She’s the 19-year-old, cute-as-a-button teen pop sensation who got her start after a chance meeting with Ed Sheeran. But Nina Nesbitt isn’t your average teenage girl. For starters, her (also teenage) mates hate Twitter – pretty refreshing in a world where Union J trend with semi-alarming regularity. She’s also rubbish at walking in heels and can’t go to bed after a night out without tucking into a pot of Super Noodles. Sounds like our kind of girl. We talked to her about refusing to take off her clothes, The Brits, and her army of ‘Nesbians.’
The Debrief: Hey! Are you going to the Brit Awards tomorrow?
Nina Nesbitt: Yeah – well, I’m in Manchester. I’m doing a signing. I’m going to rush for the train afterwards and run to the Universal party.
DB: So, you’ll miss the ceremony, but you’ll go to the party afterwards?
NN: Yeah, I think the party’s the most fun bit, though.
DB: Do you know what you’re going to wear yet?
NN: No idea! Last year, I went really, well, fancy for me. I wore a dress with heels and I shouldn’t have worn heels. I can’t walk in them to save my life.
DB: Us neither – did you fall over?
NN: I actually took them off within 10 minutes and everyone was just staring at me and my bare feet. It was a bit strange.
DB: How does choosing what to wear work, when you go to events like the Brits? Do people send you clothes to wear?
NN: I just see what’s in my wardrobe! Last time, though, I was really busy during the day – I was filming a video and I was up all day in the freezing cold. I had to run home, and rush to get ready. I literally just grabbed all the clothes out of my wardrobe, laid them out on the bed and tried to pick something. And I made the mistake of picking a dress with heels, so I’m not doing that again.
DB: What’s your usual getting-ready ritual?
NN: My house back home was the place for pre-drinks with all the girls because I had a big mirror in my room. I’m really busy at the moment and usually in a rush so I tend to wash my hair, then frantically dry it and just pick out whatever I see in my wardrobe.
DB: What about on the way home? Are you a cheesy chips kind of girl?
NN: Ha ha! I usually buy Super Noodles from the nearest newsagent's. It’s my ritual. I have a glass of water, then a bowl of Super Noodles. I always think I’m a really good cook when I come back after a night out and I’m not. I'm surprised there haven’t been any house fires yet. But I always cook something and then my hangover's gone in the morning, which is good!
DB: So, when you get the chance to go home, what’s the best night out you can have in Edinburgh?
NN: I used to love going to all the clubs when I was younger and now, when I go back, I feel like Edinburgh’s so small. Plus, people start going out really early as well. I think when you’ve been to all the clubs it can get a bit boring so I prefer just to see my friends because we don’t get to see each other that often. Going to a club can be a bit annoying when there’s really loud music – you can’t catch up.
DB: Can you tell us who or what ‘Nesbians’ are?
NN: My fans decided they needed a name for our little family and they suggested ‘Nesbians’ and it just sort of caught on! It's pretty cool. They're really sweet and they all come to the gigs in the T-shirts and everything. I've had a lot of turtles sent to me, too. They bring them to gigs as well – it's quite bizarre.
DB: Last year, a pap took a photo of you in your bikini without you knowing – was that creepy?
NN: Yeah, it was really creepy. I had no idea it was happening, like, at all. To be honest, I don’t expect to be papped on the beach far away from home. It's not like I’m Justin Bieber or anything. It was really strange. The next day, I was lying on a sunbed and saw someone had Tweeted me an article link. Even my fans were like: ‘What's the need for this?’ I mean they gave me like a nice review, which was great, but I didn’t really want the whole world to see me in my bikini.
DB: Especially not in your own time. Do you ever get any pressure to make like Miley and wear fewer clothes?
NN: My label has never said to do anything like that. I got asked to do a shoot for a mens' magazine and I was like: ‘Oh, maybe I could do one about keeping your clothes on and how you can be attractive in a more feminine way.’ The label were just like: ‘No, Nina. You’re not doing that.’ So they’re really good about it. I’ve never felt pressure. I sometimes think that you see these girls at the top of the charts and realise that sex would obviously sell, but I’d rather sell less and be in clothes than sell more and be wearing nothing.
DB: You’re obviously all over Twitter and Instagram because of your job – do you ever get sick of it?
NN: Yeah, it does become a bit of an obsession. If I wasn’t doing music, I wouldn’t have a Twitter account. Or an Instagram one. I really only use them to keep up with fans and post stuff about my music and fashion. You can start living your life through the internet, which is not good. I think so many people rely on it for to communicate with people and they forget how to communicate in real life, which can be a bit strange.
DB: Don’t you think you’d get FOMO if you weren’t on Twitter?
NN: To be honest, not a lot of my friends are on Twitter. We're all friends on Facebook, but a lot of my friends are like: ‘I don’t want to share my life on the internet. I’m just at uni and I don’t want to be telling people everything I’m up to.’ I kind of agree with them. I just do it to get my music out there and it’s a really good way to chat to fans. But I told my friends to get on Twitter and they were like: ‘No - there’s absolutely no point.’
Nina's album Peroxide is out now.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.