Don’t mess with the latest pop princess, Anne-Marie, as she has a black belt in karate.

In the past few years the singer has had a number of Top 10 hits, both solo and in collaboration with other artists. Next summer she is touring the UK and Ireland with her new album, Speak Your Mind, and she will be stopping off in Swindon on June 5. Tickets are on sale now.

Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson from Essex, began taking karate lessons when she was just nine- years-old and notched up several championship titles, including a Double Gold in the Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association World Championship, in 2002, and a Gold and Silver in 2007. She also won a Gold in the United Kingdom Traditional karate Federation National Championships.

The discipline and focus of karate has stood her in good stead for her singing career, she says.

Along with her karate, she was also keen on performing. When she was six she scooped a part in the West End production of Les Miserables, and when she was 12 she acted alongside Jessie J in Whistle Down The Wind.

Today she is concentrating on her grime-pop singing career, and will be touring the album following the success of her single, 2002, which was co-created by Ed Sheeran.

Anne-Marie has had a number of collaborations since she began her pop career in 2013 with her own solo demo called Summer Girl.

She then performed on tracks by Raized By Wolves and Gorgon City before being spotted by Rudimental, who had lost one of their vocalists. Anne-Marie stepped in and sang on four tracks for their album, We The Generation, along with Dizzee Rascal. She toured for a couple of years with them until she released her own debut EP, appropriately called Karate. The single, Alarm, peaked at number 2 in the charts.

In 2016 she was the main vocalist on the Clean Bandit number one hit, Rockabye, which became the Christmas number one that year, and stayed in the charts for nine consecutive weeks.

Last year Anne-Marie had a couple of top ten hits and this year and a number five with the song, Friends, in collaboration with Marshmellow.

Anne-Marie will be singing songs from her new album, which reached number three in the UK album charts, when she comes to Swindon’s Oasis Leisure Centre on June 5. The album has sold more than 130,000 copies and is now certified as gold.Tickets are on sale now from gigst.rs/AnneMarie - Flicky Harrison