Ayshea (; born Ayshea Hague, 12 November 1948) is a British former singer, actress and television presenter. She is best known for playing Lieutenant Ayshea Johnson on the sci-fi series UFO and for being the host of the popular television series Lift Off with Ayshea.
Early life Ayshea Hague was born in London in 1948. She spent a few years as a child living in France before returning to London.2015 Ayshea Interview She attended Arts Educational Schools.
Career
Acting She made her film debut at the age of nine as an uncredited extra in the film Tom Thumb (1958). She made appearances on television shows such as Thank Your Lucky Stars and Discotheque. Granada TV's producer Muriel Young hired Ayshea to host her own pop show, Lift Off with Ayshea, in 1969. The series ran for 122 episodes until 1974.
Ayshea was a regular on quiz shows such as The Golden Shot and Celebrity Squares. As an actress, she appeared on Jason King and had a recurring role on UFO, the Gerry Anderson live-action series. In 2024 Ayshea was honoured by the Asian Media Awards where she was given the Outstanding Contribution to Media Award.
Music As a teenager, she was signed to her first record label, Fontana, which released her debut single, "Eeny Meeny", in 1965. In 1965 and 1966 she toured in the UK with Jimmy Cliff as part of his band The New Generation. She recorded a total of eight singles and two albums on six different labels (Fontana, Polydor, RCA, MAM, Harvest and DJM) between 1965 and 1977 however none of these ever charted.
Personal life After being romantically linked with Steve Winwood, Chas Chandler and Rod Stewart, she married Cat Stevens's record producer, Chris Brough (the son of ventriloquist Peter Brough), who produced her records and was her manager. After Ayshea and Chris Brough divorced in the early 1970s she dated Roy Wood who wrote and produced her single "Farewell". They were engaged for a year but never married.
Following the engagement to Roy Wood, she later married Steve Alder (1950—1997) who had the lead role in the London stage production of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar as Jesus Christ.
While staying with her friend Susan George in the US, Ayshea met and married the agent and film producer Michael Levy in 1983 and worked as an interior designer. She started a property development company. In the early 2000s Ayshea moved back to the UK (in Grantham, Lincolnshire) to be close to her mother, Rose.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1958Tom ThumbGirlUncredited1963Nine Hours to RamaBrideUncredited1966Fumo di LondraGirlUncredited
Television YearsTitleRoleNotes1965Thank Your Lucky StarsHerselfOne episode1969—1974Lift Off with AysheaShow host, eighty-nine episodes1969DiscothequeSeven episodes1970—1971UFOLieutenant Ayshea JohnsonTwenty episodes1970—1971Anything You Can DoHerselfShow judge, three episodes1970—1971The Golden ShotTwo episodes1971Jason KingMireilleOne episode1972Stars on SundayHerself1974Rock on with 45Two episodes1975Look AliveOne episode1976Celebrity Squares2013Goodbye GranadalandArchive footage, documentary2016The Women of UFO2016From Earth to the MoonVideo2020The No-Name Trivia ShowSeries2023—2025The Gerry Anderson PodcastPodcast
Discography
Albums YearLabelTitle1970Polydor RecordsAyshea 1974DJM RecordsLift Off with Ayshea
Singles YearLabelA-sideB-side1965Fontana Records"Eeny Meeny""Keep My Love"1968Polydor Records"Celebration of the Year""Only Love Can Save Me Now"1969"Another Night""Taking the Sun from My Eyes"1970"Mister White's White Flying Machine""Ship of the Line""Who's Gonna Rescue Jesus?""Flowers Are Mine"1971RCA Records"Master Jack""Both Sides Now"1972MAM Records"An Old Fashioned Love Song""The Family of Man"1973Harvest Records"Farewell""The Best Years of My Life"1974DJM Records"Another Without You Day""Moonbeam"1975"Don't Wait Till Tomorrow""Moonbeam""The Flowers Will Never Die""The Best Years of My Life"1977"Golden Oldie""Keep Me from Blowing Away"
References
External links
Lift Off with Ayshea – personal website