Jay Aston

Jay Hilda Aston (born 4 May 1961 in Purley, Surrey) is a British singer and occasional songwriter.

She was named "Miss Purley" in 1978 and competed in the subsequent Miss England contest, in which she was unplaced.

The interval act at the televised Miss England 1978 competition was the group Co-Co, who had just been selected to represent Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 and featured Cheryl Baker in the line-up.

Her brother Lance performed at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest with the band Prima Donna.

Aston herself trained as a dancer, singer and actress at the Italia Conti School of Speech and Drama and performed on stage many times in her teens, mainly as a dancer.

The group went on to become one of the top-selling groups of the 1980s, scoring many hit singles and albums over the next few years, including two more British number ones: "The Land of Make Believe" and "My Camera Never Lies".

Aston designed many of the group's stage outfits.

She was a member of the British pop group Bucks Fizz from 1981 to 1985.

She was the youngest member of the group's original line-up, aged 19 when they won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.

During Aston's membership, the group had 12 of their 13 UK top 40 hit singles, including three number one hits.

Aston was, along with Baker, one of the four members of Bucks Fizz when they were formed in 1981 to compete in that year's Eurovision Song Contest.

They won with "Making Your Mind Up"; the song went to number one in many countries, including the United Kingdom.

In 1983 she performed the lead vocal on the song "When We Were Young", which went on to become one of the group's biggest hits.

Aston became known for her love of physical exercise, and released a keep-fit album in early 1984 called Shape Up and Dance.

She was the victim of an attack while out jogging, but fought off the attacker and recovered from the incident.

In December 1984, while on tour, Bucks Fizz were involved in a tour coach crash, in which Nolan was seriously injured.

By this time, tensions within the group had risen to the point that Aston was eager to leave, but was still under contract.

However, the following year, she left the group in acrimonious circumstances.

Aston became the subject of many newspaper headlines on her sudden departure where it emerged that she had had an affair with the group's producer, Andy Hill, who was also the husband of Bucks Fizz creator Nichola Martin.

The group's management company took Aston to court under the terms of her contract, but dropped the case in the midst of the trial and agreed to release her from it.

However, an injunction was placed on her against commencing a solo career, which took two years to settle and resulted in her selling her Kensington home.

In addition, all eight cases were settled out of court after the case was investigated by the attorney general.

Forced to sell her house, Aston was living in a small bedsit in Croydon on housing benefits in the early 1990s.

Her brother had married Shakespear's Sister star Marcella Detroit who encouraged her to record new songs.

During the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s, Aston toured with her band Aston, performing rock and pop tracks, many of which she wrote herself.

In 1993 Aston released a single, "Naked Phoenix", and recorded an album of songs.

This same year she contributed a song to the controversial Michael Winner film Dirty Weekend, although Aston walked out of the film's premiere in disgust.

By 1995 she was living with her parents but was still writing and recording music.

Around this time she met and began dating guitarist Dave Colquhoun, whom she married in 1999.

In 2001, she set up a performing arts school in her name, The Jay Aston Theatre Arts School, teaching children aged between two and 17.

In 2002 she was involved in a cover band called Monster Boogie, and she also appeared in an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks as one of the mystery guests in the identity parade round.

The following year she released an album, Alive and Well, featuring 13 tracks, all of which she co-wrote with her husband.

The glory years of Bucks Fizz, mainly focusing on Aston, were portrayed in 2005 in a drag lip-synch show, Night of a Thousand Jay Astons, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after its début in London.

Aston was played by one female and three male performers.

The life of Aston was told through an outrageous parody, and was described in review as "hilariously over the top".

Since 2009, she has performed alongside fellow original Bucks Fizz members Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan.

The group used to perform under the name the Original Bucks Fizz but are now known as the Fizz.

Aston was born in Purley, Surrey, and came from a theatrical family.

Her father was a comedian, while her mother had been a dancer before becoming her husband's straight man.

They also performed as acrobats.