Wham! star Helen “Pepsi” Demacque-Crockett has opened up about her “traumatic” miscarriages.
Demacque-Crockett, who shot to fame as a Wham! backing singer and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie, talked about her dream of having children with her husband, James Crockett.
The singer, 66, reflected on the “shame” she felt from her miscarriages and revealed the “difficult” decision she and James made not to have kids after her fertility battle.
The couple - who married in 2002 - considered IVF but ultimately decided against it and went on to create a “life of value” travelling and living in the Caribbean.
“It was really initially difficult because it was like, seeing another woman with a baby in their arms, I was like, ‘I'm never, ever, ever, gonna have that,’” she told The Mirror.
The couple live in St Lucia, where her parents had emigrated to the UK from, and own a charter sailing business there.
Demacque-Crockett went on: “I had quite a few miscarriages and one of the big moments in my life was when I was in New Zealand and I had a miscarriage that was just to traumatic - and it was just quite extraordinary because there was an element of shame connected to it.”
The singer said that she was able to let go of the “shame” by talking about her experiences with other women who had had miscarriages.
Demacque-Crockett revealed she and James decided to turn a life without children into a positive and take advantage of the “freedom” of not having kids.
“We made a decision, it was like, ‘Right, it doesn't look like it's gonna happen again. Why don't we just live our life?’” she recalled.
“’Why don't we just just use the freedom of not having children, not bound by anywhere and really create a life of value?'”
After singing with Wham! in the ‘80s and performing as one part of Pepsi & Shirlie, Demacque-Crockett collaborated with Mike Oldfield and performed on his Then & Now tour.
She then left the spotlight, moving to New Zealand where she worked in a gift shop, before settling in the Caribbean.
The star and her husband’s charter sailing company run tours for holidaymakers and also offer a summer training program for students from the National Skills Development Centre, which helps get young people into work.
Earlier this month, Demacque-Crockett released a book, Island Song, which she said was inspired by her parents.
Sharing a video of herself walking along a beach in St Lucia on Instagram earlier this week, she wrote: “It was my parents that inspired me to write Island Song.
“They left St Lucia in the 1950s and headed to England.It's a story of courage,resilience, hope, and lots of love.”
