Noughties girlband star, 45, hasn’t aged a day since quitting fame for normal job and moving to the US
A NOUGHTIES pop and r&b girl group member appears to have found the elixir of youth in recent stunning social media snaps.
The former member of 00s pop and r&b group Mis-Teeq, 45, Zena Whitter, also known as Zena McNally, recently took radiant pics online for her over 25,000 Instagram followers.
The Birmingham-born talent showcased her ageless glow on a recent weekend shopping trip in New York City, USA.
Fans and celeb-friends alike, swarmed to Zena’s Instagram comment section to leave adoring messages under her gorgeous pics. One fan said: “Absolutely stunning! You are perfection!”
The former singer-turned-film studio owner seems to be ageing backwards as she looks just as youthful as her early noughties fame.
Fellow 2000s UK girl-group star Keisha Buchanan, 39, of Sugababes fame, left a short but effective heart-eyes emoji in the comment section of her once chart rival.
Zena has been living in Los Angeles, California for 16 years, after a brief radio stint with BBC 1Xtra as a radio host from 2007 to 2008.
She catapulted into fame as member of the trendsetting R&B and UK garage group Mis-Teeq in the late 90s.
The R&B vocalist would leave the group after one single, 2001 R&B hit, Why?, leaving fans wondering the reasons behind her abrupt departure from the promising group.
MIS-TEEQ FAME AND GROUP SPLIT
Mis-Teeq formed in 1999 when now BGT judge, Alesha Dixon, 45, met singer Harslesdon Sabrina Washington, 45, a few years earlier in their dance school, Dance Attic, in Fulham, London.
At this time, Hammersmith-born singer Tina Bartlett, 47, joined Alesha and Sabrina to perform and write music as a trio called Face2Face.
However, after a successful audition with another upcoming pop group, Tina would jump ship to became a member of 90s and 00s pop sensations S Club 7.
This fuelled Alesha and Sabrina, who promptly replaced Tina with two new members, Zena and Dulwich songbird Su-Elise Nash, 42, who the duo spotted as she auditioned for another group.
The final member added to the group would be Zena, who joined the group in 1999.
The group would be signed to Telstar Records the following year and begin working with an array of producers to form their debut album.
Mis-Teeq’s debut single, Why?, was released in January 2001 and reached number 8 in the UK Singles chart that year. would soon form a quarter when they met fourth member Zena McNally, 45, in 1999.
The excitement would be short-lived, as Zena left the r&b and UK garage titans in early 2001 and appeared in only one single, the latin-r&b infused anthem, Why?.
The noughties group would go onto to have six more consecutive top-10 singles and two top-ten albums across US, Europe, Asia and Australia, including their double platinum second album Eye Candy which was released in March 2003.
In spite of this success, the group would disband 2005 while recording their never-released third album, with all three members turning their focus on their respective solo careers.
The reasons behind Zena’s abrupt departure have been widely speculated, and the former Mis-Teeq queen has kept relatively tight-lipped.
The only occasion Zena seemingly publicly shed a light on the split, was in an 2010s blog post by writer and speaker Anika Allen where Zena spoke of her initial joy of being in a group before things soured.
She said: “Everything was fine in the beginning and it fun. But as time went on, I began to notice an imbalance in the group as the other members [Sabrina and Alesha] had been their first.”
Sabrina continued: “I felt they were focused on a bit more by the production team, who were suppressing my ideas. I write a lot also. We’re a team, but there was no compromising. I became unhappy.”
Alleged tales of group tensions seems to be water under the bridge for the talented women, as each member of the now defunct r&b band, follow each other on Instagram.
Singer-rapper Alesha even posted a nostalgic group pic of all four original members as an Instagram story in 2022, with the caption ‘#WAYBACKWEDNESDAY! So far back there was still 4 members in Mis-Teeq! Wow! Zena you look like a baby!’
LIFE POST-MISTEEQ
In October 2007, Zena went from being in front of the microphone as a singer, to behind it as a BBC 1Xtra Breakfast Show radio co-host, working alongside music broadcasting legend Trevor Nelson, 60.
Zena and Trevor interviewed an array of music guests from US 00s R&B crooner Mario, 37, to 70s funk diva Chaka Khan, 71.
Zena left BBC 1Xtra in August 2008, to move to America with her then beau, US soccer [football] player, Cory Gibbs, 44, who she married back in July 2008.The couple would split in 2014.
Since her divorce, her work has included being an entertainment manager in LA, as well as working as the director of a property investment company.
CURRENT PLANS
In 2020, the multi-talented star decided to form a film studio by the name of BCW Studios.
BCW Studios website and Instagram bio reads: “a multi-disciplinary media studio bringing to life diverse cross-platform content with bases in London, LA and Atlanta.”
The former UK garage queen regularly posts gorgeous pics and videos of her fabulous looks and attendance at exclusive events.
One of which includes a 2021 after-party in LA for the film premiere of Jay-Z produced Netflix flick, The Harder They Fall, with the Queen Bey herself , 42, reportedly in attendance back in October 2021.
