Award-winning singer, Ella Eyre wanted to swim not sing her way to success. She tells Gabrielle Fagan how Adele changed her life, but admits stardom and love can bring their problems. 

Ella Eyre tosses back her distinctive mane of corkscrew curls and laughs, as she reveals an unexpected downside of happiness.

Although she's enjoying success as one of the most exciting rising stars in the music world, and also head-over-heels in love, that enviable combo of stellar success and romance is causing a problem.

"It's mind-blowing and I couldn't ask for things to be going any better, but the trouble is, I don't have any heartbreak in my life! I know it sounds weird and I don't actually want to be sad, but it would probably be good [for my career]," jokes the 22-year-old singer-songwriter.

Eyre won Best Newcomer at the MOBO awards in 2014 with her gritty soulful voice, following that with Best Female Act last year. She originally found fame in 2013 performing vocals on Waiting All Night with drum and bass group Rudimental, which was a UK number one and won a Brit Award.

Last year, her debut solo album Feline, a mix of pop soul and fizzing dance rhythms and a follow-up to her hit Deeper, reached number four in the charts.

"The problem now is I've got a bit of writer's block because I'm quite happy at the moment - not particularly angry or sad about anything, so I'm finding writing slightly harder," she says wryly. "I express all my emotions through my music, but you can only write so many happy songs - nobody really wants to know how happy you are all the time!"

Eyre's currently dating Rixton drummer Lewi Morgan, 28, who she teasingly describes as "potentially 'The One'", but she knows only too well the power and appeal of songs emoting about the ups-and-downs of love.

Seeing Adele perform her heart-wrenching hit, Someone Like You, when Eyre was a lovelorn 17-year-old, changed her life and inspired her to pursue a career as a pop star.

"I was going through the toughest time in my life, a really upsetting teenage break-up, and went on a school trip to the 2011 Brit Awards. I was in the gods in a rubbish seat and filmed it. When you watch it again you can hear me crying. It was a real turning point," says Eyre, who was then a musical theatre student at Croydon's BRIT school, a performing arts college whose famous alumni include Adele herself, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J and Leona Lewis.

"That song meant so much to me because it's so true, and to be able to sing those words and touch somebody you don't know is amazing. I thought, 'Wow, I'd really love to do what she does and reach out to people just like her'. I knew that, not musical theatre, was the path for me."

Eyre - who grew up in Ealing, West London, the daughter of a cake designer and whose father, a chef, has lived in Jamaica all her life - wasn't destined for show business. She won a swimming scholarship to a private boarding school in Somerset, but chronic 'swimmer's ear' (inflammation of the ear canal) curtailed a promising competitive career, and so she channelled her energies into drama before leaving at 16 to go to the BRIT School.

"I was named after Ella Fitzgerald and music was always a big part of my life. When I was a kid I was listening to Lauryn Hill, Etta James, Joss Stone. For me, it was always about the voice," says Eyre, who is joining Take That at Barclaycard British Summer Time Hyde Park concert in July.

"I was always overloaded with energy, competitive and a perfectionist, even as a kid. Although I was in touch with my dad all the time and we have a good relationship, my mum brought me up. I was fortunate to have one parent who was as strong as two. She's very driven and encouraged me to work hard.

"She told me, 'Nobody likes a teenager so use your teenage years to work. Then enjoy your life when you're slightly older'. I followed that advice and it's helped that I'm a strong personality and more mature than my years, because this business is demanding, physically and emotionally. You need to develop a thick skin to survive."

Her career is going from strength to strength, another album's in the pipeline, and she even has an Ella Eyre's Hair Twitter account celebrating her lion-like mane - her logo is a drawing of a lion wearing a crown - but she's modest about her achievements.

"Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can't believe I've come as far as I have in such a short time, but I'm never content and I always want to achieve more. I don't really feel any different from before all this happened.

"It's quite a shock if people recognise me and come up and say, 'I love your music'. I get a bit blown away by that and love it, but I'm quite a private person too so I can be a bit shy. I still like cosy nights in and Chinese takeaways. My way of de-stressing is gaming, as it's really relaxing escaping from reality," says Eyre, who's the new Nintendo 3DS ambassador.

She says being mature for her age and having the support of her boyfriend helps her cope with the pressures of performing and touring.

"It's lovely to be so close to Lewi and have him to turn to, because he's in the same business and totally understands what's going on for me. You need somebody who's patient and as busy and in demand as you emotionally, because they just 'get it' and know what you're going through. Ours was a friendship which grew over time.

"I don't know what the future holds," adds Eyre. "I was always taught to take my opportunities and to be nice to everybody you meet, because you never know when you'll meet them again or how they might help you in the future. It's so simple and not hard to do.

"I'm just enjoying my life and seeing how far I can go."

Ella Eyre is an ambassador for Nintendo 3DS. To see her latest video, visit www.youtube.com/NintendoUKofficial