Mis-Teeq’s Sabrina Washington is officially ‘back in the fold’ as the band spark fresh hopes of a reunion after a bitter fallout.
The girl group, which was also made up of Alesha Dixon and Su-Elise Nash and produced worldwide hit Scandalous, was formed in 1999.
Mis-Teeq enjoyed major chart success, with two top ten albums and seven consecutive singles in the UK Singles Chart.
Their debut album, Lickin’ Both Sides, featured their first five singles that all became top 10 hits in the UK.
However, in 2005 the group split up after their then record label folded.
While it appeared Alesha, 47, was the one holding back a potential reunion, in 2020 it was revealed Sabrina, 46, was suing the Britain’s Got Talent star over song-writing royalties.
Pictured left to right: Sabrina Washington, Su-Elise Nash and Alesha Dixon pictured in 2004 in Los Angeles
Mis-Teeq enjoyed major chart success, with two top ten albums and seven consecutive singles in the UK Singles Chart
A source previously told The Sun how Sabrina alleged Alesha had ‘wrongfully claimed’ royalties for their first two singles.
Now, the women have settled their feud, with Su-Elise telling the Daily Mail how Sabrina was ‘back in the fold’.
The 44-year-old said: ‘Sabrina’s back in the fold. We do like catch up every now and then and we have a little Mis-Teeq WhatsApp group so we can get in touch and talk about business stuff because there’s always stuff going on in the background, but also just to see how we’re all doing, and I think that that’s quite nice, you know, it doesn’t have to be an everyday thing.’
Su-Elise continued by revealing the group is currently in regular contact and have even spoken about reuniting, sharing: ‘We definitely have always said we would never say never and it would always just have to be when the time felt right, we’re all in contact at the moment, all three of us.
‘We are speaking on a fairly regular basis, but there is nothing set in stone as yet.
‘I think for us if the right opportunity presented itself, it’s definitely something we would look at, but we don’t have anything in the works at the moment.
‘You know, Mis-Teeq, when we came out, we were kind of breaking ground for UK garage and R&B in the UK and we did have a lot of success and, I think that we’re at a point now where if we, if we did decide to do something, it would be for the fun and the giggles.’
Mis-Teeq were ‘the good girls’ of R&B
While it appeared Alesha, 47, was the one holding back a potential reunion, in 2020 it was revealed Sabrina, 46, was suing the Britain’s Got Talent star over song-writing royalties
A source previously revealed how Sabrina alleged Alesha had ‘wrongfully claimed’ royalties for their first two singles
Su-Elise says the group were ‘kind of seen as like the good girls’ during an era where other successful groups included the Spice Girls, Atomic Kitten and the Sugababes.
She said: ‘There wasn’t much scandal, even though we sang Scandalous, there wasn’t much scandal surrounding Mis-Teeq. I mean there was a few things…
‘It wasn’t a lot and it wasn’t like weekly in the papers, if we were out at a club, we left through the back door and we weren’t caught out the front falling out of taxis and you know, just, just other things that other girl groups were having to go through and things like that.’
Just last month Kerry Katona, an original member of Atomic Kitten, revealed how the group was paid as little as £250 a week.
The figure shocked fans and others in the industry, particularly as the group – which also consisted of Liz McClarnon and Heidi Range – scored three number one singles and 13 top 10s.
Su-Elise said Mis-Teeq were fortunate enough to avoid being mismanaged compared to their peers and that the music industry has now vastly changed.
‘Now they do like 360 deals where because of social media and music sharing online,’ she explained.
She continued: ‘Back then you had to go to the record store, you had to actually physically buy the CD or the tape or the record. But now you can download music and through streaming and things like that.
‘The record company’s not making money through the record sales per se what they were back when we were around, and so now it’s quite normal for record companies to take a cut of all things like your merchandising, your touring money, your publishing.
‘But luckily for us back then, that wasn’t the case, and so like all the other avenues that they now take, those things always reverted back to us.
‘Luckily, we did write a lot of our songs and our biggest hits so we get our, our writing and publishing money which does make a huge difference.’
