Bradford pop star Kimberley Walsh has spoken candidly about her shape – and said that although she sometimes wishes she had “skinny legs”, she’s happy with her body.

Kimberley, originally of Sandy Lane, Bradford, spoke as she made the June cover of top style magazine Cosmopoli-tan, out today.

Kimberley shot to stardom when she was plucked from thousands to be in Girls Aloud, who have since become one of the most successful girl groups in history.

And she tells the magazine that she gets so “over the top” during live performances that she sometimes questions what she’s doing herself.

She said: “The Kimberley you see on stage is a different person. It’s so over-the-top and dramatic and sometimes even I stop and think, ‘God, what am I doing?’ It’s part of the performance.

“If I was at home in the bedroom doing that, [my boyfriend Justin would] be like, ‘What’s going on?’ And that’s a good thing because sometimes the celebrities who go off the rails are the ones who believe their own hype. As for us, it’s such a cliché but most of the time we just slob around – makeup off, heels off, eyelashes off…”

Despite having a really positive attitude to body image, like most women, Kimberley admits to having ‘off’ days: “I have days where I think, ‘Oh, it would be nice to have skinny legs’ so I could wear skinny jeans! But I’m happy with myself. This is what I’m meant to look like and so be it.

“I just feel really unhappy if I’m wearing something that doesn’t suit me, like skinny jeans.”

Discussing the criticism other members of Girls Aloud have come under recently for being too thin, Kimberley said: “Sarah eats like a horse – I don’t know where she puts it, and the last time I saw Nadine she looked fine, but she’ll always have skinny legs. Nicola has a lovely athletic body… Yes, they all do look different to when they joined the band but that’s because they were teenagers back then!”

And she squarely quashes any rumours of rifts within the band, which has not released a single in recent months: “With Cheryl and Nicola, it’s the same [type of relationship as with my oldest friends]. I don’t know why we’ve bonded like we have, but I’d count them among my best friends.

“I look back at certain moments and think, ‘What would I have done without them?’ I wouldn’t have coped.

“People look for conflict where there isn’t any. In any group there will be people you are really on the same wavelength as and others where it’s different. But it doesn’t mean we’re not friends… Nadine lives in LA now so it’s inevitable you grow apart. And Sarah’s just mad! She really is, and I love her for it. It can be really good to have that energy around you… I really am not competitive with any of the girls. It’s been nice to have a break and do our own things.”

Talking about her relationship of six years with Justin Scott, she admits that they’re heading towards marriage, but feels under pressure to do ‘the next thing’: “Yeah, I know. It is headed that way but to be honest, we feel quite young still. There’s this pressure all the time to do the next thing – get engaged, get married, have a baby. It’s just because the media want something new to say, but now I feel like if we announce it, everyone will just be like, ‘Oh, right, yeah, what took you so long?’”

Kimberley was awarded the ‘Woman’s Woman’ award at The Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards 2009.