Published Thursday, 24 September 2009
Band mate Heidi Range also spoke for the first time about Keisha Buchanan's exit from the band and said: "We couldn't work together any more."
Range said the atmosphere had been bad between her, Buchanan and bandmate Amelle Berrabah for several months.
Buchanan was kicked out of the group this week to make way for Britain's former Eurovision hopeful Jade Ewen, 21.
Range, 26, who replaced Siobhan Donaghy in 2001, is now the longest-established member of Sugababes.
She told The Sun that the band needed a new direction after the women found it hard to work together.
She said: "It suddenly came to a head last week. Me and Amelle knew we couldn't move forward the way it was.
"We couldn't work together any more. But we did not want to throw away what we had achieved and split up.
"None of us was happy. We had to make a decision.
"Things have not been good for a few months."
It has been reported that Buchanan "bullied" the other members of the group - a claim she denies - but Range said she would not "tell tales" on her former bandmate.
"I'm not going to say anything bad about Keisha. I'm not going to start telling tales because I have too much respect," she said.
Jade Ewen has already filmed the video for the band's next single About A Girl and has started re-recording Buchanan's vocals on forthcoming album Sweet 7, due out in November.