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Born in Canada, Natalie and Nicole Appleton are singers best known as members of the group All Saints. Raised between Ontario, London and New York, the sisters joined the band in 1996 alongside Shaznay Lewis and Melanie Blatt. After the success of their self-titled 1997 debut and a string of hits including the chart-topping singles Never Ever and Pure Shores, All Saints split in 2001. The sisters released music together as Appleton in 2002, and have since reunited with All Saints for three albums. Appleton’s new single, Falling Into You, is out now.

Nicole

If I had to revisit one moment from my life, it would be this – riding my bike around London with my sister during what felt like an endless summer holiday. Not only because it was great fun, but because I could never ride my bike as much as I did when I was six. I’d be exhausted and would get bum ache from being on the seat for too long.

I have three big sisters, so I was always dressed in hand-me-downs. Nat was really good at saving up her pocket money and going to the market to get a nice top, whereas if I had a spare 70p, I’d go straight to the sweet shop. Fortunately for me I would often inherit her clothes at some point, such as the top I’m wearing here.

Even though we grew up in the middle of London, our childhood felt as if we were in the countryside. We were always outside with a big gang of friends, and we knew everyone from every flat, from punk rockers to older people, dogs and teenagers.

We look mischievous in that photo, but we never caused any trouble – apart from the occasional time we knocked on a door and ran away. If we got tired, everyone would head back to whoever’s place was nearest and stand around the kitchen tap guzzling water. Orange squash if we were really lucky.

I always wanted to perform. Around the time this picture was taken, Mum said to me, “Nic, I got you an audition.” I was so little I had no idea what that meant, so I turned up to Sylvia Young [theatre school] and danced away to Flashdance. There was no pre-planned choreography or sense of pressure. I did a couple of cartwheels, and that was enough to get in.

Sylvia Young was the best school ever. Back then it was one big class, and I was the youngest by a long way. Emma Bunton was there, too – she’s exactly the same as she was then, a person with such a sweet, kind nature. Eventually, Nat joined, because she and I always wanted to stick together.

Mel [Blatt] and I were instantly best friends when we met at the age of 11 at Sylvia Young. After we graduated, we went our separate ways until I bumped into her at a cafe where I worked when I was 19. She told me she was in a band with Shaznay and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, because I loved to sing. Once Mel and I reconnected, it was like no time had passed. Just like Sylvia Young, Nat quickly joined us, too, and that was it.

Nat was and is my home away from home and a total comfort during the craziness of All Saints. Working with my sister put no pressure on our relationship at all – we were always together as kids, and we didn’t know anything different. When we started to have families we would spend every holiday together, too. Just after Gene [Gallagher, son of Liam] was born, we had one Christmas with Nat and Liam [Howlett of the Prodigy, Nat’s husband] where the turkey took for ever to cook, and everyone was so pissed we ended up getting KFC.

Gene was actually the one who suggested that my sister and I make more music again. We were chatting and he said, “Mum, why don’t you just go in the studio with Auntie Nat? See what happens.” Encouragement from my son felt like a real endorsement, and working with my sister is easy – it’s the most comfortable and natural I could feel.

I’m proud of our relationship. We’ve never been in separate mindsets or pulled in different directions. We’ve gone through it all together and, while we don’t share bunk beds any more, we’re still in contact with each other a hundred times a day. What do we talk about? Not much. Married at First Sight Australia, mostly.

Natalie

This is my happy place. I was nine, wearing a top from the market and posing with my bike outside our estate in west London. Nic and I loved those bikes – we treated them as if they were cars – getting our hands covered in grease and pretending we were mechanics. This little area of concrete is where all the other estates joined up, and it was the space where we would go roller-skating or wash people’s cars. We charged 10p a vehicle. A lucrative way to make money in the 80s.

My dad is from Bow, and my mum is from Birmingham. They emigrated to Canada but Dad wanted to be back in England, so we moved to London when I was around five. The American accents come from the two years we lived in New York when I was 11. We wanted to fit in, so it just stuck.

We had the greatest childhood in London. It was a real community full of loads of kids and street parties. Whatever was going on, Nic was always with me – my bookend, my best friend, my cute little sister with big brown eyes. Our temperaments were the same – playful and easygoing – although I’ve always been a bit more serious. Nic and I didn’t squabble, but I sometimes did with my older sisters.

Even though there were four of us in All Saints, being sisters didn’t alter the dynamic of the group. We were all on the same page – there was no us v them. It was such a crazy time for all of us, and it took me by surprise entirely. I remember when we had our first meetings with the record company and I saw a piece of paper with our schedule on it. I asked what ROW meant and someone said “rest of world”. I was shocked – I didn’t realise the magnitude of what we were about to do.

The 90s were lavish and there was a lot more money in the industry, but paying our advance back took a long, long time. There were so many fun opportunities – The Big Breakfast, Live and Kicking, CD:UK and Top of the Pops. Sometimes, presenters did just ask us about our boyfriends or how we looked, but that was just the done thing back then. We had to get used to it. The whole All Saints experience was like being caught up in a whirlwind. By 2001, when the group ended, it was like a pressure cooker. We ultimately needed to stop things for a while, but not for ever.

Nic and I still talk on the phone every day and while I’ll always say “Love you” – I should really tell her that I love her properly more often. Because the older I get, the more I admire who she has become. She is a great mum, a great auntie and, whatever we are going through, she’s always got my back. I couldn’t live without her.