“Oh my god, guys! We’re three episodes into the series.

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve had so much fun on each of the previous episodes so far and I’ve been blessed with an amazing guest list to sink my teeth into with Ryan Ross Hernandez and Weekend. It’s been a blast and it’s only gonna continue, especially tonight as I welcome my third guest of the series, my incredibly beautiful, honest and talented buddy Chantal Hayes. She’s been killing it recently with a string of number one singles and an incredible debut solo album and I’m so pleased to have her here tonight, so please welcome Chantal Hayes!”

Welcome to the show Chantal. Holy crap, they let us be on TV together. How’s it going?

Girl, I know! We’re a lethal combo, I don’t think everyone at home watching is ready. I mean, we wrote a number one single together, what next? (laughs)

It’s definitely been a busy year for you so far, you announced that you’ll be releasing your debut album back in January. You’ve been around in the industry for many years now, why did you take so long before putting out a solo album?

Honestly? I had no desire. Around the time Nadia’s solo career was taking off, I had my child, Jackson, and then all my priorities changed and I wanted to focus on being the best mother I could be to him… his baby daddy was a complete mess and I was left to raise a child as a single mother, which is really hard, as you single ladies with a kid at home know. I never thought I’d have the time, I was so tired just looking after my kid, but juggling that with the most recent GirlSpice record proved that I could do it, and so I thought… why the hell not? The other two girls were doing it, albeit without a kid, but why shouldn’t I have my own record?

You’ve proven your ability to stand alone and shine. Was that an aim of the album, to show everybody that you could do it without the backdrop of GirlSpice?

I guess so, yeah. As I said, the other two girls had their own solo careers going on and I was fed up of people looking down on me for not trying it out for myself… not that I care what other people think, of course. But it’s been a great experience to make this record, put it out there and get this huge success and really prove the haters wrong, it’s the best revenge ever! Of course, it wasn’t just that, I did have pure intentions going into this album and I had a lot of stuff I wanted to get off my chest about my previous relationship with Jackson’s father, so it was quite a cleansing experience.

You’ve had a string of number one singles from the album and on the surface it’s clear that there’s a fanbase out there for you. Will the success of “Huntress” encourage you to continue with your solo career?

People keep asking me this and I just don’t know! I’ve only just put this one out, give me a break! I’ve learnt to never say never though, because I didn’t think Huntress would ever happen, yet here we are. My solo career has so far been such a wild, fun ride, I’m definitely more open-minded and willing to record a second album if I ever feel the need to, so yeah, maybe.

So what exactly is next for you, of course you’re a mother first and foremost, but is there a possibility we could see you go out on tour on your own?

I really dislike touring actually, I find it so bizarre and inhumane, it’s like a travelling circus, just without the elephants and whatever. I like performing, just not all the travelling, it’s absolutely exhausting and a pain in the ass, to tell you the truth. So does that answer your question? (laughs) I don't know what's next, I just take one day at a time.

Nadia recently announced her Las Vegas residency, would that be something you’d consider doing as it is live performance without the challenges of travelling from city to city?

I have one album, she has many and a load of hits under her belt. Now I’m sure I could match that in the same time span she’s had, but I don’t think that’s something I’m interested in for myself, nor do I have the discography to do it. But hey, I didn’t think Nadia would ever do that because she always seemed to like travelling, but I can see why the schedule is so much more appealing than a world tour, if I was in her shoes I would have agreed to the Vegas deal too.

And speaking of Nadia, do you keep up with your bandmates. Are you all on good terms?

Yes, absolutely. Actually I saw Nadia not so long ago because I went to see her show, which is really good. I also heard Sophia’s new single on the radio and that’s also fun, so I called her up and congratulated her, so we definitely still keep in touch and support whatever we’re doing. The only thing I didn’t approve of was when Sophia was some sort of collaboration partner with Suzie, that was a hot mess and really below her. (laughs) I’m the brutally honest friend everyone needs.

As long as you three girls are still around in the industry in some form, there will always be hope of the three of you coming back together for another album or tour. Is there still a future for GirlSpice?

There’s always a future for GirlSpice, we always get back together eventually to do something because it’s what the people want, it’s also how we all started out and I think it’s important we respect our roots. We love recording and performing together, it’s great fun, but it doesn’t happen so often these days, so it’s a rare treat when it happens, for both us and the fans. Next year will actually be our ten year anniversary, so you can probably expect some sort of celebration for that.

