The Cheeky Girls ‘hang up hotpants’ for very different job after 24-year career

The Cheeky Girls, comprised of twin sisters Gabriela and Monica Irimia, shot to fame in the early 2000s with hits like Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum), but now have a different career

Legendary noughties pop act The Cheeky Girls have reportedly swapped the stage for showrooms, having temporarily “hung up their hotpants” to work at car dealerships. The Romanian duo, made up of identical twin sisters Gabriela and Monica Irimia, burst onto the scene in the early 2000s with a series of chart-topping bangers including the Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum).

Initially catching the public’s eye on Popstars: The Rivals back in 2002, The Cheeky Girls, 43, have shifted millions of records worldwide. Throughout the years, they’ve established themselves as household names, something Monica reveals they’re especially “proud” of.

For now, though, they’ve “hung up their hotpants”, partly owing to day jobs that couldn’t be further removed from their musical career. The sisters are presently “toiling away” as “salespeople at Audi dealerships”, according to Closer magazine.

The twins revealed to the publication: “Having two so radically different jobs is amazing. It’s like having two identities, and we love that.”

Gabriela and Monica’s venture into automotive sales came to light in a 2021 report, which disclosed that Gabriela had actually begun working as a salesperson at a Hyundai dealership in York.

Meanwhile, Monica, despite being in the same line of work, secured a position at a different Hyundai dealership in Lincolnshire. She explained to The Sun on Sunday that they required a “solid business” for their future, emphasising how the motor trade would “always be good business”.

Monica expressed: “Being an entertainer is fantastic, but like it was with Covid, if you don’t have a solid job or business, how do you survive? Gigs all disappeared for two years during Covid, but we didn’t stop making money.”

She further added: “Sometimes we only sleep two-three hours to do the gigs and get to work, but it’s worth it.”

Gabriela disclosed that she was also enjoying her new role, and at the time, suggested that the pair might even open their own dealership in the future, with customers reportedly leaving them “glowing” reviews.

She said the twins are “busy bees” and, in time, they would invest in their own dealership, explaining how she loves both driving and cars and dubbing it a “passion for me”.

Their mother, Margit, seemed fully supportive of their new venture into car sales, implying that the twins couldn’t remain Cheeky Girls forever and needed to “have a business”.

She posed the question: “Let me ask you this: can you be a Cheeky Girl when you’re 60? She needs to have a business and realises that girl fashion is now cars. Women are changing their cars every year.”

Despite being considered a novelty act, The Cheeky Girls have had their share of success in the music industry. Their debut track, Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum), climbed to number 2 in the UK charts and sold a commendable 1.2 million copies globally.

Some of their other tracks include Take Your Shoes Off, (Hooray, Hooray) It’s a Cheeky Holiday! and Have a Cheeky Christmas.