With of the most recognisable faces in showbusiness, Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker has always vowed never to have plastic surgery.
But as she reaches her 69th birthday today that could soon change, with the former Dancing on Ice star admitting she is considering having a non-invasive facelift to turn back the years.
Cheryl is researching the procedure despite fearing she had previously been left "scarred for life" by Botox.
"I’m flirting with having a non-invasive facelift," she says. "I wouldn’t mind having just a little bit to improve my skin – that would be nice.
"I don’t feel old, so I don’t want to look old. But equally, I don’t want surgery and I don’t want to do anything with my lips.
"I need to look into it further. I just want my skin to be tighter."
Cheryl last tried to smooth out her wrinkles when she was in her 50s and taking part in a TV make-over show.
She agreed to let a specialist inject the toxin into her forehead in 2008 and the results were alarming.
The former Record Breakers host recalled the experience while looking at the recent photos of Madonna appearing at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
Cheryl shot to fame in the same decade as Madge, having won the Eurovision song contest for the UK in 1981.
But pointing at a picture of the Vogue singer, she says: "I don’t ever want to look like that. What has she done to herself?
"I had Botox as part of a TV show and I woke up the next morning and my skin had all sunk down and I had this white stuff coming out around my eyes.
"It scared the living daylights out of me. I rang the specialist and said, ‘I’ve got all this white stuff coming out of me.’
"I thought I was scarred for life. She said, ‘Keep massaging your skin and it will sort itself out.’ Eventually, it did disappear, but I vowed, ‘Never again’."
Bucks Fizz’s belated 40th-anniversary gig is on at the Indigo at the O2 in London on March 31 after the original concert in 2021 had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.
Cheryl and bandmates Jay Aston, 61, and Mike Nolan, 68, were only able to play two shows in 16 months.
Lockdown took a devastating toll on their finances at a time they were still suffering from not being able to use their original name, switching to The Fizz instead.
The name Bucks Fizz is owned by Heidi Gully, the wife of former member Bobby G. He sang with the band when they performed their now-iconic Making Your Mind Up hit at Eurovision in Dublin, Ireland.
Mum-of-two Cheryl says: "Now we are put at the bottom of the billing when we perform because few people have heard of The Fizz, even though we’ve had more hits than all the other bands put together. We didn’t copyright the name because we were idiots and it’s cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds.
"We could have contested and I think, if we went to a court of law, we would have won. But we can’t take the risk, because that’s when you have six-figure solicitors’ fees to pay.
"I don’t wish Bobby G any harm at all and I’d happily work with him again.
"It’s a great shame that it’s come to this and yes, we have suffered and he has suffered as well. It would make sense, and we would all benefit if we all got back together again."
Mike and Jay both went on furlough during the pandemic. However, because Cheryl had enjoyed a banner year following her 2018 appearance on Dancing on Ice, she wasn’t able to.
She blames former PM Boris Johnson for forcing her to sell off possessions including an old mattress.
She reveals: "They wouldn’t give me anything. I couldn’t get any furlough. I had nothing coming in at all, so I was selling stuff off.
"Our industry was kicked in the nuts. We were the first to be got rid of and the last to be brought back in.
"And blooming Boris was almost saying, get another job. It was like we were doing this for a hobby.
"I’ve still got a mortgage. Fortunately, I don’t get anxious. I just think we will be alright. My house is on a farm, so we had great walks with the dog, and we were fine.
"I survived it money-wise by doing messages for fans. That saved my bacon. ‘Hi, it’s Cheryl Baker here, happy birthday.’ That kind of thing. I was earning £22.50 for each one I did, so not a fortune obviously, but thankfully it got me through."
Another thing that helped was her husband, bass player Steve Stroud. The couple married in 1992 live with their twins, 28, in Kent.
She says: "We’ve just celebrated our 31st anniversary, which in this industry is quite remarkable. I love him and I still like him as well.
"I do some work on cruise ships and it will feel like another honeymoon when it’s just the two of us.
"At home, one of our twins sleeps in the next bedroom and the other sleeps in the bedroom above us. So, you know, it’s really nice to get away and be on our own. That’s all I’m saying!
"I love our twins living with us and I let them get away with murder. I don’t care, because they’re my kids.
"It cost me a fortune to have them through IVF when I was 40 and I’d throw myself under a bus for them."
On going back on tour, Cheryl adds: "I’ve always loved being on the road and it’s much more fun now. We still have plenty of energy and my hotel room is always the party room.
"I really do like bubbles, and a vodka and tonic or a gin and tonic. I’ve got a hangover and can’t quite remember what happened the night before, I think, I must have had a great night.
"When my mum was in her 60s I used to think, she’s really old. But I don’t feel old at all."
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