Jay Aston had a seven-hour operation to remove part of her tongue on Tuesday (10.07.18)

Her The Fizz band mate Cheryl Baker took to her Twitter account this afternoon to give fans an update on Jay's life-changing operation, writing: "After 7 hours of surgery, @JayAstonC is hopefully on the road to recovery. Thinking of you constantly, Jay (sic)"

The 64-year-old blonde singer tried to offer Jay some words of encouragement prior to her surgery this morning by tweeting: "Sending so much luck and love to Jay Aston this morning. Cannot wait for this to be over for you, Jay.

"Looking forward to ripping skirts off with you soon. With so many thoughts , wishes and prayers from so many, I'm sure you will sail through this. (sic)"

The 'Making Your Mind Up' hitmaker revealed that she had been diagnosed with mouth cancer a few weeks ago and insisted at the time that she would do anything to prolong her life because she has a young daughter to think about.

She said: "I think if they take more of my tongue away the chances of me singing, even talking, will be very slim.

"I have a young daughter, I want to see her grow up, I want to see her get married and see her grandchildren."

And, although her road to recovery looks set to be a long and windy one for the time being, Jay has admitted the thought of rejoining The Fizz - previously known as Bucks Fizz - is "keeping her going" at the moment.

She explained: "After they told me, I got on the train and bawled my eyes out. Everyone was looking at me. I called my husband, and then Cheryl [her band mate]. The thought of rejoining the band is keeping me going.

"Being on stage with them is my happy place. Whatever you go through, it doesn't matter when you are on stage."

Jay was working with the surgeons so that the skin removed from her leg can be added to her tongue in the hope that it'll be high enough for her to sing again, but it's not yet known whether that happened during today's surgery.