Bucks Fizz? No, I’ll stick with a Costa!
As ex-bandmates enjoy Eurovision hype 42 years after winning, singer who’s shunning limelight
AS former Eurovision winners, his former Bucks Fizz bandmates have been lapping up the limelight in the run-up to the much heralded contest in Liverpool.
But Bobby G seemed to have made his mind up to stay clear of the hype – as he was pictured more than 200 miles away at his home in Devon.
The 69-year-old singer – who hasn’t been spotted in several years and whose real name is Robert Gubby – was dressed down in a blue polo shirt, grey trousers, black trainers and had a Costa cup in hand as he chatted with what looked like a workman at the property in Tiverton.
Meanwhile, celebrations were in full swing on the banks of the Mersey.
Ex-bandmates Cheryl Baker, Jay Aston and Mike Nolan, now collectively known as The Fizz, have made several TV appearances ahead of tonight’s grand final which will see Mae Muller representing the UK.
Bucks Fizz formed for the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and won with hit Making Your Mind Up, which saw the men rip off their bandmates’ skirts mid-song.
The chart-topping track was followed by two more number one singles, Land Of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies. But things soured in the 1990s after a series of line-up changes culminated in a bitter legal dispute which saw Gubby’s wife, Heidi Manton, register the trademark ‘Bucks Fizz’.
Ms Baker, 69, Nolan, 68, and Ms Aston, 62, were banned from using the name when they reunited in 2009.
Bucks Fizz currently comprises Gubby, his wife, Paul Yates and Tammy Choat.
Ms Baker, who previously branded Gubby an ‘idiot’, recently opened up about the dispute, claiming it was ‘absolutely ridiculous’ that Miss Manton owns the trademark as the group rarely perform.
‘We don’t own the trademark, the woman who married Bobby G... registered the name Bucks Fizz and so we’re not allowed to use it which is just ridiculous but there you go,’ she told a newspaper.
‘You’ve got to laugh. And she’s still reminding everyone that she can call herself Bucks Fizz but we can’t.’ She continued: ‘It’s absolutely ridiculous and they hardly ever work, you know a couple of gigs a year. But also, I think it’s jealousy as well, but there you go.’
The Fizz have faced personal hardships in the years since the original group disbanded.
Ms Aston had 40 per cent of her tongue removed after being diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2018 and later feared for her daughter’s life after she contracted bacterial meningitis.
Ms Baker struggled financially during the pandemic, resorting to selling her possessions on eBay, as well as recording messages for fans, for which she received £22.50 per video.
Speaking at the time, she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘I’ve been selling messages and it’s keeping the wolf from the door. I’m getting two or three of those a week so it’s good.’
In 2016, Ms Aston revealed that they had turned down a £1million deal to reunite with Gubby and heal their rift on television. But Nolan insisted: ‘We could never work with Bobby again.’
‘We’d never work with Bobby again’