Former Bucks Fizz bandmates Cheryl Baker and Bobby G have thrilled supporters by posing together for a photograph at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, marking an unexpected reconciliation a decade and a half after their acrimonious split.
The pair bumped into one another while both attending the festival with family, with Ms Baker having travelled to Edinburgh with her twin daughters, whilst Bobby G was there to see his daughter take part in a performance.
A picture of the smiling duo was subsequently posted to The Fizz’s official Facebook page.
“Well this is one you didn’t think you’d ever see! How lovely Cheryl saw Bobby today!” read the accompanying caption.
The once-feuding bandmates Cheryl Baker and Bobby G reunited in Edinburgh recently
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FACEBOOK – THE FIZZ OFFICIAL
The warm encounter caught fans off guard, given the pair’s well-documented falling out over naming rights to the group.
The rift between the two stemmed from a protracted legal battle over the Bucks Fizz brand, which culminated in an August 2011 court ruling that went against Ms Baker and her fellow former members.
A judge sided with Bobby G, determining that because his wife Heidi Manton held ownership of the Bucks Fizz trademark, the other members’ use of The Original Bucks Fizz constituted an infringement.
Ms Baker and her bandmates were reported to have been “extremely disappointed” by the outcome.
Bucks Fizz in 1970
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Speaking to Peter Robertson in 2016, Bobby G addressed the lingering animosity: “They’re very bitter.
“What rubbed them up more was that I fought the case on our behalf and they lost. It cost them an awful lot of money.”
He added: “They even had to pay me. Because of that they don’t talk to me these days.”
Bucks Fizz remain among Britain’s most celebrated Eurovision acts, having claimed victory at the 1981 contest with their now-iconic skirt-ripping routine.
Bucks Fizz’s Jay Aston, Mike Nolan, Cheryl Baker and Bobby G in 1980
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The group’s fortunes took a devastating turn three years later when their tour bus was involved in a serious accident in Newcastle.
Ms Baker suffered a broken spine in the 1984 crash, while fellow member Mike Nolan was left in a coma for three days.
Mr Nolan’s injuries proved life-altering — he went on to develop epilepsy, lost half the vision in both eyes, and became noticeably more reserved.
The band fractured the following year when Jay Aston announced her departure, which came in the wake of an affair with Andy Hill, who was married to the group’s creator Nichola Martin.
The band went through a series of personnel changes in the years that followed, with Shelley Preston stepping in for Aston before departing after just twelve months.
David Van Day subsequently joined the lineup, though his exit triggered further legal wrangling over the group’s name, with Bobby G ultimately retaining the rights.
After Ms Baker’s own departure in 1993, Bobby G effectively assumed control of the act, bringing in Manton and Amanda Schwartz as new members, with Manton later becoming his wife in 2000. Their daughter Millie was born in 2006.
The naming dispute left Ms Aston in dire financial straits — she has spoken of ending up “on the dole and living in a bedsit” after the legal costs wiped out her savings.
She, Ms Baker and Mr Nolan eventually regrouped to perform as The Fizz.