THE MATRIARCH: ‘IT MAKES ME SAD WHEN ROMAN ASPIRES TO HAVE A MARRIAGE LIKE MINE'

SHIRLIE KEMP TELLS OK!’S JOSIE COPSON ABOUT LIFE IN LOCKDOWN IN THE KEMP HOUSEHOLD AND WHY SHE ISN’T THREATENED BY ANY OF HER HUSBAND MARTIN’S GROUPIES

- JOSIE COPSON

She enjoyed a hugely successful career in the 80s as half of pop duo Pepsi & Shirlie, starting out as backing singers for Wham! before going on to release music of their own. However, after marrying Spandau Ballet bassist and singer Martin Kemp in 1988, Shirlie Kemp soon decided to retire from the limelight to focus on their family, welcoming daughter Harley in 1989 and son Roman in 1993.

But she made a welcome return to music last year, releasing album The Swing Of It with Martin, and has now teamed up with Britain’s Got Talent group The D-Day Darlings to record a cover of Dame Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.

Talent and success certainly run in the family, as Harley is a successful photographer, while Roman is the host of Capital Breakfast and was a runner-up on the most recent series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

Here, Shirlie, 58, tells us how she’s coping in lockdown with Martin and Harley and dealing with the distance from son Roman and why she feels now is the perfect time to put herself out there again...

Are you happy to be back in the music industry?

Absolutely. When you get older you’ve got a lot more choice in life. You can do as you please more. Now I just want to work with people who I like and who are doing things for the right reasons.

How did it feel to get back on stage?

I really enjoyed it because this time I got to wear these glamorous dresses, while Martin was standing there in his tuxedo, and there was a 60-piece orchestra behind us. There was a point where I stood there and thought,