Diana Vickers has jumped to the defence of pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter after the chart-topper sparked controversy with her saucy new album artwork.
Sabrina, 25, ruffled feathers with the cover for her upcoming seventh studio album, titled Man’s Best Friend.
The cover artwork shows the Espresso singer wearing a black mini dress while crawling on her hands and on the floor while a man grabs her long blonde hair.
Another photo of a dog with a collar and tag around its neck featured as the back of the cover, with the sexualised images causing quite a stir online.
However, former X Factor star Diana, 33, has now jumped to the defence of Sabrina and praised her for being ‘sexy’.
Admitting to being ‘obsessed’ with the singer, Diana told The Sun: ‘Women should be able to be sexy and do whatever they want with their bodies, without judgement.’
Diana Vickers has jumped to the defence of pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter after the chart-topper sparked controversy with her saucy new album artwork
Sabrina, 25, ruffled feathers with the cover for her upcoming seventh studio album, titled Man’s Best Friend
The Once hitmaker slammed online trolls who dished out harsh opinions on social media and lauded Sabrina as a modern icon.
She went on: ‘You think that you’re taking a step forward but people are so quick to… judge about female bodies and being over sexual, but then people say if you’re not sexual enough then they judge you as well, it’s like women sometimes just can’t get it right and it’s hard.’
Diana, who rose to fame on the reality singing show in 2008 and bagged a No1 single and album, is now a stage star and podcast queen.
Most recently, she launched a brand new podcast, Just Between Us, alongside relationship expert Alice Giddings, where the pair dive into the highs and lows of modern dating.
Sabrina sparked backlash among her fans and women’s groups when she uploaded the cover picture to her upcoming album on social media at the beginning of June.
Alongside the image, she wrote: ‘My new album, “Man’s Best Friend” is out on August 29, 2025. i can’t wait for it to be yours x’
However not everybody was happy and concerned comments included: ‘This cover makes me uncomfortable… especially in times like these. Absolutely tone deaf’;
Despite the image which shows Sabrina crawling on all fours while a mystery man grips a fistful of her hair, causing a huge stir online, former X Factor star Diana, 33, doesn’t agree with the negative comments
Diana, who shot to fame after her time on The X Factor, is already known and loved for ‘turning dating disasters into comedy’ (pictured on the show in 2008)
Sabrina later released an alternative version of the album artwork paying tribute to Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, cheekily saying it had been ‘approved by God’
‘What in the male gaze is this sh*t?’;
‘love sabrina – but this picture – why is the man in there like that? its not a very empowering image for women.
‘I think its a mistake since most her fans are women and as a dv survivor i find it uncomfortable and id rather see her empowered than like that. idk i dont wanna be negative, im sorry, maybe its just me’.
Glasgow Women’s Aid in Scotland also called out the Brit Global Success Winner on the photo, saying it was ‘regressive’ rather than ‘edgy’.
‘Picturing herself on all fours, with a man pulling her hair and calling it “Man’s Best Friend” isn’t subversion,’ they argued.
‘It’s a throwback to tired tropes that reduce women to pets, props, and possessions and promote an element of violence and control,’ the group said in a statement sharing the cover.
A few fans pushed back against the criticism, calling the photo satirical as one commented: ‘This very much feels like Spinal Tap’s “Smell The Glove” problem…which was a parody…and it was decades ago.’
Sabrina later released an alternative version of the album artwork paying tribute to Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, cheekily saying it had been ‘approved by God’.
