Sarah Harding rolls her eyes, crosses her arms, and gives us a look we imagine she perfected while playing a sulky schoolgirl on the set of her new film, St Trinian’s 2. We’ve asked about her party-girl reputation. And that, she insists, is just not her these days. She’s using a year off from Girls Aloud to get herself taken seriously – both as an actress, and as a person, too.

“People are so stuck in the past,” she sighs. “Why is everyone obsessed with my drinking? I do have another side. But people don’t pap me going to business meetings or cooking dinner. That caner tag, it’s not me and I’m sick of it.”

We’re confused. At today’s shoot a newspaper lies on the table, showing a picture of Sarah, 28, coming out of her favourite London haunt, Mahiki, with Marvin Humes from JLS. “It was a business meeting,” she says adamantly. Because as well as being an actress – she’s here to talk about her latest role as school rebel Roxy in the St Trinian’s saga – Sarah is using the Girls Aloud sabbatical to discover her inner entrepreneur. Along with the owners of royal hangout Mahiki, she’s invested money in London’s hot new nightclub Kanaloa. An interesting move for a girl once dubbed the Camden Caner because of her penchant for the notoriously boozy north London social scene.

“The club wasn’t a reason to go out and party, but a business opportunity,” she explains. “There comes a time where you have to grow up. I don’t enjoy going out as much as I used to. Maybe it’s because I’m in a relationship now. When I was single I loved being around people, but when going out becomes monotonous, what’s the point?”

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