SHY Nicola Roberts was living every teenage girl’s fantasy when she won instant fame but the dream quickly turned into a nightmare.

Small-town girl Nicola was just 17 when she and four young hopefuls won 2002’s Popstars: The Rivals.

Girls Aloud were a massive hit and her vivacious and confident bandmates Sarah Harding, Cheryl Tweedy (now Cole) Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle, basked in their new-found fame.

But for Nicola it was the start of four years of hell. Behind the glamorous costumes and stage make-up, the flame-haired singer was hiding a secret misery. She was the victim of vile bullying.

Softly-spoken Nicola would cry herself to sleep after being constantly branded “the ugly one”. She was being abused by faceless internet bullies - and even ­celebrities such as Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and singer Lily Allen.

She felt unable to confide in friends and family and suffered an “identity crisis”.

The constant sniping brought her ­perilously close to a breakdown and “miserable and confused” she sought solace in the bottle. She says: “I’d had red hair all my life and what was so sad was that I absolutely loved my red hair.

“I never had an issue with my hair, even growing up I was never bullied for it. It was always just my thing, even at school.

“It wasn’t until I was in the band that it all seemed to turn. I remember feeling ‘Gosh, the general perception of me is really not great at all.’

“I was the joker behind the scenes but on stage or in front of others, I was the quiet, miserable one. It was awful.

“People feel they can say nasty things and have anonymity behind the net – as they did with all the nasty comments about me – without fear of recrimination.”

Happily, five years on – and approaching the band’s 10th year anniversary – Nicola is in a far better place. Utterly striking in the flesh, the 25-year-old radiates ­confidence and, with a string of fashion successes has blossomed. Yesterday, she released her debut album, Cinderella’s Eyes, which includes the poignant and critically-praised ballad Sticks And Stones, which is about her bullying.

The hard-hitting lyrics have been applauded by anti-bullying organisations and won her a legion of new fans.

She says: “I really wanted to write the song but I was cautious as it’s such a serious subject to me.

“But I wasn’t writing it to be self-indulgent, for it to be all about me – the chorus is really universal.

“S*** happens – people all over the world are facing different ­situations and feeling alone.

“In society today, differences are highlighted. If someone acts different to the norm, or looks or dresses ­differently, it’s not accepted.”

She’s had her share of critics, famous and otherwise over the years. In 2008, Chris Moyles, labelled her a “sour-faced cow”, and criticised her hair, face and body. Refusing to slate the BBC star, Nicola nonetheless hints at the effect his words had on her in the song.

With lines including: “I was too young for so many things / Yet you thought I’d cope with being told I’m ugly.”

Nicola is so affected by that time that she struggles to listen to the song in front of other people. Her mechanic dad cried when she played it to him for the first time last Christmas. And her mum was deeply affected too.

Nicola adds: “It’s been a bit of an eye-opener to my family and friends. We all just pretended it wasn’t happening, the whole situation made me feel ­embarrassed – the horrible comments...

“We never talked about it. But the song really struck her because I never spoke about it so how would they know? She sort of saw what I went through, the brave face I put on.

“In terms of the rest of the band, none of us spoke about the bullying; we pretended it wasn’t happening. They could see I was embarrassed by it and didn’t want to bring it up and make it worse, or make one of the girls uncomfortable and embarrassed.

“Even now, I don’t like playing the song in front of others.

“It’s so awkward and I can feel the awkwardness resonating in the room.”

Today, sipping a strong, black coffee, and devoid of all make-up, the stunning singer is happy in her own, pale skin. But this has not always been the case.

“I’m very conscious of my skin anyway as it flares up easily and even if I just eat chocolate or bad food, I get break-outs.

“But whereas the rest of the band were all tanned and looked so healthy, I was always so pale. I stuck out. I couldn’t even get changed in front of the other girls. I became obsessed with fake tan and make-up, trying to make myself look like everyone else. I became obsessive about it, to an unhealthy extent.”

As a nervous, overwhelmed teenager – and layered in orange foundation to hide her insecurities – Nicola turned to vodka to help her escape the pressures of fame. She explains: “What was I going to do? This was my dream since I was 10 to be a singer.

HANGOVER

“I was in this fantastic band and every day was the most amazing thing. Reaching the goal was incredible but the other side was hellish.

“I’d go out on a Friday night, drink loads – vodka was my drink – and wake up on the Saturday morning with the hangover from hell.

“It was exciting to get drunk when you’re at that age. That’s what you look forward to at that age, going out and getting bladdered.

“I tried to surround myself with my real friends as much as possible but it took me a while to be able to adapt to the world I was in.

“It took me years to learn you have to be this big, bubbly person and smile at everybody all the time. When you’re not from a place like that, why would you be like that naturally? If there’s a reason to smile, if something’s funny, then I smile but otherwise it seemed false.

“I do still go out from time to time and let my hair down.

But I can’t deal with the hangovers even though I am drinking champers now.”

The Liverpudlian’s insecurities slowly started changing once she found her fashion feet.

Experimenting with different looks and labels, nowadays she regularly tops the Best Dressed lists in glossy magazines, and two years ago launched her own brand Dainty Doll make-up range – cosmetics tailored for pale skin.

Size six Nicola credits her love of fashion for helping find inner contentment.

She smiles: “Clothes have helped me a lot, they helped fix my identity crisis. I don’t care if something’s from Primark or Prada, it’s about if you like it, wear it. I didn’t know what a label was when I didn’t have money at 16.

“We used to buy clothes from our little local market, and I’ve still got the little top I did my Popstars audition in.

“But I really admire the designers for their skill, the fact somebody can have a vision and then suddenly thousands of women ‘need’ to wear what that person saw in their head.

“It’s a bit like that Stella McCartney illusion dress Kate Winslet wore recently. When I first saw that picture, I was like ‘Oh my God, Kate’s literally lost, like, 20 stone.’ But then I saw it was just the panelling.”

Naturally slender, Nicola suffers from hyperglycemia and must eat every two to three hours in order to maintain her weight. “I like my food and I eat a lot,” she says. “If I’m stressed or run down then the weight goes quickly so I have to keep consciously trying to put it on.

“I don’t go to the gym though because I get conscious of getting big Madonna arms. Instead I make loads of stews and roast dinners.

COSMETIC

“I think it’s a northern thing. I grew up on meat and two veg whereas maybe the palette in the southern regions is a little more eclectic – scallops and prawns.”

And it’s only over food she and devoted boyfriend of three years, businessman Charlie Fennell, 26, disagree.

“He gets a bit mad when I cook us our fourth roast dinner of the week,” she giggles. “He’s a real southerner. We’ve just had our three-year anniversary – we couldn’t be together on the day but I got a lovely bunch of flowers.

“He is quite romantic although I am training him to be a little more so – sometimes you just have to mould them slightly. Charlie is a lovely person, gentle and caring.

“I’ve been in relationships before where the person kind of maps out your life for you before you’ve really had a chance to breathe.

“But we have a great balance, and go with the flow, and are really happy.”

Nicola recently spent thousands of pounds on cosmetic dentistry – a set of Simon Cowell-esque gleaming veneers.

And with Girls Aloud’s hotly anticipated 10 year anniversary fast approaching, finally, she is proud with her appearance. And rightly so.

Flashing the gnashers, she beams: “I wore a brace for 18 months and I still wasn’t happy.

“It was very much a personal thing that I wanted to do.

“I felt like whenever I smiled my teeth just sat back awkwardly in my mouth.

“I simply wanted to smile in a way that represented the smile that I felt and it was big.”

3 Nicola Roberts’ album, Cinderella’s Eyes, is out now.