leaving Rachel but trying to make up for it, and Nicole's for leaving Gene to go on holiday with Liam in Japan when he was only a few days old, but Liam being very understanding, making sure they always brought Gene with them in the following years.
And hearing the story of Mel and Nicole's friendship, two girls, having fun, to two bandmates, to avoiding eachother at every cost, but Gene's birth bringing them back together, as Mel brought her daughter Lillyella with her, They were pregnant at the same time but Nicole was pressured into aborting it, but it was a baby girl her and Robbie were planning to call Grace, and Robbie wrote a song of the same name about the baby he'd never hold (before it was aborted)
"Another year together and we were all hear, Happy, healthy, together"
The last line in the book makes me tear up, they got their happy ending after fighting for it. As Sisters.
It was such an amazing insight into Nicole and Natalie's lives, their struggles, their failed relationships, their children, their husbands. Figuring out how to deal with things, being in all saints and being overshadowed by Shaznay & Melanie, all they had was eachother.
Nicole's struggles with Robbie, Loving eachother but Robbie was too vulnerable, too stressed, too broken and eventually ending their relationship because he didn't want to hurt her any further.
Natalie's struggle's with Jamie Theakston, Being so crazily in love but when they split up, her alone being blamed for physically hurting Jamie, but she was emotionally hurt by him, and Nat being young but abused by Carl, she loved and depended on him but he took advantage of her, but she got her daughter Rachel out of it, and when she managed to leave him, never letting him see her again, and the father in her life becoming Liam Howlett.
And when it gets to the end, it goes into depth about how much Liam Howlett cares for Natalie, and how much Liam Gallagher did for Nicole (past tense used because they divorced 11 years ago in 2014)
And hearing about their children is so sweet, They both speak highly of Gene & Rachel, wanting to be with them every day, Natalie's guilt in the early days of All Saints for leaving Rachel but trying to make up for it, and Nicole's for leaving Gene to go on holiday with Liam in Japan when he was only a few days old, but Liam being very understanding, making sure they always brought Gene with them in the following years.
And hearing the story of Mel and Nicole's friendship, two girls, having fun, to two bandmates, to avoiding eachother at every cost, but Gene's birth bringing them back together, as Mel brought her daughter Lillyella with her, They were pregnant at the same time but Nicole was pressured into aborting it, but it was a baby girl her and Robbie were planning to call Grace, and Robbie wrote a song of the same name about the baby he'd never hold (before it was aborted)
"Another year together and we were all hear, Happy, healthy, together"
The last line in the book makes me tear up, they got their happy ending after fighting for it. As Sisters.
October 22, 2022
CALLING ALL GIRLIES WHO WERE IN THEIR TEENS IN THE 90S! ..If you had even the tiniest interest in All Saints then you need to read this! It's like being a fly on the wall behind the scenes at at Smash Hits pol winners party 🤣....
🎤I've been a fan of All Saints since 1997! I loved their music and Nicole Appleton was another main reason. She's been my style icon since forever(and over the moon shes growing old gracefully and hasn't followed the tend of having her lips pumped and face bottoxed like most other celebs her age , Are yiu hearing me Posh Spice!)...and she was always my fave member of the band. ..With Pure Shores, Black Coffee, War of Nerves and the whole Appleton album being long standing faves of mine I knew I needed to read this ..
🎤I spotted this Autobiography a few years ago, I noticed it was written in 2003 when the girls were still in their 20s and raw from the break-up of the band and still young enough to think it's a good idea to share all your nitty gritty celeb dating secrets...so I snapped it up and by gum it came up to the bar and then some.... It was a total 90s indulgence and I literally couldn't put this beauty down!... A total "read in one sitting"...
Id love to know if the girls regretted writing this as within 3 years of it's publication the group had reformed and released a new album!.. but the bitterness that ran through this entire book was vibrant! The band was totally split from the beginning and Shazney and Mel come off sooooo badly....
Throw some ace name dropping hook ups in too...all the ingredients for a seriously skill read. No idea if this is anyone elses cup of tea but I frikkin loved it and could just start it all over again right now!
🎤I've been a fan of All Saints since 1997! I loved their music and Nicole Appleton was another main reason. She's been my style icon since forever(and over the moon shes growing old gracefully and hasn't followed the tend of having her lips pumped and face bottoxed like most other celebs her age , Are yiu hearing me Posh Spice!)...and she was always my fave member of the band. ..With Pure Shores, Black Coffee, War of Nerves and the whole Appleton album being long standing faves of mine I knew I needed to read this ..
