NATASHA BEDINGFIELD SWAPS EURO TOUR FOR GLASGOW VISIT

SPENDING five weeks on tour with Justin Timberlake would be a dream come true for most girls. And Natasha Bedingfield is no exception apart from when she was being distracted by banoffi p . . .

"Over the last five weeks I've been all around Europe. Everyday a different country," she says.

"But everyday I had to resist this amazing food because I didn't want to come off the tour looking like an elephant, and the food was incredible - they made this mean banoffi pie."

For any musician, it can be a tough job to keep up a fitness routine when they are constantly living in hotels or the tour bus.

A healthy diet usually goes right out the window, along with the chance to get regular exercise.

So Natasha, 25, had to try extra hard to keep trim, going running, power-walking or boxercising every time she got a chance: "I have to keep fit - I tend to be more conscious about making sure I get enough exercise and then I can eat a bit more. I don't like living off beans just to fit into a little skinny dress."

It has been a spectacular ascent to international stardom for Britain's biggest female pop star.

She has sold 6.5million records, scored a Number One hit on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming the first British female solo artist for almost 20 years to achieve a chart-topping single, and had a massive breakthrough with her 2004 debut album, Unwritten.

She jammed with Prince, was lauded by Bono, fêted by Vanity Fair and landed a gig as one of the faces of the clothing giant Gap.

But while she grabbed the attention of audiences with her debut album's critique on the life of an independent young woman in the Noughties, Natasha wanted the songs on her second album, NB, to reflect the fundamental shift in her lifestyle.

Certainly the sentiments of the single I Wanna Have Your Babies, the first to be lifted from NB, and follow-up Soulmate, which came out at the beginning of July, laid her cards on the table in no uncertain terms.

"I want to make music that matches who I am," she says. "My first album was about independence and opportunism. I'm still very independent but I'm in a different place right now. I've been dating, searching for a partner, looking for Mr Right."

The album was recorded in Los Angeles with a hipper-than-thou team of collaborators.

And the LA lifestyle suited Natasha because, despite her phenomenal success Stateside, she reckons she fitted right into the background: "I could just put on a cap and run along the beach and I look like any other blonde, just my boobs are a bit smaller!"

As well as loads of festival appearances this summer, Natasha has a date coming up at Glasgow Carling Academy on September 5.

But she will be playing an Up Close gig for Clyde 1 next week, which is a competition winners-only show at a secret location.

"I couldn't think of a better welcome home after five weeks away and it's a fun way to try out the new stripped down versions of the songs from the album.

"I'll just have two members of the band with me. It's much more fun when it's your own fans because they obviously like you already.

"When I do a gig like this with my own fans, I feel like I'm coming home. I feel that I'm looking out at friends, because I've been away for a while and these are the people who've stuck with me."

And Natasha admits she has a special fondness for her Scottish fans - though not, apparently, our native cuisine!

"I love the accent, I love the way that you say wee girrrl'. I melt when I hear the sound of a Scottish accent.

"But, I'm sorry, I'm not eating haggis - I've never tried it, but I don't want to.

"I love trying new things, but haggis scares me! I love everything else Scottish, you'll forgive me if I don't like that, right?" We have a pair of tickets for Natasha's secret Up-Close gig to give away, thanks to co- promoters Clyde 1 and Sony Ericsson Walkman Phones.

To enter, just answer the following question: What is the name of Natasha's second album?

Send your answer along with your name, address, date of birth and a daytime contact telephone number to: competition@up-close.co.uk. Closing date for entries is noon on Monday, July 23. The competition is open to over-14s only.