Alexandra Burke: Becoming Chaka Khan & Finding Her Purpose After Grief

August 20, 2026

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5 min read

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Alexandra Burke is currently starring as Chaka Khan in the West End musical I’m Every Woman, a role she describes as the most challenging of her life. The pressure comes not just from the demanding performance—featuring up to 20 costume changes in the first act alone—but from playing a living legend. “To play someone who's still here… that in itself is a massive pressure,” Burke says. The show covers 50 years of Khan’s life at a relentless pace, and Burke admits she struggled to learn the script in time for opening night. To separate herself from the character, she has developed a ritual: she sprays a specific perfume she associates with Khan on stage, then immediately switches to her own scent after the final curtain. She repeats to herself, “You've played a role, you've played Shaka, and this is not your life,” in order to leave the character at the theatre door.

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What you'll learn

1 Timestamped Navigation Outline
2 (00:00) **Ad Break** - Ultra running shoes ad
3 (00:39) **Opening & Alexandra's Arrival** - Davina introduces Alexandra Burke, star of the musical "I'm Every Woman" playing Chaka Khan
4 (03:58) **How the Musical Tells Chaka's Story** - The show opens in present day with Chaka in family therapy, struggling with addiction, then flashes back to her childhood
5 (07:00) **Gratitude & Her Mum's Sacrifice** - Alexandra explains her deep gratitude comes from watching her single mother sacrifice everything for four kids
6 (09:10) **Leaving Chaka at the Theatre** - Alexandra explains her ritual to separate herself from the heavy role after performances
7 (10:13) **The Triggering Scene & Past Abuse** - Alexandra reveals a specific scene forces her to mentally revisit an abusive relationship from age 16

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

What does it take to keep going when life keeps testing how badly you want the dream?

In this episode of Begin Again, Alexandra Burke joins Davina for an emotional and deeply personal conversation about X Factor, grief, motherhood, love, faith and the determination that has carried her through every chapter of her life.

Alexandra looks back on the extraordinary road to becoming a star: singing alongside her mum as a child, Stevie Wonder wanting to sign her at just 12 years old, being sent home from X Factor at 16, and the mother who eventually pushed her to go back and try again. She opens up about what was really happening in her life during that first rejection, why she now knows she wasn’t ready, and the remarkable full-circle journey that followed.

She also speaks movingly about losing her mum, the grief she still carries and how becoming a mother herself has changed the way she understands the sacrifices her own mum made. Alexandra shares why she has fiercely protected her two boys, how she met her partner Darren after years of choosing the wrong relationships, and the moment she realised the family life she has now is everything she once prayed for.

Now, playing Chaka Khan on stage in I’m Every Woman, Alexandra reveals why the most challenging role of her career is bringing parts of her own past back to the surface, why she has had to learn to leave Chaka at the theatre, and why she plans to return to therapy when the show ends.

This is a conversation about rejection, grief, resilience, faith and refusing to give up on the life you know you’re meant to have.

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(00:00) Intro

(01:20) Why “I’m Every Woman” Means So Much

(06:51) How Her Mum Inspired Her

(15:08) Alexandra’s Bond With Her Mum

(18:57) Singing With Her Mum as a Child

(20:06) Why She Turned Down Stevie Wonder

(25:49) Get Busy Living With Monzo

(27:24) Monzo GBL Ad

(28:35) Leaving School at 16 for Music

(30:21) Her Abusive Relationship at 16

(31:50) Rejected by The X Factor at 16

(32:50) Coming Back to Win The X Factor

(38:15) How Chaka Khan Helped Her Heal

(39:23) Performing for Chaka Khan

(41:51) Why She Keeps Her Children Private

(48:35) How She Met Her Husband Darren

(53:58) Finding Out She Was Pregnant

(58:20) Going Back to Work After Giving Birth

(59:42) Pregnant Again Seven Months Later

(01:0