Nicole Scherzinger is one of the stars of the Vibe magazine’s March edition. Nicole appears stunning in the photos, check the scans in our gallery and also the interview.

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I am the antithesis of a Pussycat Dolls,” says Nicole Scherzinger. As she’s perched on a parlor chair anda waiting for her English Breakfast, you can kind of see what she means. She speaks, barely above a whisper, with an elegant drawl. She’s in a drapey grey top, cropped jacket and expensive-look-ing leggings. She has excellent posture. She smells like fancy pastry.

Every pop star will tell you there’s the Person You See and the Real Them. With Scherzinger, who has been in show business for a decade, the difference has thus far been hard to discern. That’s probably because she rose to stardom as a member of a group you had to audition to get into, and her first solo album was delayed and ultimately shelved. Now, with Killer Love, Scherzinger has her first real shot at showing the world the real her – beyond the girl anthems and fishnets, elaborate stage shows and sexy dance moves.

Not that those are going anywhere, necessarily. Scherzinger is a natural onstage; she’s been doing it since she was a theater geek in high school. “I am a performer first”, she says. “I become a raw beast!” But he also has a softer side, she says and a depth of experience she’s compelled to share with other women. As a singer.

She had another opportunity in the X Factor, which won’t see the leggy judge participate in season two. The trappings of reality TV have pit Simon Cowell against her – he called her a ditz recently – but whether it’s in earnest, or because ir maked for good TV, she isn’t bothered. The show gave her a chance to do something else entirely. “I think the biggest thing I have going for me is my heart, as cheesy as that sounds. I cared so much about the contestants and wanted to make sure we bring out the best in them.”

As for Cowell? “Simon is just afraid of me,” she says with a wry laugh. “I know I’m not ditzy like Daffy Duck and if I seem that way, maybe it’s just me being coy.” The real Scherzinger might be a softie, and a clever one at that. But she can still show her teeth if she needs to.

Siobhan O´Connor.