It’s been over a month since the release of your previous single, do you have any plans to put out another single from the album in the near future or do you consider the “Huntress” era done in terms of promotion?

I feel like I’m just getting started! I’ve had… issues with the label, which has messed with scheduling promotion and everything, my release week for the album was awful, I had nothing planned to promote it and it was the fans alone that helped get it up the charts, which is amazing, but kinda tragic. Things are happening though, I’ve got a new single called "One Way Ticket" that features a great rapper called JayMay on the single mix, and I’ve got plans to release more singles after this one, gotta get them number ones, girl! (laughs)

You had a rather public falling out with your record label. What was that all about and do you see yourself having a future with Safe Haven?

Okay, here’s the story. On the release week of my single, my boss, or whatever you wanna call a boy who’s younger than me but wants to feel special, released a single that was absolutely trying to sabotage my release week, by keeping me off number one. It was a complete stab in the back, considering it was only my second single release, my label really did me wrong there and I haven’t trusted them since, I think they’re shady. Luckily, my fanbase is bigger and we got the number one eventually, but the whole situation was uncalled for, Cara. With any luck, I can get out of this contract and find a label that actually respect me, but I probably make them too much money for them to let me go. So… yeah, guess I’m stuck for now.

So, taking a look back on your career. Do you feel like you’ve achieved all that you hoped when you began and are there still some things out there that you’d like to achieve in the industry?

Absolutely, it’s amazing to be considered pop royalty and be a part of a group that’s achieved so much, beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. It’s funny to not even be 30 yet and feel like you’ve already achieved everything, but I think I have. Maybe an award or two for my solo stuff? I really don’t know, but anything at this stage is just a bonus and icing on the cake, because everything else I wanted to achieve I already have. It’s awesome.

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Alright, I’ve been looking forward to this part of the interview. It’s time for the fun part. Who in the industry should have their ‘metaphorical’ music career badge taken away from them?

Let me think, this could take a while… gosh! Who do I start with? Payton is dreadful. There’s like 10 Asian girl groups around lately and I couldn’t name one for the life of me, but they’re about as exciting as watching paint dry. Johnny Carter bores me to tears. Lincoln for that matter too, what record label decided "oh yes, another prepubescent male pop singer, just what the world needs"… no. I don’t know, I could go on and on really, Cara.

If you could form a girl band with anybody in the industry, who would you choose to have beside you?

You of course, Cara! Doesn’t matter if you can’t sing, Kimberly couldn’t either. (laughs) No shade. Umm, who else would be cool? Aikya Balan would be the weird, edgy, hipster girl but we’d get all the Tumblr teens on board, I think she’d be fun. And finally I’d pick Andrea, because every girl group needs one that looks like a lesbian, right?

Do you think Queen Alexis will ever be able to get you on her show?

Yeah, speaking of that show, what happened to that? (laughs) I’m all for charity work, but no, not this time, honey.

If you could tell the pre-fame version of yourself a piece of advice about the industry she’s about to become part of, what would you tell her and why?

I’d just say prepare yourself for the bullshit, when GirlSpice first started, the industry was so so soooo different to how it is now, we had to put up with a lot of older record executives telling us how to sell records and it was like… what?! How are you supposed to know what sells when you’re nearly dead? That stuff still happens, but it’s not around us right now. Actually, I'm experiencing the opposite, my boss is fresh out of diapers... it's a funny world.

Do you think you need a social media presence these days to be successful?

It definitely helps, but it depends on the kind of person you are, Kim Kardashian wouldn’t survive without getting her tits and ass out on social media all the time, myself however? I’m not that active on social media, yet I’ve managed to score three number one singles. So yeah, it depends on how important you are and what you’re bringing to the world.

Who do you think is the most overrated artist or group in the industry today?

Probably Lincoln, dreadful voice, dreadful face, can’t see the appeal.

And if you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be and why?

I’d love to see more artists who actually bring something new to the table, I think we’re currently stuck in this bland phase of everyone just blending together and it’s an absolute bore! I understand labels don’t make as much money as they used to and they want to stick to a formula that works, but christ, would it kill them to take a risk or two with the artists they sign? It’s worrying, I’m scared for the future of music.