Girl group Sugababes have spoken out about how their dramatic shake up changed them both physically and mentally. 

The current longest standing member, Heidi Range, cleared up ongoing speculation about Keisha Buchanan's departure and admitted that "a lot of people still don't realise that me and Amelle actually left the band. We never kicked Keisha out but we were labelled the b*tches." 

"We were in LA and told the label we wanted to leave, but they asked us to stay and told us they had a replacement for Keisha in mind. Jade was then flown in and straight away we were filming the video for About A Girl. It was such a bizarre time."

Amelle Berrabah opened up about what happened after Buchanan left the band and explained that her own weight gain of 1½st did nothing but contribute to her wave of depression:

"I was very low. I've never been like that before, so down. It was a very hard time for me. And Heidi. It was the first time I'd felt paranoid about putting on a swimming costume, she says. "And I was made very aware of the weight I'd put on. It was during a time when everything was screwed up. Now I'm in a much better place."

Jade Ewen, who joined Sugababes in '09 as Buchanan's replacement, told Fabulous magazine that she had a hard time dealing with the negativity thrown at her once she accepted the job:

"Heidi and Amelle think I had it the hardest. As far as I was concerned, I'd been given this amazing opportunity and I took it. Nothing could have prepared me for the backlash. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"I never had a problem with Keisha. She never did anything to me. I was thrown into a situation and I had no choice but to deal with it. We're not best friends, but at least we can say hi to each other. I've grown a thicker skin over the last couple of years. I've had to."

Watch a brand new interview with the girls here: