Eurovision winner and national treasure Cheryl Baker is celebrating her 50+ years in showbiz by invitng audiences to ask her anything they want to know in an evening of music and chat at Lowry, Salford. Alex Price meets her to find out more.
“I’ve lived an extraordinary life! I really have. I’ve done some amazing things and I’ve been very lucky,” says Cheryl.
Cheryl has so many stories to tell, and after trialling this format of event on cruise ships she is excited to bring it to Manchester and share her memories with audiences in an intimate setting. “Fans can expect honesty. I’m unfortunately to my detriment a very honest person!
“I’m giving it a try, opening at The Lowry, which is very nerve-racking, but I’m really looking forward to it!” However, Cheryl admits that she may struggle to include everything, “I can’t pack it all in!
“I’ll talk about Bucks Fizz, and I’ll talk about my TV days, but there will probably be things from an audience point of view I won’t talk about, so the QnA will be their opportunity to ask me questions that might not be on my list of things to talk about”.
Bucks Fizz won The Eurovision song context in 1981 with the feelgood hit ‘Making Your Mind Up’, which Cheryl says was ‘absolutely the highlight’ of her career. The group then went on to have three number one hits and oppportunities to play all around the world.
“It was wonderful, and we did everything first class! We flew first class, went to the best hotels, we were travelling in limousines, but what they didn’t tell us is that they would recoup that money out of royalties. I’m glad we didn’t know or we never would have done it.”
Although Cheryl has accomplished some incredible things, on this occasion she intends to take audiences through both the ups and the downs of her life. “There will be a lot of laughter. There will be a lot of laughter but also be prepared for tears.”
One of those sad incidents, she recalls, is when members of Bucks Fizz were injured in a coach crash in 1984, an experience that has stuck with her all these years later. “It’s like it happened to somebody else, but it was me that woke up in hospital. It’s really weird when something like that happens to you”.
After a successful career in the music industry, Cheryl ventured into the world of television presenting. “I left Bucks Fizz in the nineties because I was pregnant, and I thought I can’t have my kids and take them on tour and go around the country gigging, whereas TV was like a proper job,” she explains.
Cheryl then spent a lot of time in Manchester as television presenter, “I’ve got a lot of personal ties with Manchester, a lot. The Funny Side, My Secret Desire. A lot of BBC shows I did were filmed in Manchester.”
Cheryl is optimistic about this tour and willing to ‘take it nationwide’ if it goes well, she insists that the group is still where her heart is.
“I’d like to go all around the country. It would be nice to think I can expand on these three dates and do a proper tour. But I will still be fizzing, there’s no way this is gonna take priority, because Fizz is my happy place.
“Making Your Mind Up and Bucks Fizz opened so many doors to me and gave me so many opportunities that I am so grateful for. In the show at the Lowry, I can talk about them and relieve them. That’s the joy of it, that’s the joy of my career, that’s why I love it so much and I don’t want it to stop.”