DELTA GOODREM has amazing legs. Two weeks of nine-hour-day rehearsals as part of her starring role in the upcoming production of Cats has carved out a sleek physique for the singer, who is posing and moving with a graceful agility as the photographer calls his praise.

But avert your eyes from those lithe limbs for just a second, and there’s something much more poignant on show: a new-found confidence. For the first time in her life, the 30-year-old is letting it all go.

“I never wear stuff like this, tiny shorts or knickers,” she laughs. “I wouldn’t rock it down the street, but in these moments, I can do it. It’s just about freedom, [the] freedom I’ve worked hard for; to embrace who I am and to know myself.”

Goodrem has done a lot of soul-searching this year. In fact, 2015 could be the year of self-reflection for the singer. For starters, she left her LA cocoon, re-basing herself in Australia for her coaching gig on the fourth season of The Voice Australia. She released new music, hopped on stage with Ricky Martin for a national tour, and even reprised her role as Nina Tucker on Neighbours as part of the soapie’s 30th anniversary. But what made her look at herself anew was dealing with her critics.

While Goodrem boasts a legion of loyal fans who have literally grown up with her, she’s been subjected to a public backlash in recent years. There was the cyber-bullying on Twitter during her first few seasons of the television talent quest and its junior spin-off. The Marlon Wayans “unrhythmic white woman” sledge about her dancing at a Jay Z and Beyoncé concert last year. And the persistent rumours in media circles about everything from her cancer battle to her love life.

But while Goodrem maintained her positivity (even responding to Wayans by tweeting the classic Seinfeld scene of Elaine’s dysfunctional dance moves), she was left badly bruised by it all. Making matters worse, she blamed herself. So late last year, she made the decision to hole up in her LA home, seeing only her clutch of faithful friends (including TV host Renee Bargh and producer Vince Pizzinga). She had to figure out how to defuse the hate.

“You have to break — you have to drink too much and sit there and go, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ I had to reassess everything [and ask], ‘What do I need to do within myself to change everything?’” she says. “I’d always been in relationships and that can block what you have to walk through, because you can cosy in that love and ignore everything you have to face. [But] me being by myself made me face the choices I’ve made, the people in my career who have derailed my path.”

The cumulative trolling effect proved particularly hurtful.

“It was confusing — in my everyday life, people are amazing,” she says. “On the street, I get ‘Hey Delts, what’s going on? How’s your day?’ I stop probably every five minutes to talk to someone, [so] I couldn’t understand this other world, what was happening to me … and I had to keep brushing it all off.”

Her reflection in LA enabled Goodrem to realise that focusing on the haters wasn’t worth it. “I decided, f*** them,” she says.

“I decided I’m just going to do things I want to do and things I love. I tried to be the good girl … I was [that good girl]. I didn’t want to get it wrong or disappoint anyone. I had to break all of that stuff.”

With a new sense of resolve, she started the year with one single conviction: that if she remained true to herself — if she balanced the “love and light” her fans appreciated, with the strong-willed, driven talent those in the music industry knew her to have — then somehow it might all work out.

Step one was returning to Australia, a crucial decision and one Goodrem is keen to clarify.

“I didn’t run away, it’s not that. I had to hold myself away,” she says. “But then I said, ‘No. I frickin’ love Vegemite, I love the footy, I love being around my Aussie mates.’ I missed my Aussie roots.”

The timing was perfect and, back on home turf, her instincts proved spot-on. She was offered the role of Grizabella in Cats, scored her first No. 1 single in eight years with Wings, and even silenced the trolls by retorting that they were “late on the hate”.

Meanwhile, when The Voice started up again, Goodrem was prepared to fight her corner. She stood by her decisions and pulled no punches during on-air stoushes with rival coaches Jessie J and Joel and Benji Madden.

But while Australia witnessed a stronger version of Goodrem on the show (“I’m absolutely comfortable with how I’ve handled myself throughout this season of The Voice, all of it”), off-camera she’s taken another tack. With regards to her personal life, Goodrem now draws a bold, red line under relationships and will not discuss them. At all. Even with me, who’s known her for 15 years and has had many chats with her about past love interests.

All she will say is that she’s dating — and we can assume her current beau is Chris Stafford, of the cheeky DJ duo The Stafford Brothers. She even delivered a social-media slap-down recently to a gossip magazine after a manufactured story reported that the pair had become engaged. The need for her stance is understandable — she’s had to endure more than a decade of scrutiny from high-profile relationships with Mark Philippoussis, Brian McFadden and Nick Jonas. As she puts it: there was once a time when she’d only share such secrets in the pages of a personal scrapbook and, in a sense, she’d like to recreate that.

