BUBBLEGUM pop act Soda Club have a sex change! Quick, someone phone the Sunday Sport!

Well, actually the group's lead singer, Blackburn woman Paule Van Wijngarden, has decided to ditch her stunningly fit female backing singers in favour of two hunky blokes.

It is hoped the decision, taken in conjunction with the group's record label Concept, will be the final piece in the jigsaw as the Soda Club push for fame and fortune.

The group -- who we can now comfortably compare to The Vengaboys -- have been touring schools throughout the country ahead of the release of their first single since changing image.

Show Me (You Love Me) comes out in March, and was played in two Blackburn primary schools last week as part of the pre-release tour.

A spokesman for Concept said: "Including the guys gives the group a new dimension, something else for the group to recognised for."

Paule, who quit her jobs as a teacher at Burnley College and art shop assistant in Accrington to go full-time with Soda Club last year, toured with her two female singers last year, supporting Brit Award nominees A1 and also Steps. Just for the record, her two new dancers are Derby-born Ian Bullock and Reading lad Daren Cornish.

This week, Paule, who used to be a rock chick on the Blackburn music circuit, said: "I used to be in a dance act called Love To Infinity and when we were touring Japan a couple of years ago, we needed some male dancers, which is how I met Daren.

"We clicked instantly, and spent the whole tour being really silly together.

"When this opportunity came up, I called him straight away and he said yes, as long as his mate could come along.

"That is what made us the way we are today."

Daren and Ian have supported Boyzone, Geri Halliwell, Steps and Five before arriving on the Soda Club scene.

Paule was in Bus Stop, signed to Blackburn's All Around the World Records, and had a top 10 hit with Kung Fu Fighting.

She then went on to join House maestros Love to Infinity.

The new single samples Sub Sub's 1993 anthem Ain't No Love, and is described as a tune which is "clad in hotpants, shaking its tush in the middle of the dancefloor." Well...