A whopping 19 years ago, Australian singer Gina G shot to super stardom when she represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. 

Her song “Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit” secured eighth place in the annual contest before skyrocketing to the top of the UK Singles Chart, earning a Grammy nomination, and achieving number 12 on the US Billboard Charts.

However, nearly two decades later, Gina, now 54, has transformed her life by moving to Santa Monica, California, with her husband and their two children. There, she enjoyed a period as a “full-time mum,” which she cherished.

The artist, whose real name is Gina Gardiner, is married to Tommy Hudson, and together they run their own record label, Stunt Girl Music. This venture came years after her participation in the reality show “Reborn In The USA” in 2003 and another Eurovision bid in 2005.

She also became locked in a legal battle with former manager Stephen Rodway over royalties and contract – which she confessed had ‘crucified her career’, after which she retreated from the spotlight and landed her in the studio rather than at the mic.

A whopping 19 years ago, Australian singer Gina G shot to super stardom when she represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest (pictured in 1996)

Gina is looking better than ever, seen in a 2011 promo picture before jetting to LA

Her entry Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit landed in eigth place in the annual competition before captapluting her to number one in the UK Singles Chart, scoring a Grammy nomination and reaching number 12 in the US Billboard Charts (pictured during her 1996 performance) 

The couple share their record label since moving to the States, where Gina has opted to bring up her children away from the fame game. Gina opts away from social media, in light of her space away from showbiz. 

Gina revealed that her big move stateside was to further her husband’s career, telling ESC Today: ‘So in 2003 I got married, started a family, and then moved to the US in 2005, ultimately for my husband’s career…

‘Mine took a bit of a backseat so I could be a full time mum, but my love for music had always kept one foot in the door. All this time I had never really stopped making music. I was always writing songs and in the studio recording whenever I had the chance. I collaborated with other writers and artists.’

She also shed light on her battle with Stephen Rodway, emotionally detailing: ‘After the success I had in 1996, 97 and 98, my career was put on hold due to a producer…gone bad. The long and the short of it is, he requested me to a sign a silly piece of paper or threatened to pull the project… 

As well as TV, she also became locked in a legal battle with her former manager Stephen Rodway over royalties and contract disputes (Gina and Stephen pictured in 1996)

Gina is pictured in 2011 with X Factor star Frankie Cocozza

‘I had no choice. Unbeknown to me, this allowed him full control of my career without an end date. To read the fine print on this piece of paper, you would need bi-focals.

‘Ooh Ahh was played to Warner Music in London and it was signed on the spot, but through the producer as HIS project. The project was mine, I brought the song to him to just REMIX! But he took over and wanted the whole pie, not just a piece…

‘I was cornered. When the second album was due, he disappeared. Sounds good doesn’t it? It wasn’t. He not only disappeared, but also with all the royalties paid direct to him from Warner Music, including my 50%.

‘His disappearance also resulted in me being stuck in his ridiculous contract until I could legally be freed. I could not record another note unless I was out of his binding contract. It took until 1999, and a lot of lawyers through the British High Court to be finally free to record again. This crucified my pop career.’

In 2005, she made another comeback and tried again for the Eurovision Song Contest – competing against Katie Price (pictured) and Javine Hylton

The star, real name Gina Gardiner, is married to Tommy Hudson, with whom she runs her own record label Stunt Girl Music – years after she appeared on reality show Reborn In The USA in 2003 and made another attempt at Eurovision in 2005

Prior to the ‘crucifixion’, in 2005, she spoke about giving birth to her second son in Belfast, revealing: ‘The morning before I was due to be on stage in Belfast, I had some pain, but I dragged myself to Heathrow – I didn’t want to let everyone down…

‘It was the Kremlin’s fifth birthday. When I landed in Belfast, I knew something was wrong, but I hadn’t even considered that I would be premature. I got inside the door of the hotel and my waters broke.

‘I called my sister in London and she said, ‘looks like you’re going to have an Irish baby then’. I called my doctor, who I couldn’t be in a better place, that the staff at the Royal Maternity Hospital were experts in premature births…

‘I was taken to the hospital and the nurses really put my mind at rest – 48 hours later, Dylan was born.’ 

Following Eurovision, she appeared on reality show Reborn In The USA, in which ten British pop acts were transported to the US, where they were supposedly not known in the hope of reviving their flailing music careers.

Gina is seen with Eurovision host Terry Wogan during her stint on the show 

Each week, the American audience voted for their favourite act while the two acts with the fewest votes would then face the vote from the British public, where the following week the act with the fewest votes was eliminated from the contest.

Gina left the Davina McCall-fronted show in the second week.  

In 2005, she made another comeback and tried again for the Eurovision Song Contest – competing against Katie Price and Javine Hylton.

She missed out and finished fifth out of five entries on the pre-selection programme with Flashback – it was Javine stole the show with her entry Touch My Fire.

Gina spoke about how she was affected by Eurovision, previously admitting: ‘It didn’t do me any favours afterwards. I was kind of pushed into it by the record label, and when you’re a newly signed artist you don’t say no.’