“I’m not interested in talking about it because it’s not me, it wasn’t me,” she says. “When I got into music, my approach was, ‘Don’t bring that [part of your life] into the picture of music. Keep everything private.’ But it’s been a fine line because I’ve grown up in front of everybody.”

Facing questions about Stafford while promoting her latest single, during all the interviews and in-store signing sessions, would’ve been challenging. But Goodrem pulled focus exactly where she wanted it. That promo tour, fuelled by a scene-stealing performance on The Voice that showcased her talent as a singer and pianist, and hours spent signing her name and chatting to fans, propelled Wings to No. 1 on the ARIA charts. It’s now gone gold, with more than 35,000 units shifted.

For Goodrem, it was a make-or-break song; the hit she needed to put her back on top. While she’s enjoyed a handful of respectable top-10 showings in recent years (with singles including Sitting on Top of the World and Heart Hypnotic), the stark reality of the music game is that No. 1 is the only position worth reaching.

There was pressure, no doubt. After all, Goodrem is that rare breed of artist who’s been with one record label for an entire career. She signed to Sony Music at just 15, releasing the debut teen-pop single I Don’t Care, which peaked at No. 64. The phenomenal debut album Innocent Eyes followed, which produced her first No. 1 hit Born to Try, as well as four others. To date, sales have topped four million globally and it remains one of the best-selling local albums of the past 20 years.

In the middle of her triumph — a Logie in 2003 for Most Popular New Talent, chart records, the adoration of everyday Australians — she battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As soon as she was given the all-clear, Goodrem got back to work, and her stocks remained high, with her next three albums, Mistaken Identity, Delta and Child of the Universe, collectively selling another million records and singles between the years of 2004 and 2012.

That’s quite the track record to beat. But in keeping with her ability to bounce back, Goodrem’s achieved just that with Wings — a Florence and the Machine-style orchestral pop song with a classical piano flourish. It was co-written by Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci of DNA Songs, who also helped steer The Veronicas back to the top of the charts with their 2014 hit You Ruin Me.

Goodrem hooked up with the hit-makers after a long talk with Sony Australia CEO and chairman — and her “second dad” — Denis Handlin. “I told Denis I’m someone you can back and, if we get this right, I can hit a home run,” she says. “I had to bring my A-game to DNA and I wanted them [to] bring their A-game to me. It was all on the line. It was 10pm at night, we got bottles of wine and I told them we’re not leaving the studio until we’ve got it. It took a while, but now we’re on a roll.”

It may surprise people that Goodrem enjoys a drink. She abstains when singing duties are on the horizon and concedes it doesn’t take much to give her a buzz. And on the occasions when she does have one too many, her friends know to close ranks around her, as she has the unfortunate habit of removing clothing as she becomes overheated. It would be funny except there’s always a photographer waiting to catch her at her worst.

“People forget I’m a hippie at heart,” she says. “The suppressed sides of people come out when they drink, right? I’m a little lover; kissing everyone, snuggling everyone. My space invader and one-with-nature comes out. My friends know the drill: time to get her out.”

Here’s hoping those friends are nearby — the opening night for Cats is just weeks away and celebratory toasts are imminent. Goodrem is poised to sing Memory, the climactic, signature song made famous by Elaine Paige and Barbra Streisand. It’s a singer’s song and Goodrem wants to go beyond just ‘doing it justice’.

Musical theatre seems to be an obvious next career move, but many might be surprised to learn Goodrem never courted the stage. After being rejected for a role when she was just six, it was a path she stopped pursuing. Back then, she’d already scored roles on A Country Practice and Police Rescue when she tried out for a part in the stage production of The Secret Garden. “I got down to the last five but I didn’t get it. So because I was getting all these TV roles, I thought I wasn’t meant to do musical theatre. For some reason, it never came back into my life until now,” she says.

After her turn on the stage, Goodrem hopes to maintain her momentum, with the release of her fifth studio album. But for the gossip magazines determined to marry her off soon, there’ll be disappointment. “I look forward to that, but I always knew I’d be later in life,” she insists. “I always said I’d be surprised if that happened prior to being 40. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well and I know I’m not there yet. That time will come. Right now, I’m just enjoying knowing myself.”

Having reached her thirties, it’s evident that Goodrem has discovered the ability to turn down the volume on the critics.

“I always wondered when I was a kid if this would ever get a bit easier, will I relax into this and walk into a room and be comfortable with every single person looking at me and knowing they’re thinking something about me. And the truth is, yeah, I am.”