Cleo Higgins, star of The Voice talks to KATHERINE MACALISTER about the Michael Jackson show

It’s worth going to see Thriller at the New Theatre to catch Cleo Higgins alone.

The former girlband member of Cleopatra, right, who got to the live shows of The Voice, is now the main female lead in the Michael Jackson show, and belting out our favourite numbers every night with such enthusiasm and panache you can’t fault her.

Which is presumably why all four judges turned round when she appeared on The Voice, and having hidden away for years writing music for other people, that was her turning point. Ready to grasp fame by the throat and step into the limelight, Cleo Higgins is now one to watch.

What took her so long is anyone’s guess, but aged 31 Cleo is raring to go and performing eight Thriller shows a week while she waits for a record deal.

“I’ve never done theatre before so it’s pretty non-stop and nothing like I thought it would be but the reviews have been brilliant and my mum, partner and kids came last night and loved it so we’ve passed the mum test,” she tells me.

An important test considering Cleo’s mum is her inspiration and was Cleo’s singing partner until she turned professional. “My mum and dad were in a reggae band together, my mum sang backing vocals, and that’s why I’m so used to harmonising because she used to let me come along and our house was always full of musicians and we’d go to carnivals and perform from an early age. So even now when people compliment my voice I don’t know how to react because I’m just used to singing and didn’t recognise it as being a talent.

“Even when I was in Cleopatra and flying all around the world we didn’t get big-headed - we just thought it was supposed to happen (her bandmates were her two sisters, signed to Madonna’s label Maverick aged just 13).”

But after Cleopatra, Cleo packed away her ambitions and “went into hiding” writing songs for other people and deciding fame wasn’t her cup of tea. "I didn’t want to talk about myself and my kids, to open up my life to everyone, until someone pointed that out that my songs needed me to promote them and put myself into them. And after a while I felt strong enough.”

By this she meant auditioning for The Voice, bottling the first audition in her home town of Manchester and having to drive to Birmingham to audition instead.

“I sing from the heart, that's the key to my music. It’s got to be real. But you also need to be noticed and to perform to get anywhere. But even when I got onto The Voice I decided I wasn’t going to spill my guts. It may be reality TV but I didn’t want to share my sob story or talk about my kids. That’s my private life, so no one even knew I had kids until the live auditions, because I wanted to protect my family.”

Despite her mentor will.i.am’s best efforts, Cleo didn’t win, but it relaunched her career to an appreciative audience: “It’s given me the space to see where I want to be and to get my music out there and until then I’m just trucking along. But it will happen.”

Touring with Thriller is hardly trucking along though? She laughs. “No, it’s an enormous achievement that wouldn’t have happened without The Voice. And I’m a massive Michael Jackson fan, so it’s like being at home singing his music every night.”

Being away from home must be hard though as a working mum? “Yes, it’s the thing I struggle with most because when I go home I want to spoil them but I can’t or my children will turn into monsters, but I still mollycoddle them too much,” she smiles.

As for being the female lead in a show about a male singer, Cleo says: “You just have to trust us and come and see it because Thriller is so much fun.”

SEE IT Thriller – Live is touring the UK and will be at the New Theatre, Oxford Tuesday, November 26-Thursday, November 28. Call the box office on 0844 8713020.