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

Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

. He was also a member of the 1970s vocal group

Guys 'n' Dolls Guys 'n' Dolls were a UK pop group, initially comprising a three-girl/three-boy line-up and later becoming two-girl/two-boy. In the mid-1970s, they scored UK top-ten hits with the singles " There's a Whole Lot of Loving" and "You Don't Have to ...

(along with his Dollar partner

Thereza Bazar Theresa Lorraine Bazar (born 23 May 1955) is a Canadian-born singer, best known as one half of the pop duo Dollar. Career Bazar met with success in her late teens as a member of 1970s group Guys 'n' Dolls, who scored a 1975 hit with "There's ...

), and two latter-day line-ups of

Bucks Fizz Bucks Fizz were a British pop group that achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comp ...

in the 1990s and 2000s.

Biography

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

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England. Having been a member of song-and-dance troupe '' The Young Generation'', in 1974, he successfully auditioned for the then-new vocal group

. The group had a few hits, and Van Day began a romantic relationship with bandmate

. Keen to embark on a solo career, Van Day was sacked from the band along with Bazar in 1977. 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 "Give Me Back My Heart" is a song by British pop duo Dollar, released in March 1982 as the third single from their third album ''The Dollar Album''. The song was their second biggest hit out of the five top twenty hit singles off the album, after " ...

". 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 Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Jean Anderson Jean Anderson (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama '' The Brothers'' (1972–1976) and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn "J ...

. 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

, alongside original Bucks Fizz member

Mike Nolan Michael Tullis Nolan (born March 7, 1959) is a former American football coach. Nolan previously served as a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Washington Redskins, ...

. 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

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

reality show ''

Reborn in the USA ''Reborn in the USA'' is a British reality television show broadcast on ITV, in which ten British pop acts were transported to the US, where they were supposedly not known in the hope of revitalising their music career. Each week, the American a ...

''. 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 Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* 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 Wedding TV was a woman's lifestyle television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom. Separate versions of the channel were available in Poland and Italy. The channel claims to be the first TV channel of its kind, concentrating on love, life, re ...

. He also briefly appeared in the series ''

Celebrity Coach Trip ''Coach Trip'' is a British reality game show originally broadcast on Channel 4 from 7 March 2005 to 30 June 2006. The programme returned after a three-year break, from 25 May 2009 to 9 March 2012. In early 2013, the show went into hiatus agai ...

'' on Channel 4, and was interviewed with wife Sue Moxley on ''

The Jeremy Kyle Show ''The Jeremy Kyle Show'' is a British tabloid talk show presented by Jeremy Kyle and produced by ITV Studios. It premiered on the ITV network on 4 July 2005, and ran for seventeen series until its cancellation on 10 May 2019. It was the most p ...

''.

Politics

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Van Day stood as a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate for

Brighton and Hove City Council Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority of the city of Brighton and Hove. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services ...

in the East Brighton

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, but neither he nor the other two Conservative candidates was successful in gaining a seat. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Van Day stood for a seat on

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

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 ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...

'', They reunited soon after and married in

Orsett Orsett is a village, former civil parish and ecclesiastical parish located within Thurrock unitary district in Essex, England, situated around 5 km north-east of Grays. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1771. History It has historic ...

, Essex, on 21 February 2010. They are currently living together in

South Ockendon South Ockendon is a town, former civil parish and Church of England parish within the Thurrock borough in Essex in the East of England, United Kingdom. It is located on the border with Greater London, just outside the M25 motorway. The area to th ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. 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 Timothy Luke Mallett (born 18 October 1955) is an English TV presenter, broadcaster, and artist. He is known for his striking visual style, colourful glasses, loud shirts, and giant pink foam mallet, known as "Mallett's Mallet", as well as his ...

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 People from Brighton Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Councillors in Essex Conservative Party (UK) councillors I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants