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SOUL SISTERS: Diana Ross and Mary Wilson

MARY WILSON says there will always be love between her and Diana Ross, despite the industry attempting to cause friction between them.

The singer, who shot to fame as a founding member of 60s soul group, The Supremes, along with Ross and the late Florence Ballard, said that after Ross was made the group’s lead singer, the public tended to pit the band members “against each other.”

But 71-year-old Wilson says that while “the business side” caused the group’s dynamic to change, there is no ill-feeling between her and Ross.

HEYDAY: The Supremes, (L-R) Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross, on stage

“We’re definitely sisters – there’s no doubt about that,” Wilson said of her former bandmate. “That’s the personal side. I think it’s the business side and the public side that tended to pit us against each other.

“I have so many friends who were also in groups and they all say the same thing; people were always trying to tear them apart,” continued Wilson, who scored success with Supremes hits including Stop! In The Name of Love and You Keep Me Hangin’ On. “Because of that, it was very difficult for us to remain the same.

“But the love is still there and it will always be there between Diana and I, most definitely.”

Asked if she and Ross talk regularly, Wilson said: “Not often, but we do speak. I have friends that I speak to every day and no, Diana and I don’t speak to each other every day.

“But it’s like family. There are some family members you don’t see or speak to all the time, but it doesn’t men you care about them any less. That’s how I would describe the relationship between Diana and I.”

Read the full, exclusive interview with Mary Wilson in the Life & Style, out in today's (June 4) issue of The Voice