Charlotte Church: 'Every time I put my head above the parapet I feel stupid'

As a child, I was often in my own world. I was an imaginative child, spending hours playing alone, lost in my creativity. That's where I was happiest.

It takes a whole village to raise a child. I grew up surrounded by an extended family and am also raising my own family with a community. For young people, this means strength and depth in their care. Parents can avoid isolation. Having kids is a big job - sharing makes it happier.

Fame was hard to handle as a teenager. The majority were unpleasant. Staying in Wales, among my people, that's how I survived. Everyone wanted me to move to Los Angeles. It would have changed the course of my career. I would have had a different life. But I was determined to stay in Wales and I will never regret it.

I have total faith in humanity and always will. I am not naive. I know darkness and pain. But I've seen what's on the other side. This is why my total commitment to trying to save the world knows no bounds. Everyone has the ability to grow and change, that's the only constant.

Checking your emails all the time is one of my bad habits. Before it was worse, I was compulsively on my smartphone. For a while I switched to a Nokia 3310 and white noise rose from my mind. I reclaimed time, space and energy for my own ideas. Still, I'm a work in progress.

The secret to a happy relationship is awareness. If you're stuck in a rut and keep getting upset, chances are you're not seeing through your partner's eyes. Rubbing awareness on a situation helps. Connect to their point of view. It's worth it.

The secret to getting through a breakup is wine.

Speaking truths that defy the tide dominant is a risk, whether on feminism, the climate crisis, anti-austerity, or whatever. Every time I put my head above the parapet, people laugh at me and I feel stupid and small. Being compliant would be easier, not forgetting mine. But that's not why I'm on this earth.

Losing people terrifies me. I created ceremonies and rituals to help me honor, move through, and let go; spaces in the forest and the garden where I can cry, cry and remember. But even if I try to think beyond my own fleshy prism, it sucks. The abundance of nature is soothing.

I feel powerful when I sing. For a long time, I did not connect to my voice. I was almost going to turn off, microphone in hand, and think of something else, while waiting for it to be over. Today, I experience music in a different way: it's elemental and moving.

If I could give my teenage years one piece of advice, it would be this: " Don't stress about these boys, they're assholes."

Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads. I want this to be my funeral song. This is the track I'll play to start a party. It's deep, casting a lyrical spell. And it's funky as shit, that bubbly baseline. Every time I hear it, I wanna open arms and spinning.

I've been a caged bird for too long It's taken a lot of work to break free from so much conditioning I'm almost ready embodying the wild woman now, she's bubbling inside me. I'm not quite sure who she is yet, but I can feel her rising in my belly.

Charlotte Church's Dream Build is on Really to p From 9 p.m. on October 5, catch up with Discovery+