Shock proposal
In August, Su-Elise, who left the UK and relocated to Australia some years ago, revealed she was engaged to her partner Ryan St David
Ryan surprised Su-Elise by getting down on one knee in front of the idyllic sunset, with their four-year-old watching on
In August, Su-Elise, who left the UK and relocated to Australia some years ago, revealed she was engaged to her partner Ryan St David.
Sharing a video compilation of the special day, the couple headed out for a walk in Australia’s Bouddi National Park with their son, Blu.
After making their way to the rocky shores of a picturesque beach, Ryan surprised Su-Elise by getting down on one knee in front of the idyllic sunset, with their four-year-old watching on.
The songstress couldn’t hide her shock and happiness as she danced up and down and shared a passionate kiss with her husband-to-be.
Su-Elise told the Daily Mail she had ‘no idea’ of Ryan’s plans and detailed the lengths he went to for the engagement.
‘He went to Sydney to collect my ring from the jeweller, he’d been designing this ring for months,’ the singer said.
‘Even when he went because he was training for the Sydney Marathon at the time, he said he was gonna go and meet one of his friends to go and do like a running training session in Sydney.’
Beaming while speaking about her other half, Su-Elise said they’re still ‘in a love bubble’ they’ve not left since first meeting.
Since Mis-Teeq’s disbanding, Su-Elise turned her attention to fashion, where she repurposed her creativity, creating swimwear line SUZU
She said: ‘It’s just like when you think you can’t love each other anymore, he goes and does something so romantic like that and then you fall in love all over again.
‘It’s pretty special and this beautiful diamond that I’m looking at on my finger, I keep staring at it, it makes me smile every day.
‘I remember we spoke about marriage but I was I just thought it will happen when it happens, and he completely took me by surprise. I was not expecting it.’
Recounting that day, she explained: ‘We live at the beach in Australia here and we often get up early in the morning to go and watch the sunrise, but we hadn’t done it in quite a while and he [Ryan] checked the weather and he was saying to me, “oh look, it looks like it’s gonna be a good sunrise, we should get up and watch it”.
‘I was like, “oh yeah, no problem” but of course you know you’re getting up before the sun so it’s dark outside, so you just fling on whatever clothes you can find and I went walking up to the top of the cliff in my Ugg boots with no makeup on, just flung my hair back. I didn’t feel prepared but I was absolutely overjoyed, overjoyed.’
Wedding preparations has not yet started, the loved-up couple are still deciding which country to host the ceremony.
Swapping music for fashion
Su-Elise brand was created on the back of the London native seeing piles of rubbish wash ashore her local sandy beech following a storm
Su-Elise told Daily Mail her wedding preparations have not yet started, as she and Ryan are still deciding which country to host the ceremony
Since Mis-Teeq’s disbanding, Su-Elise turned her attention to fashion, where she repurposed her creativity, creating SUZU.
The sustainable swimwear brand was created on the back of the London native seeing piles of rubbish wash ashore her local sandy beech following a storm.
Su-Elise recalled: ‘I just remember looking at some of the pieces going “gosh I can just design something better than this”. While I was pregnant, I kind of had this idea about maybe starting a swimwear brand.
‘We had terrible storms. And after these storms you would walk down onto the beach and you would just see all this rubbish that washed up, and it’s all come out of the ocean. And you sometimes you couldn’t even see the sand.
‘One day Ryan and I went for a walk, and there was like beer barrels and of course, the standard like plastic bottles, discarded fishing nets, but there was like an airplane injector seat too.’
The Sugababes’ Keisha Buchanan was one of the brand’s first ever customers.
‘I remember like packing it up and sending it to her and then texting her going “oh babe, thank you so much”,’ said Su-Elise.
‘Every single piece from my swimwear collections and my resort wear is all 100% recyclable materials, so it’s all made from discarded fishing nets, basically ocean waste.
‘We talk about like Mis-Teeq having global success, because, you know, we topped the charts in the US and all over Europe as well as the UK and funnily enough, my biggest markets that I sell to for Suzu is the US, Australia, and the UK.’