Entertainment

Cheryl Baker says Jay Aston’s cancer diagnosis has made them closer than ever

The pair won the Eurovision Song Contest together in 1981 while part of Bucks Fizz.
The pair won the Eurovision Song Contest together in 1981 while part of Bucks Fizz. The pair won the Eurovision Song Contest together in 1981 while part of Bucks Fizz.

Cheryl Baker has said her Bucks Fizz bandmate Jay Aston’s cancer diagnosis has brought them closer than ever.

Aston, 57, revealed she fears for her voice after being diagnosed with mouth cancer and being told she needs surgery to remove a portion of her tongue.

Baker, 64, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981, was the second person Aston called after doctors delivered the news.

Cheryl Baker
Cheryl Baker Cheryl Baker has spoken about her Bucks Fizz bandmate’s cancer diagnosis (Ian West/PA)

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Baker revealed the diagnosis has made their friendship stronger.

She said: “What’s happened to Jay has brought the band and her and I closer together than ever before.

“We are as one. We are rooting for her. I wouldn’t imagine we could be as strong as we are at the moment… but we are.

Jay Aston
Jay Aston Bucks Fizz singer Jay Aston who has been diagnosed with mouth cancer which doctors fear could stop her performing (Ian West/PA)

“There have been ups and downs in Fizz’s career. All those early, silly things in the 1980s are under the bridge now.”

Aston and Baker went 23 years without speaking after Aston left Bucks Fizz in 1985 but the group re-formed in 2004.

Following a legal battle with their former bandmate Bobby G, Baker, Aston and fellow original bandmate Mike Nolan, 63, perform under the name The Fizz.

Aston, who lives in Kent with her musician husband Dave Colquhoun and her 15-year-old daughter Josie, said she wants to stay strong for her family and her bandmates.