"TRUTH is stranger than fiction," and "That's Entertainment" are sayings that spring to my mind when hearing about the colourful world of Abba UK vocalist Jackie.

Jackie, who plays the part of blonde bombshell Agnetha in the Abba tribute band has led a bizarre life.

For starters, she ended up in Best magazine after it was discovered she had lived with only one ear drum since the age of four.

The true professional, who believes the show must go on, also performed on stage with a broken toe and got back to basics when she used an outside wall with a mirror perched on it as a dressing room.

"I ended up in Best magazine, because I found out at the age of 31 that I hadn't got an eardrum in the one ear," says Jackie, who has been singing since the age of nine.

"The surgeon said he couldn't believe I could pitch a note! What happened was that I had an infection in the inner ear with no eardrum.

"He aked me if I could remember anything that happened to me when I was a child?'

"My mother said when I was four years old there had been an infection in my one ear, and it must have burst that ear drum."

Jackie said she did not notice anything strange throughout her life, and it was only when she had an operation to replace the eardrum that she felt wobbly for the first time.

After her operation, she was on the stage two days later.

Another bizarre experience in Jackie's world was when she played a new club but had to change outside.

"It was beautiful inside, but outside like Fort Knox," she says.

"I asked the barman where I would be changing, and he said 'Come with me'.

"There was an outside wall with a mirror on it and I had to get changed there.

"It was a summer night, thank goodness, and while I was getting changed a bird was sat on the wall, watching me.

"My husband, who does the sound for me, was flabbergasted.

"He couldn't believe it and said 'That's entertainment.'

"If you didn't laugh, you'd cry."

When Jackie slipped at home and broke her big toe, she had gigs coming up with Abba UK that weekend, and did not want to let the team down.

"At the hospital they told me I'd broken my toe and they told me to rest it," she said.

"They padded it and I went on stage in platforms, and I was in agony.

"I came off screaming."

It was almost inevitable that Jackie, a miner's daughter, would carve her name in showbiz.

She is named after a record called Jacqueline, and her mother's cousin Ruby Coleman had her own television show.

Jackie appeared on stage with Jimmy Tarbuck at the age of nine, and became a professional singer at the age of 22.

She sang round the cabaret circuit as a solo artist, but when she came to hit the road, she had to find a loan to buy PA equipment.

In order for the bank to grant her wish, Jackie had to play them a demo tape of her singing to prove she had talent.

"I was a bit non-plussed. I said I can't believe I've got to do this," she said.

"The woman just sat there listening, with no reaction, then she said 'You've got the loan'."

Aside from Jackie, Abba UK, who formed in the 1990s, consist of Elkie as Ani-Frid, Glenn as Bjorn, and Mark as Benny.

They first came to the public eye when they appeared on BBC's Children In Need.

For the past year they have been choreographing three dancers called The Hot Shoe Dancers.

Although the dancers will not be appearing at the Abba UK show at Huntingdon Hall, CrownGate, Worcester on Saturday, April 3, they are scheduled to dance at an Abba UK show at Worcester's Swan Theatre later this year.

Abba UK, the British tribute to Sweden's most successful pop sensations capture the magic and excitement of one of the world's most entertaining band with their numerous costume changes.

They even have a 60-year-old wardrobe lady, Pat Ensa, who is in charge of the band's 30 costumes.

Tickets for the Huntingdon Hall gig are £12, or £11 concessions. For tickets, ring the box office on 01905 611427.

For more information on the band, access their website on www.abbauk.co.uk