Feeling Fruity
Boyz Magazine July 2005

They partied with George Michael, had the piss taken out of them by French & Saunders and made the campest videos we’d ever seen. Now, over twenty years since their first single, Bananarama are back with a new single and to star at Big Gay Out. Lou Durham catches up with the original British girl group.

So are you excited to be back?
Keren: Yeah, we’re really chuffed to have the chance. We’ve waited a long time.

You’re looking very foxy: has there been a lot of gym work in preparation?
K: No, we’re not really big fitness freaks, it has to be said. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the public eye, and it’s really great that we’re coming back again when we’re in our 40s! Got everything going for us!

You look great in the video.
Sara: Did you check out Jeff the cowboy? My God, he is absolutely gorgeous.

You’ve always had great boys in your videos.
K: We used to audition them ourselves. ’Can you just strip down to your pants and do a twirl...?‘

Was there ever any action with those boys?
S: There wasn’t, no.
K: You had a child with one!
S: Oh yeah, sorry! [both laughing]
K: Yeah, apart from the ten-year relationship and the baby!

You were famous for being party girls. Is that still the case?
K: I’m afraid so! We’ve just been saying we must be more disciplined and not go out when we’ve got something the next day, but…
S: You only live once. It doesn’t matter how old you get, it’s still, ’I don’t want to go home to bed and take my make-up off, I’m having fun!‘
K: It’s just not Bananarama!

Do you still see Siobhan [who quit the group to form Shakespear’s Sister]?
K: We saw her a month ago for a coffee. She said, ’Come round, I’m here all afternoon‘, and we got there ten minutes later and she said, ’Oh, I’ve just realised I’ve got to go somewhere, there’s a taxi outside.‘

Is she still on the Christmas card list?
S: Oh yeah, absolutely. I feel very protective towards her. If anyone slagged her off I would defend her.

How’s Andrew [Ridgley, Keren’s partner] these days?
K: He’s very well.

You’ve been together ages. Aren’t you bored of him yet?
K: I hardly see him, I’ve got no chance to get bored of him at the moment! He goes away quite a bit and I go away, we’ve never lived in each other’s pockets.

What about you Sara?
S: I’m seeing someone.

Someone we know?
S: No, not that exciting.
K: A lovely young man!

How young?
S: He’s younger than me. 30 years younger! [laughs]

Do you still knock about with George Michael?
S: Yeah, the last time we saw him we let ourselves into his house and he was in his pyjamas!
K: We’d had a few drinks and it was like, ’Come on, let’s go and see George, I know the security code!‘
S: He came to the door and was like…
K: ’Oh God, you again!‘

What pyjamas was he wearing?
S: Checked.
K: Bless him, he looks so sweet in his little pyjamas.
S: He has the most gorgeous house, and he’s very generous and lovely. He’s part of the family, really. Whenever I see him in a magazine I think [sighs], ’Oh what’s he up to now, what’s he gone and said?‘ [laughs]

I bet he has good parties.
K: He has great parties!
S: There’s always such a mixture of people.
K: And he always has the biggest buckets of caviar I’ve ever seen in my life! Sara and I always end up next to them, spoon-feeding ourselves with it!

Are him and Andrew still close?
K: Yeah, we stayed at George’s for a week a couple of months ago. It was like staying in a really glamorous hotel, I even had someone to do my washing!

Do you think George and Andrew ever did the business?
[Both laugh hysterically]
K: No! I can honestly say absolutely not, and I’m sure they would say the same thing. I think Andrew would have been the last person on his list, because it’s just too matey.
S: But George and I had an affair in St. Tropez, didn’t we? According to the News Of The World.
K: Apparently they were snogging and gyrating their hips together. Sara stripped off to virtually nothing as they sweated their way onto the dancefloor. It was hilarious, he wasn’t out at the time!

Are you ready to deal with all that paparazzi stuff again?
K: I am kind of dreading, if this single is a hit, all the paparazzi stuff. It’s quite scary. From now on I’ll be walking the dog in high heels, and it’ll be burkas on the beach!
Did they used to hang around your house?
K: Sometimes. When George had his toilet episode, we had them all down in Cornwall and we didn’t even know it had happened. Andrew opened the door and they started snapping and saying, ’So what do you think?‘ and Andrew said, ’I’ve no idea what you’re on about!‘

So do you still see the French & Saunders girls?
S: We used to see them.
K: I would really like to have a little night out with them soon.
S: We first met them on The Tube [80s TV music show] during the miners’ strike and we were asked to make a comment and we didn’t know what to say and Dawn said, ’Why don’t you say you can’t be in a band unless you’re thin and pretty?‘, and we thought, ’God, they hate us‘. And then they did that piss-take of us on the show.

And was it accurate?
K: I mean, obviously certain bits were exaggerated, but I thought they captured the essence of Bananarama perfectly! [laughs]

You’re famous for being lazy girls aren’t you?
S: Lazy? No!
K: I think Boy George perpetuated that myth didn’t he? We worked our arses off for years and years. I think when you were working the way we worked, we found it hard to be bubbly and overly friendly in certain situations. And then you get to the stage where it was like a French & Saunders sketch, and I think we had a reputation for being slightly awkward and miserable maybe.

Would you ever do a celebrity reality show?
K: I’d love to have done I’m A Celebrity… when Janet [Street-Porter] was on it. We quite often have dinner with Janet and the Pet Shop Boys. We just sit and bitch for hours, thinking it’s not going to go any further, but I’m sure they’re straight round to Elton’s house!

So are there any artists you’d like to record with?
S: Snoop Dogg! [both laugh]
K: I would love to see that, can you imagine?

You two in pants and fur coats.
K: Yeah. Maybe not pants though.

Have you ever done pants?
K: No. I’d like to be able to do pants.

Pants and support tights?
K: Yeah! It’s a shame. I could do pants, as long as they used a lot of Photoshop!