Cheeky Girls mum denies bankruptcy threat
The Cheeky Girls’ mother laughed off suggestions today that the pair are facing bankruptcy proceedings over a VAT bill.
Margit Semal said a mix-up led to court papers being filed in London demanding payment of a £4,500 (€6,662) VAT bill from the Transylvanian twins, who shot to fame in 2002 after appearing on ITV’s Popstars.
Mrs Semal, who manages, promotes and writes songs for her 23-year-old daughters Monica and Gabriela Irimia, said that the bill related to a period in 2004 after the collapse of their then record label Telstar.
Speaking from a Butlins holiday camp where the twins have been promoting their new album due out around September, she said that there had been a two-year delay in filing a return for the period because of difficulties getting a statement of expenses from the former label.
She said that the return had recently been filed and the money was being paid.
But unaware that the papers were in an office in Southampton, officials in London had started court proceedings, she said.
“If I could put it politely, it is a huge mistake,” Mrs Semal, of Rye, East Sussex, said.
“I spoke to my accountant yesterday and he was laughing on the phone.”
She added: “The bottom line is, the VAT office in London jumped over the horse and went to put this matter to court without knowing that the papers were in Southampton.
“I called them, they said: ‘you don’t have to go to court'.”
She said that the girls were set to release a new album in the autumn, with recording paid for out of their earnings.
She also revealed that the album would feature a new cheeky girl, the twins’ six-year-old niece Lorry singing a new version of the Hokey Cokey recorded while visiting the UK during her school holidays from Romania.
“Last night in Butlins, 3,000 people were jumping up and down to it, everybody is singing it here, it’s hilarious,” she said.
The twins’ past hits include Cheeky Song (Touch my Bum) and Hooray Hooray (It’s a Cheeky Holiday).
A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said he was legally prohibited from talking about individual cases.
