WALTHAMSTOW has a particular draw for singer Alison Wheeler. It was while working with the gospel group Citizen K, who rehearsed in the area, that she was asked to sing on Dave Hemingway’s solo album, who in turn introduced her to his Beautiful South bandmate Paul Heaton. An invitation to join the Hull-based group, formed by former Housemartins Heaton and Hemingway in the late ‘80s, and famous for hits such as Don’t Marry Her, A Little Time, Perfect 10 and Rotterdam, followed and she joined the fray in 2003.

“If I hadn’t joined the gospel choir, I wouldn’t be where I was now,” the mother-of-two tells me.

Where Alison is now, is home in Brixton, enjoying time with her family in between touring with New Beautiful South, which brought six of the original line-up back together after the group disbanded owing to “musical similarities” in 2007.

An amicable split, Alison, who filled the shoes of the previous female vocalist Jacqui Abbott, explains the decision to call it a day came from Paul who was “moving onto another project and thought the natural conclusion was to wind up the band”. However, within just two years, drummer Dave Stead was itching to get back on the road and started calling his former bandmates, including Alison and Hemingway.

“For me personally, I was having such a wonderful time with the band, so when it came to calling it a day, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m really enjoying this’,” Alison, 37, explains. “So I was chuffed when Dave called to say he wanted to continue it. It’s a really fun band to be in, the fan base is so welcoming and being back on stage is like being back at home.”

Alison, a Cambridge graduate of law and Japanese, tells me the group were in agreement that they would only go ahead with the project if they got Paul’s approval, which they did. So then, it was just the fans they had to convince.

“Some fans have been quite honest and said they were sceptical,” the Birmingham-born singer says, “but after the show, they would come and tell us how much they enjoyed it. It’s testimony really to the songs that Paul wrote that people are still enjoying them without him up on stage.”

One thing that certainly hasn’t changed is Alison’s trademark hair, which over the years has been purple, red and green.

“When my kids decide they want pink hair, I won’t have a leg to stand on,” she jokes.

New Beautiful South perform at the Walthamstow Hall on Saturday, February 13. For tickets visit www.ticketweb.co.uk or call 0844 477 1000