WHILE 90s pin-ups Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald may joke about ageing after more than three decades in the business, itâs Zoe who has every reason to appreciate just how precious every show is.
Thatâs because five years ago she feared her career was over.
Crippled by severe osteoarthritis, Zoe could barely put on her own shoes, let alone dare to dream about taking to the stage in front of thousands of screaming fans alongside the band she idolised as a nine-year-old.
Zoe, who shot to fame as a starry-eyed 16 year-old on Pop Idol, refused to give up and agreed to a hip replacement that she calls âthe best thing Iâve ever doneâ.
âHaving a hip replacement completely changed my life,â says the 41-year-old. âThere was moments where I couldnât put on my own shoes. I literally couldnât walk for longer than a minute. I did think that my career could be over.
âSo it was the best thing Iâve ever done, and I know Iâll have to have it done again in about 15 years, potentially, if this one lasts that long.
âBut I fully got my life back. Itâs helped with my career, with certain roles that Iâve played. I wouldnât have been able to be in Moulin Rouge doing can-can kicks eight shows a week if I had the old hip that I had.
âAnd itâs made me a better mother, I can run around and play with my daughter without any pain.â
For thousands watching Take Thatâs spectacular Circus tour this summer, Zoe is the powerhouse vocalist bringing the house down during Relight My Fire, belting out Luluâs famous vocals.
Itâs a full-circle moment for the former Pop Idol star, who first watched the band live as a nine-year-old and covered her bedroom walls with their posters.
But itâs a physical show which sees Zoe descend to the stage in a fiery cage before strutting around in killer heels.
And Zoe admits itâs not just hard work on stage, she has to put in the hours behind the scenes to make sure her hip holds up.
âOne of the things my surgeon said to me after the operation was, âYou must look after your body, you must train and eat the correct nutrition.
âAnd since then Iâve taken that really seriously.
âI donât want to have to pay the money that I paid for my hip replacement again anytime soon. Itâd be nice if I could get a good 20 years or more from this one.
âBut I love there training, itâs given me the foundation to feel strong out there on stage. It feels great.
âEveryone knows I can sing, but now I want to push myself and see how far I can go physically.â
That resilience has become the defining thread running through a career that began as a teenager when she impressed millions on the prime time TV show that made Simon Cowell a household name.
Growing up in County Durham, the proud working-class Northerner discovered her love of performing as a child, little knowing it would eventually take her from local stage schools to TV and then to the West End.
Looking back, Zoe describes herself as âa little fighterâ.
While finishing fourth on the show â which was eventually won by Will Young â opened doors, Zoe insists nothing since has come easily in her career: âItâs a tough business and you have to have the mental strength of an ox,â she says. âItâs hard out there. The industry changes all of the time.
âIâve never wanted to give up, I didnât throw in the towel, but Iâve definitely had to navigate my career in different areas.
âIâve been singing to 80,000 people every night. But shortly I wonât be, Iâll be back to auditions again, thatâs the reality of the industry.
âOver the years Iâve had to kick down some doors and really prove myself.
âI joined musical theatre at a time where people hated reality TV. People didnât want reality TV stars in their musicals, and I had to prove that I can act, I can dance, I can sing, I deserve to be here and I will work really hard.
âIâve never been one of those girls who it falls in their lap or Iâve never been lucky enough to kind of be in the right place at the right time.â
âIâm a mixed race female from a working-class background,â she sighs. âThatâs something Iâm extremely proud of. But the industry changes all of the time.
âSometimes I donât have enough followers for certain roles. Like, itâs crazy out there at the minute. You can walk into an audition and before I even open my mouth to sing, they will say, âHow many followers do you have?â
âIt doesnât put me off. But I hope once I get in the door that I prove that itâs not always about how many followers you have, that my talent is enough.â
Itâs not just her career thatâs tested her, the last 12 months have been one the toughest years Zoe has tackled in her personal life.
While starring as Tina Turner in the West End she suffered a devastating miscarriage.
Initially Zoe, who has daughter Aaria, nine, with husband Adam, blamed herself, questioning whether the demanding role had somehow contributed.
âI thought maybe I was working too hard,â she says. âAs women we naturally think, âWas it my fault?â But it wasnât.
âI was in such a demanding role, physical role. I was like, maybe it was something that I did on stage that I didnât realise.
âMaybe I was working too hard. Maybe I wasnât drinking enough milk. The smallest things as a woman, you feel, was it my fault? And it wasnât, itâs never our fault.â
Zoe kept her heartbreak a secret from fans but says after watching Myleene Klass speak publicly about her pregnancy loss, she decided to share her own story.
And the response overwhelmed her: âMy inbox flooded with women sharing their stories. So many said, âYouâve made me feel seen.â
âItâs more common than people think. So many women contacted me and told me their stories.
âThereâs a lot of shame around it but I think if weâre all more open, then hopefully that will help the next woman it happens to.â
âItâs made me realise how mentally strong I am.
âI think with the hip replacement, with being labelled a Pop Idol reject when I was younger, and after then going through this last year, I looked at everything over the last 25 years, and thereâs been a lot of big hurdles for me that Iâve really had to dig deep and push through.
âAnd itâs made me realise how bloody strong I actually am mentally. Iâm sure thereâll be more to come that I will face. But Iâve never fallen.
âIâm not a lucky person, but maybe thatâs one of the reasons why I was put here, to kind of face things head on and deal with situations.
âThat seems to inspire other women to keep going as well.â