🎤I spotted this Autobiography a few years ago, I noticed it was written in 2003 when the girls were still in their 20s and raw from the break-up of the band and still young enough to think it's a good idea to share all your nitty gritty celeb dating secrets...so I snapped it up and by gum it came up to the bar and then some.... It was a total 90s indulgence and I literally couldn't put this beauty down!... A total "read in one sitting"...
Id love to know if the girls regretted writing this as within 3 years of it's publication the group had reformed and released a new album!.. but the bitterness that ran through this entire book was vibrant! The band was totally split from the beginning and Shazney and Mel come off sooooo badly....
Throw some ace name dropping hook ups in too...all the ingredients for a seriously skill read. No idea if this is anyone elses cup of tea but I frikkin loved it and could just start it all over again right now!
April 6, 2019
I'll be honest, I don't really remember All Saints much. I was aware they were sort of a "cool" Spice Girls, but beyond that... not much. This book is about 2 sisters who were in the band, by the name of Natalie and Nicole.
It traces their life in the UK, US, and Canada growing up, and their life in All Saints, up to their departure from the band. It's not Dickens, or Shakespeare, and usually feels like it's written by 2 women who didn't take schooling as seriously as the night have done (Natalie dropped out of school at 15, and admits that her first qualification was a 2 week course in teaching aerobics), but it's readable enough, and accessible by anyone with an interest in them.
As to the story itself, they always say there are 3 sides to any story. Were they treated badly by their bandmates? Yes. Were they pushed to do things they wouldn't have if they weren't in a band? Absolutely. Would it have been as bad, had they been guys? Probably not, but I was left wondering if they weren't their own worst enemies sometimes. They freely admit they partied harder than their colleagues, which might have contributed to the rift in the band.
One last thing I'd like to say before I sign off this review, is you won't get any profound insights. As an example, given what's happening in Trump's America, I would have liked some explanation why it was so easy for them to live and work there. They're Anglo-Canadians, so I can't immediately see why they have a right to work there, other than the fact that they're pretty white girl whose mom is dating an America.
It traces their life in the UK, US, and Canada growing up, and their life in All Saints, up to their departure from the band. It's not Dickens, or Shakespeare, and usually feels like it's written by 2 women who didn't take schooling as seriously as the night have done (Natalie dropped out of school at 15, and admits that her first qualification was a 2 week course in teaching aerobics), but it's readable enough, and accessible by anyone with an interest in them.
As to the story itself, they always say there are 3 sides to any story. Were they treated badly by their bandmates? Yes. Were they pushed to do things they wouldn't have if they weren't in a band? Absolutely. Would it have been as bad, had they been guys? Probably not, but I was left wondering if they weren't their own worst enemies sometimes. They freely admit they partied harder than their colleagues, which might have contributed to the rift in the band.
One last thing I'd like to say before I sign off this review, is you won't get any profound insights. As an example, given what's happening in Trump's America, I would have liked some explanation why it was so easy for them to live and work there. They're Anglo-Canadians, so I can't immediately see why they have a right to work there, other than the fact that they're pretty white girl whose mom is dating an America.
September 30, 2019
I found the All Saints bits fascinating, as that's the reason I wanted to read this book. The girls clearly wanted to talk more about their relationships however - and who can blame them for wanting to focus on the positives after the dramatic years with Mel and Shaz, but the lovey-dovey chapters dragged a bit for me.
Also, if Natalie described one more feeling as 'delicious', this would've gone down to a 2/5 stars review.
Also, if Natalie described one more feeling as 'delicious', this would've gone down to a 2/5 stars review.
January 23, 2021
I never knew there was this much drama in the band.
I always assumed All Saints were a band created very much like the Spice Girls - hand picked by producers after a casting call. I was also surprised that Shaznay wrote their biggest hits. Overall it was better than I expected, but it was also longer than it needed to be and it got a bit boring towards the end.
July 15, 2009
A boring book about the world of music and bitching. The only thing that saved it was the end, I guess, whereby both singers find love and peace away from the music business.
May 11, 2009
its actually interesting there are more to the twins than I first thought
November 10, 2009
There was a whole lot more going on with 'All Saints' and the Sisters then i knew about
August 11, 2013
i loved this book, nic and nat were always my favourites in the band and its so sad to hear the struggles that went on inside the band.
November 3, 2012
loved it!!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews