I wouldn't say my mother was my best friend, because that sounds odd, but we have a really tight bond and she is my friend on Facebook. Although she only goes on it to check up on me and sometimes we argue about it.

It's not about being thin, it's about being healthy. And when you are a child you like to eat all these unhealthy things like chocolate and sweets. Oh my God. I love strawberries dipped in chocolate and Lion bars and Toffee Crisps - and as you grow up, you have to learn that those things are only good in moderation or you will become very fat.

My mum wants the best for me. And I like having my mum around me.

One Direction are super cool.

Early on I saw the plastic quality in colored people and had friends among them; and later was to work from colored models and friends, including Paul Robeson, whose splendid head I worked from in New York. I tried to draw Chinamen in their quarter, but the Chinese did not like being drawn and would immediately disappear when they spotted me.

I try not to carry any character back home because that would be extremely frustrating for my family.

I grew up with singers. My father's mother sang opera. My dad was a big band singer. I can't remember a time there wasn't music in the house, so I grew up listening to great songwriters - George Gershwin, Cole Porter - and my grandma was playing opera for me before I was 3.

Everything happens for a reason. I'm used to it, I prepare for it. Like I say, at the end of the day, those in charge of their own destiny are going to do what's right for them and their family.