Mis-Teeq on reuniting, UK garage and Alesha Dixon's ad libs

A lot has changed for noughties girl group Mis-Teeq since they split two decades ago.

Member Su-Elise Nash confesses her son "didn't even know I was in a singing group six months ago".

The trio, who had hits like Scandalous and One Night Stand, helped make the UK garage sound go mainstream, alongside the likes of Craig David, in the early 2000s.

They've now reunited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first album, Lickin' on Both Sides, and will play London's Wembley Arena in September.

"At home, I am just the mum, I do the daycare drop-offs," Nash tells BBC Newsbeat.

"The whole thing has been a big shock."

People had approached the group about doing a limited edition version of their debut album, but Alesha Dixon says the comeback "started in the WhatsApp group".

"We felt maybe we should do something bigger to mark this moment," the singer and rapper says.

"The fans have been asking for it for years and this felt like the right time."

The reunion show also gives Mis-Teeq the chance to tap into the wave of nineties and noughties nostalgia that's found its way into TikTok and Instagram feeds.

"To be honest we've been blown away and overwhelmed at the outpour of support from the music industry, from our fans, from the general public," says Nash.

"There seems to be a real nostalgia moment going on."

Mis-Teeq sold more than 12 million records, were nominated for a Brit Award and won a Mobo for best garage act in 2002.

They were known for mixing R&B vocals with Dixon's raps, all on top of the garage and two-step drum beats that were popular with underground scenes at the time.

Dixon says she thinks she knows why garage had such a special place in their hearts - as well as for other British acts like So Solid Crew and Ms. Dynamite.

"Garage music, before it became mainstream, it was a real movement and it was very British," she tells Newsbeat.

"The identity of it, that's what made it special, it felt homegrown.

"There's so many artists that came out from that genre and we all felt very proud that it was British, and it felt like it was ours."

Sabrina Washington, the third member of the group, agrees and says they knew they were onto something when the garage version of their first hit Why "blew up".

"Our fans and family and everyone loved it," she says.

"UK garage was a music scene that started from the ground growing up and that music spoke to everyone.

"We wrote those songs all that time ago and they're still standing."

Dixon believes garage has evolved over the years and is "proud to have been three of the women part of that scene that were hopefully opening the door for other women to come through".

"I think in any field, in any world, you've always got to fight for equality," she says.

"Yes it was male dominated, but so many incredible female talents also came out in that scene and are still successful to this day."

The group's comeback gig is being sold as a "One Night Stand with Mis-Teeq" - and it's currently unclear whether they'll play other dates or make new music.

But the band, who originally split in 2005 after their record label went bankrupt, are clear they want the 12 September show to be "a big rave".

"We want it to be full of energy and we just want everyone to come and have some fun because what we don't have this time round is the pressure," says Nash.

Dixon remained in the public eye after the band split, launching a solo career with hits like The Boy Does Nothing, before going on to win Strictly Come Dancing and becoming a judge on Britain's Got Talent.

But despite all that, she's still arguably most well-known for the ad lib phrases that popped into her fast-paced raps in Mis-Teeq songs.

Dixon says they came from the producer telling them to "just freestyle" in the recording booth and were "just in the moment of enjoyment".

But she is keen to clear something up about possibly her most famous ad lib - "enter" - which she often used to hype up the energy during live performances.

"They were literally gibberish," she says.

"And just to clarify, the word in the English dictionary is 'enter', but for some reason, in my warped brain in the studio, I said 'inter'.

"It wasn't premeditated, it was just in the moment, so whatever came out they just used it on the track."

Whatever the origin story, fans will be reassured to know they'll be hearing them when the band play their first proper gig in two decades later this year.

"They're just the gifts that keep on giving back, they really are," says Nash.

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