David Van Day (born David Paul Day, 28 November 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and politician who was formerly a member of the pop vocal duo

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. He was also in the 1970s vocal group Guys 'n' Dolls (with his Dollar partner Thereza Bazar), and two latter-day line-ups of Bucks Fizz in the 1990s and 2000s.

Biography

Van Day was born David Paul Day on 28 November 1956 in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, England. Having been a member of song-and-dance troupe The Young Generation, in 1974 he successfully auditioned for the then-new vocal group Guys 'n' Dolls. The group had a few hits, and Van Day began a romantic relationship with bandmate Thereza Bazar. Keen to embark on a solo career, Van Day was sacked from the band in 1977, as was Bazar shortly afterwards. Van Day and Bazar then decided to perform together, and formed a new duo,

. The band recorded and toured from 1978 to 1983, then again from 1986 to 1988. They had several top-ten hits in the UK, including " Love's Gotta Hold on Me" and " Give Me Back My Heart". He also had a brief solo career as a movie actor, appearing as a devious handyman in Michael Armstrong's 1983 horror anthology film '' Screamtime'', opposite Dora Bryan and Jean Anderson. After a final top-ten hit, " O L'amour", in 1988, Dollar broke up for a second time. Bazar left the music industry and moved to Australia. In the early to mid- 1990s, Van Day toured as

with a succession of female singers. In the late 1990s he joined one incarnation of the pop group Bucks Fizz, alongside original Bucks Fizz member Mike Nolan. With both of these acts he recorded and released budget-priced CDs of re-recorded hits. Neither sold well and the Bucks Fizz tracks received widespread criticism from fans. In 2003 Van Day (with Bazar) competed in the

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reality show '' Reborn in the USA''. He was the first act voted off. He caused controversy during the show, accusing producers of biased editing, and arguing with singer and fellow contestant Sonia, accusing her of "being crafty and cunning to try to save her own skin". In 2008, Van Day was a semi-finalist on the eighth series of British reality television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', finishing in fourth place. Van Day hosted the eleven-part reality series ''Brides on a Bus'' on Wedding TV. He also briefly appeared in the series '' Celebrity Coach Trip'' on Channel 4, and was interviewed with wife Sue Moxley on '' The Jeremy Kyle Show''.

Politics

In 2007, Van Day stood as a Conservative Party candidate for Brighton and Hove City Council in the East Brighton ward, but neither he nor the other two Conservative candidates was successful in gaining a seat. In

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, Van Day stood for a seat on Thurrock council in Aveley and Uplands ward as a Conservative. The election was won by MEP

Tim Aker Timür Mark "Tim" Aker (born 23 May 1985) is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament for the East of England region. He was elected as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate in 2014. He was head of UKIP's Policy Unit ...

. In 2019, Aker resigned and Van Day won the subsequent by-election. He lost the seat to Labour by 20 votes in May 2022.

Personal life

In the 1990s Van Day married a model called Maria. They have two children together, Amber Van Day and Olivia Van Day. He started a relationship with the beauty editor of '' The Sun'' newspaper, Sue Moxley, but initially ended it on the Channel 5 TV show '' The Wright Stuff''. They reunited soon after and married in Orsett, Essex, on 21 February 2010. They are currently living together in South Ockendon,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. During the early 2000s Van Day operated a burger van with his best friend Les Cole in Brighton, earning him the nickname "Burger Van Day" In late October 2016, Van Day suffered a heart attack. He was taken to a hospital in Essex, England, where a stent was fitted.

Solo discography

* 1983 – "Young Americans Talking" ( UK No. 43) * 1985 – "Ringing the Bell" * 1989 – "She Said, She Said" * 2000 – "A Fistful of Dollar" * 2008 – "Biff Baff Boff" (with Timmy Mallett as "Croc Idol") * 2009 – "A Big Ship on the Mersey"

References

External links

''Dollar – Shooting Stars'' Website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Day, David 1956 births Living people English male singers Musicians from Brighton Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Councillors in Essex Conservative Party (UK) councillors