Amelle Berrabah

Amelle Berrabah (born 16th April 1984) is a English singer-songwriter and part of the British girlgroup the Sugababes. She replaced Mutya Buena in the band following her leave in late December 2005. Since then, Amelle has been part of 5 albums, and has had 14 singles with the band. She has also achieved a number one single in 2009, Never Leave You, with Tinchy Stryder.

Early Years
Berrabah was born in Aldershot, Hampshire on the 22nd April 1984 to a family of Moroccan decent and a Muslim background. They owned a kebab shop which they lived next to. Amelle has four sisters and one brother, including Zakiya, Samiya and Nora, all of which Amelle is very close to. She got a scholarship to the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, since her parents couldn't afford for her to attend the school without one. Amelle won Top of the Pop magazine's Star Search in 2003, giving her the chance to be in a band with members from the UK and the US, but the group never surfaced.

At the age of 13, Amelle held down two jobs, one of which in a cafe. She said that she used to dodge train fares to go and wait outside record companies to listen to her sing. She has also said that she used to work in a call centre, which she hated so much that she just left on her dinner break one day.

She and her sister Samiya were in a band called Boo2, who went on to record an album, but they were dropped from the label. German group ‘Monrose’ covered a song called ‘Ooh La La’ and Room2012 covered ‘Naughty But Nice’ and ‘Head Bash’. They are the only songs that have so far been leaked, along with the CD cover of their unreleased album. The small amount of copies available means that it will be unlikely anymore will leak.

Joining the Sugababes
Amelle and Samiya done some showcasing in America, and the Babes’ manager Mark Hargreaves spotted her. When Mutya decided to leave in December 2005, Mark remembered Amelle and she travelled to London to audition for the band. She recorded three tracks, and then Mark, Heidi and Keisha went out into a car and listened to them. They loved Amelle and knew immediately that she was the girl to spend the rest of their journey with. One day after it was announced that Mutya had left the band, it was announced that Amelle had replaced her on the Official Sugababes website.

Legal Issues
In February 2007, Amelle's now ex-boyfriend Freddie Fuller was arrested on the suspected rape of her younger sister Samiya along with three other men. She said that they had videoed the incident and uploaded it to popular video site Youtube. However, he was 5 miles away from the alleged incident at his parent's home, and Samiya ended up saying it may have been a ‘bad dream’. Freddie even taken lying dectector tests to prove his innocence to Amelle. Amelle got a lot of abuse from this news, angry fans even going so far as to slash her tyres. Despite this, Amelle got back together with Freddie in the end.

Also in February, Amelle’s elder sister, Zakiya, who is bipolar, was arrested on suspicion of theft. She reportedly stole a ring from a dead patient’s finger, and stole from other colleagues and patients in the Royal Surrey County Hospital where she works to fund her shopping problems. She then spent £3, 220 in House of Fraser with the things she stole. She later admitted to what she done.

On the 28th April 2007, Amelle was arrested for a suspected attack on an 18-year-old girl in the Bar Med Club in Guildford, Surrey. She spent the night in a cell but was released the next day, when she was due to travel to America with the other girls. Amelle said that they girl said that she was now ‘going to be famous like Amelle’ by being in the newspapers.

On Christmas Eve, 2007, Amelle’s ex-boyfriend Freddie Fuller was the victim of a machete attack in Aldershot whilst Amelle was with her sisters Zakiya and Nora in the Queen Victoria pub. He required a double kidney transplant. The attacker, Jimmy Wenman, received 12 years in jail in 2009.

On the 10th January 2008, Amelle was arrested for criminal damage and a public order defense, allegedly attacking a neighbour’s car. The incident happened on the 9th, in her hometown of Aldershot.

On the 6th January 2009, Amelle’s fashion designer friend Nicole Sconciaforni was arrested as a result of having no license to drive her car. She and Amelle had spent the night at Mahiki Club, in London when they went outside and sat in the car to have a drink and to smoke. The police taken them out of the car and talked to them both.

On the 26th April 2009, Freddie Fuller’s family attacked Amelle’s sister Zakiya following Amelle and Freddie’s split. Zakiya and Amelle were in a taxi together, and Amelle was dropped off higher up the street whilst Zakiya continued down the road to a shop.

Relationships
Amelle has only had one boyfriend since she joined the band, tree surgeon Freddie Fuller, and they were together before she became a member. They had the same anniversary as fellow member Heidi Range and her boyfriend Dave Berry, even down to the year.

Following the allegation that Fuller had raped Amelle's sister Samiya, Amelle understandably broke up with him. However, they got back together after Samiya admitted it 'could have been a dream' and Freddie's innocence was proved.

In early 2009, Amelle broke up with Freddie after she 'found out things she never knew about him' and she felt stupid for not realising. Following their breakup, Freddie has tried to get back with her and his family have even attacked her sister Samiya.

Since their split, Amelle has been seen with one man who she did go on one date with, but it never went any further than that.

Health
After Freddie's attack in 2007, Amelle lost a lot of weight, so much that she couldn't even look herself in the mirror because she was so skinny. Luckily, she piled back on the pounds and is back to a normal weight.

Following Keisha's departure from the band, there was obviously a lot of pressure on Amelle which took it's toll on her in the end, and was diagnosed with Nervous Exhaustion. She went to a private clinic in Austria to get back on her feet and to get better.