(Image: Michelle Heaton/Instagram)
LibertyX singer Michelle Heaton is returning to the North East for a reunion tour marking 25 years since ITV’s Popstars.
The Gateshead-born singer will perform at Utilita Arena Newcastle on May 4 on the Hear’Say and LibertyX – Popstars: The Originals tour.
Heaton attended Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead and Newcastle College of Performing Arts before starting her singing career with Geordie girl group Sirens.
In 2001, she became a finalist on ITV’s music competition Popstars, which formed LibertyX from five runners-up.
The group quickly found success, scoring seven top-10 singles in four years. Their best-known hit was Just a Little.
LibertyX disbanded in 2007 after selling more than three million copies worldwide.
Next year, they are set to reunite with fellow Popstars group Hear'Say for a UK and Ireland 25-year anniversary tour.
Heaton went on to develop a diverse television career, appearing on Irish talent show You’re a Star, Celebrity Come Dine with Me and Celebrity Big Brother.
She has also continued to work in the North East. Heaton appeared in Sunderland Empire’s 2007/08 production of Cinderella with her then-husband Andy Scott, brother of Steps singer Lisa Scott-Lee, and Les Dennis.
The couple’s marriage ended in June 2008. Heaton married Irish businessman Hugh Hanley in 2010, and they have two children, Faith and AJ Hanley.
In 2009, she joined fellow North East stars Ant and Dec on Saturday Night Takeaway, where she played an elf.
Her return to Newcastle follows earlier LibertyX reunions. The group played London’s Hammersmith Apollo in 2013 before touring the following year.
In 2017, Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young reformed LibertyX as a girl group without Tony and Kevin, performing at music festivals and Pride events.
Heaton’s more recent television work includes Dancing on Ice in 2023, where she finished 10th, and the fifth series of Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins alongside former Conservative MP Matt Hancock and ex-footballer Jermaine Pennant.
Outside of music and television, Michelle campaigns against cancer and visited the children’s cancer ward at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary in 2017 with castmates from a Tyne Theatre panto production.
In 2012, Heaton learned she carried a gene mutation that greatly increased her risk of breast and ovarian cancer. She chose to have a full mastectomy that year.
Describing the experience to breast cancer charity Prevent Breast Cancer in 2018, Heaton described the experience as "completely devastating," and that it "turned my world upside down."
After her son AJ was born, the singer chose to have a hysterectomy at 35.
Heaton has said her daughter Faith may also carry the mutation — a prospect that terrifies her as a parent:
"I’m dreading the day I have to sit down with Faith and talk about our family history and the links to cancer.
She’s already started to ask questions about why she won’t have any more brothers or sisters and I know the day will come when she has to make the decision on whether to be genetically tested."
The tour will bring performers from both groups to Newcastle, giving Heaton the chance to play an arena in the region where her music career began. Tickets go on general sale October 16.