The troupe were spotted by the British television director, David Mallet who invited Phillips to make Hot Gossip a regular feature of "The Kenny Everett Show", which he directed for Thames Television on ITV, first being aired in 1978. It was during this time that Hot Gossip made their only hit record, backing Sarah Brightman on "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", a disco song which reached number 6 in the British music chart. Brightman went on to achieve international fame as a soprano vocalist.