Best friends FOREVER

When Shirlie Holliman met Helen ‘Pepsi’ DeMacque-Crockett at London’s Finsbury Park tube station in 1982, it was friendship at first sight. They had no idea of the stardom that lay ahead at the centre of the 80s pop explosion with Wham!, nor the happiness and heartache that fate had in store. Here, they share their secrets and tell how they’ve stayed besties for 40 years.

How we met

All I wanted was to sing and dance, and as a teen I’d go to daytime sessions at a club in, this incredibly cool punk pixie with white-blonde hair. I was so nervous, but when she played my demo tape on the car stereo, she said, ‘You sound like Shirley Bassey!’ Both our fathers loved Shirley Bassey and, by the time we arrived, we were best mates.