The blonde singer has publicly struggled with her weight since finding fame in pop group Steps.

Richards - who battled both bulimia and anorexia in the band's heyday - has now embraced her more natural frame, telling the Daily Mail: "Make the most of your curves, don't hide them. I'm all about the curves."

Richards - who has fluctuated between a UK size 10 and 20 in the past - was recently revealed as the face of plus-sized clothing line Fashion World.

She explained: "A big thing with my weight and my size and the kind of yo-yo cycle and what I struggled a lot with when I first put the weight on, was knowing how to dress. If I go out ok I’m not a size ten I will make the most of what I have got and hopefully I will look nice. It’s not about whether you look skinny, you don’t have to because not everybody is.

The singer continued: "I think with Fashion World they concentrate heavily on the issues that women worry about with their body."

The 2012 edition of the reality TV show kicks off tonight (January 3) and its line-up has yet to be revealed to the public.

However, a suggestive tweet from Richards hinted that she could be set to enter the house. The Steps lady said:

"Right my lovely tweethearts! I wont be able to tweet you for a while…. so please follow @UrbanAssociates whilst i'm away… lots of love C."

Her husband Reece Richards reportedly later tweeted via her account: "Hi, it's Reece here (Claire's husband) Just got home from work, she's not here and her suitcases are missing. Anyone got any ideas?!!"

Other names linked with appearing on the show include 2012 X Factor contestant Rylan Clark and Lindsay Lohan.

The '5, 6, 7, 8' hitmakers - comprising Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian 'H' Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee - reformed last year after disbanding in 2001.

Steps - who scored 14 consecutive top 5 singles in the UK in the five years they were together - were disappointed to learn they would not be included in this year's The X Factor.

Speaking to Digital Spy Tozer revealed: "Lots of people have said they'd love to have a Steps week. Unfortunately everything was completely booked up - it's just one of those things," before Watkins added: "They wouldn't have us!"

Latchford-Evans continued: "It would be good to go on X Factor and perform and have an X Factor week."

Steps also weighed in on controversial contestant Rylan Clark who has divided public opinion with his flamboyant stage routines, cheeky charm and ever-bubbly personality.

Richards jokingly said of the wannabe star: "I think he's probably got quite a lot of Steps inside of him!"

It hit shelves at The Fragrance Shop on Monday, November 12 and despite being packaged as a mirrored disco-ball, 'Guilty Pleasure' has shifted enough units to beat the likes of Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Madonna in sales and is now the store's No.1 selling scent.

The perfume has been described as "a dazzling fruity floral fragrance designed for fun loving women" and Daniel Thompson, spokesman for The Fragrance Shop, explained that it wasn't expected to do so well commercially:

"Celebrity fragrances are certainly on the up in the fragrance world with more people turning to celebrity scents that ever before. The latest launch from Steps has seen them shoot to the top of the celebrity fragrance chart beating Britney, Lady Gaga and Madonna."

"The disco ball bottle, fun floral scent and long awaited return reunion for fans proved too much of a temptation for their guilty pleasure."

Watch a recent interview with Steps below:

The 90s pop phenomenon, who reformed last year for a lengthy arena tour following their Sky Living documentary, will release the track on October 22.

The wintry ballad, the band’s first official single since 2001’s ‘Words Are Not Enough,’ is the first release to be taken from their brand new Christmas album of the same name (November 12).

Steps will also embark on a six-date tour starting at Plymouth Pavilions on November 30 in support of the record, whilst a live DVD of their previous tour will be released on October 29. 

Speaking to The Sun's TV Buzz, which is due to be published tomorrow (April 21), the reunited Steps unveiled a somewhat darker side.

Ian 'H' Watkins revealed that the band once drank Justin Timberlake "under the table" and that the pop group are "only human" when it comes to indulging in some debauchery. When asked about life on tour back in the day, H replied:

"You don't even want to know the things we got up to!"

He continued: "Everyone thought we were whiter than white, but we're only human. One night we all went out with *NSync and drank Justin Timberlake under the table!"

H added that the band's tour bus will be full of alcohol - with everything from wine to martini. He said:

"It's going to be stocked with booze...and nappies. Lisa's got me on to rosé and Claire's got me into French martinis. And Lee will be on his protein shakes. We want wine and he wants a blender!"

The reunited pop group are playing a slew of dates across the country, with the first gig taking place in Belfast last night (April 2).

Digital Spy reports that the band played a number covers and tribute mash-ups, paying homage to the likes of Lady Gaga's 'Judas' and Rihanna's 'S&M'.

They also doffed their hats to Maroon 5's massive hit 'Moves Like Jagger' and Chris Brown's 'Beautiful People'.

Their tour takes them to Liverpool tonight (April 3) before heading off around the country to play Scotland and then England.

Reports surfaced last month that Sony reneged on a deal which would have seen the newly reunited quintet release the long-awaited follow-up to 2000’s 'Buzz.'

However, the 37-year-old said told The Daily Star that the group didn’t have any concrete plans to head back into the recording studio:

“There’s talk of a new album but it’s just speculation.

“We would love to do it but we haven’t actually sat down with anyone to discuss how Steps might work in the modern world, and with which producers.”

The ‘Tragedy’ stars, who yesterday were announced on the bill for July’s PWL reunion show in Hyde Park, will kick off their sell-out UK & Ireland arena tour in Belfast on Apr 2 and Lee says that the group will not disappoint:

“We ain’t got any elephants on stage but we’ve got a few things the fans really want.”

The band got back together for one initial series on Sky Living last year, documenting their return to the big time.

They soon announced an arena tour of the country - prompting the TV channel to recommission the programme for another run.

Sky Living director Jane Johnson said:

"We were all hooked on Steps Reunion as we watched the band talk candidly about one of the biggest pop fall-outs in recent history. So we're thrilled to be giving our customers the opportunity to follow them on the next leg of their journey - their huge comeback tour."

The group, who recently announced their reunion, shot to the top of the UK albums chart on Sunday, October 16, with 'The Ultimate Collection' and are set to perform a series of live comeback concerts next year in April. 

Demand for tickets has been so overwhelming that the 'One For Sorrow' stars have been forced to add new dates so that fans get a chance to see them. The new shows will take place at the following venues around the UK:

• April 20 - London, O2 Arena
• April 22 - Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
• April 23 - Glasgow, Braehead Arena
• April 25 - Birmingham, LG Arena
• April 26 - Manchester, MEN Arena
• April 27 - Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena

Watch the group's recent interview on This Morning below: