Cleo Higgins's special job keeping Michael Jackson's music alive in Thriller Live in York

Lead singer of the Nineties' girl group Cleopatra, she previously starred as one of four lead vocalists performing Jackson's songs on the 2013 tour, since when she has had a year in the show in the West End.

The latest ten-month British and European tour is a fresh version, with four songs new to the repertoire, a new opening and new production elements, such as new video footage, new costumes and special effects.

Cleo Higgins: "When Michael Jackson died, I literally cried every day for a year". Picture: Irina Chira

“I’m a huge Michael Jackson fan and I identify with him,” says Birmingham-born Cleo, who like Jackson was a child star, having signed to Madonna's Maverick label at the age of 13 when fronting Cleopatra.

Like Jackson too, she sang with her siblings and was managed by her parents, clocking up three top five hits and two television series, singing for the Pope and supporting The Spice Girls on tour. Later, in 2013, she was mentored by Will.i.am on BBC One's The Voice.

“I’m an Eighties baby. When Michael Jackson died I literally cried every day for a year," says Cleo. "His death reminded me how connected I felt to him as a person and musician, but I didn’t recognise how strong those links were until then.

"My favourite song I perform is They Don’t Really Care About Us. I get to feel the energy Michael gave to his singing when it was recorded. I get right into that zone and I feel every word. We celebrate his incredible legacy in Thriller Live. His songs will never die.”

Cleo has played Germany and Denmark overseas on the new tour, along with Hull New Theatre last October and Portsmouth over the New Year, and the itinerary resumed in Nottingham earlier this month. "I'll be in the show until the summer and we're going to Israel and Egypt this time," she says. "The show is really amazing; it's a fantastic concert performance that I wouldn't be doing for a third year if I didn't really enjoy it!

"Why I love Michael Jackson is because he was a unique entertainer and there's no-one that's going to match him; his music speaks volumes; he was a great humanitarian, who said we should fix the worlds music, but we didn't do much to fix the planet, did we? But with all the memories we have of him, it's a special job to be keeping his music alive."

Cleo recalls being apprehensive when she first auditioned for a show that has now taken more than $150million at the global box office. "I asked how big a role I would have, as I assumed there'd be just one 'Michael Jackson' in the show, but they said, 'no, there are four singers, including a female singer', who share out his songs," she says.

Cleo Higgins: "I bring a lot of sexiness to the show". Picture: Irina Chira

"We don't mimic him, we present individual interpretations of him. So I bring a lot of sexiness to the show, which was a big part of Michael Jackson, and there was a femininity to his voice too. He was my biggest inspiration. It was between him, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston; I listened to them all, but he was my number one and you do hear him a lot in my singing, and I know that he's a big part of the musical legacy in my life."

Among the high spots of Thriller Live is Cleo's rendition of Who's Loving You, a poignant moment for the former teenage star. "It was the first song I sang on stage with my sisters," she says. "We had our own family band and I often thought of The Jackson Five and wondered what it would have been like to be in The Jacksons.

"I left school at Year Ten to be able to go on tour, and though I loved it, I missed out on school work and we were just left to figure things out in life. I had a daughter quite young because I was a naughty girl, and suddenly after Cleopatra I had time on my hands but didn't know what to do with it.

"I tried tele-marketing but it wasn't for me, though I've always been able to maintain doing music, recording two albums, working in Germany, though not in the public eye in Britain till I did The Voice."

Looking to make up for leaving school so young, Cleo has since passed her Maths and English GCSEs and gained a qualification in Manchester in professional cooking as a pastry chef, as well as learning the skills of managing a restaurant, bar work, silver service and working in a kitchen. The Voice subsequently brought her back into the spotlight, but the experience was not a wholly satisfactory one.

"It did and it didn't do things for me. I would have liked more help from Will.i.am, but as soon as the final was finished, they were on to doing the next series. They shut that gateway," she says.

"And I'm still waiting for my costumes. You had to buy them, but I haven't received them yet, and I want them for my files as they're important to me."

Thriller Live, by comparison, is proving more fulfilling and exciting too. "I get so nervous, singing The Way You Make Me Feel, when they're expecting Michael Jackson and instead it's me poking fun at myself," says Cleo.

Thriller Live runs at Grand Opera House, York, February 1 to 6, 7.30pm nightly and 4pm, next Saturday; box office, 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york