Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson was born and raised in East Tilbury in Essex, England. While at dance school at the age of 6, she was to London's West End to audition for Les Misérables. She won the part and her career in musical theater, which also included a stint in Whistle Down the Wind alongside fellow Essex-born singer Jessie J, lasted six years.

Having won Double Gold at the age of 11 in the 2002 Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association World Championship, Anne-Marie stopped her musical theater career at the age of 12 to focus her energies on the martial act. She went on to win Gold and Silver five years later in the 2007 Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association World Championships.

Anne-Marie told ABC Radio her karate training has had everything to do with her success as a pop star. "You don't think that those two would relate so much but they totally do," she said. "Literally everything I feel like I learned in karate has helped this career." "I had the shortest attention span you could ever imagine before I started karate, I couldn't really focus on anything," Anne-Marie added. "If I lost at something, I'd just give up....that was the kind of attitude that I had before I started karate." But her training, she continued, "taught me to not give up and keep trying hard. Self-discipline is a massive part of who I am now."