Sophie Ellis-Bextor will 'always choose' her husband over her children

Sophie Ellis-Bextor will always "choose" her husband over her children.

The Murder on the Dancefloor hitmaker has been married to Richard Jones - with whom she has sons Sonny, 21, Kit, 16, Ray, 13, Jesse, nine, and six-year-old Mickey - since 2005 and she credits some advice she was given from her mother, Janet Ellis, for their long relationship as the former Blue Peter presenter told them to always put each other before anyone else.

She told the new issue of Good Housekeeping UK magazine: “When we got married, we’d already had our first baby.

“My mum said: ‘Make sure you always choose each other over anything else, even the kids.'

"She was right. Even though the kids might roll their eyes if they see us hugging or whatever, they’re happy that we’re happy. And we have fun as a family, too. Last year, they came with us for a lot of the tour.”

Janet lives around the corner from Sophie's family and the pair are "very close".

The 46-year-old singer said: “We’re very close. [She’s] always been so good at encouraging me and giving me the toolkit I need to get out and do what I do. Raising a family alongside that is a constant thing.”