Rachel Stevens has been away for too long. Sure, the demands of motherhood quite legitimately expect full and devoted attention, but little Amelie’s gain has surely been the music industry’s loss … Thankfully, the ‘Sweet Dreams My LA Ex’ and ‘Some Girls’ singer is back – revived, revitalised, and looking as stunning as ever.

And this time, as well as the music, she carries with her some rather engaging research about the partying habits of the female population. But first, the music … “I’m in the studio again, and it feels brilliant to be back doing it,” she begins. “It feels like the right time. Music’s something I absolutely love. It makes me feel complete. But this time I’m changing things around a bit – a new sound, a bit of a departure from what I did before, and exciting times.”

The mum of one, regularly voted one of the sexiest women on the planet by FHM readers, toyed with the idea of an acting career, winning supporting roles in such intellectual fare as Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and ITV drama Susie Gold, and even uprooted herself to LA to pursue her on-screen dream. So are there any plans to step in front on the lens again?

“Nothing at the moment, but you never know. If something comes up, maybe, but I’m really busy with everything else going on, so it’s not my main priority. For the time being at least, I’m going to keep my focus in the studio.” She adds: “I loved my time out in LA, I didn’t do it solely for the purpose of my career; I just really fancied a change as well. I did go for lots of auditions and worked on my music, but nothing concrete came out of it. But give me the chance; I would jump at an opportunity to move out there again for a while. Maybe when Amelie’s older? The lifestyle is second to none.”

For the time being, Stevens – the face of the Baileys drink and their ‘Add a Little Something’ campaign – is busy encouraging women to have their girlfriends round for a fun night in. With going out becoming much more expensive, it’s a notion that sits nicely with newfound motherhood and the constant need for babysitters!

“Everything has changed so dramatically really,” she says. “Nothing could have prepared me for it. I’m up early every morning, and I’m not great at getting up early. At least I wasn’t before … I’m better now. We used to go out all the time at the drop of a hat but we can’t do that now. It takes so much forward planning. Everything changes. We’re responsible for this little person. But I’m in love with her, she’s such a great girl, so good, has never really cried, and makes it very easy for us. And we’ve great support from family about the area.

“But it’s been really interesting getting involved with the Baileys campaign as well. People are socialising in different ways than they used to. I’ve loved the drink for years, and was interested to hear that 73% of women never or only get together on special occasions for girly nights. I think the credit crunch has had a real effect on that, so we’re calling for girls to get involved in and inspired to be going out or staying in more – whatever, as long as they are enjoying themselves. Whatever we do in life, everyone needs a bit of a break.”

So while she’s out enjoying herself, Rachel’s putting on hold plans to extend the family?! “Amelie’s magical, and a delightful thing. At some point, yes, I love more kids, but right now, we’re happy with just the one extra mouth to feed!”