Amelle Berrabah talks of time spent in recovery

Amelle Berrabah spent her time in a recovery centre jumping in cold lakes and cycling.

The 25-year-old singer - who was sent to an Austrian rehab centre last month after the pressure of the Sugababes recent line-up change took its toll - just needed a place to go to "make sense of the madness".

She said in an interview with Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Everything had just got too much for me to cope with in recent months. Part of the programme was centred around exercise and I was cycling around all the time. I cycled a lot, disappearing into the forest.

"I jumped in a freezing cold lake. They told me that it was really good for my skin so me and this other girl just threw ourselves in. You literally can't feel your legs and your hands because it is so cold. It was just a really refreshing time away."

In September, Keisha Buchanan - one the pop trio's founding members - was ousted from the girl group after months of feuds and was replaced by 21-year-old Jade Ewen.

Keisha, 25, recently said: "I've cried so many tears. I'm over the worst. I believe I am stronger for it all."