Nadja Benaissa (born 26 April 1982) is a German singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2000 when she auditioned for the German adaption of the reality television show Popstars and became a member of the girl group No Angels, one of the best-selling girl groups of European origin of all time. During their hiatus, Benaissa released her solo album, Schritt für Schritt (2007), which produced the single "Ich hab dich", and represented Hesse in the Bundesvision Song Contest 2006 with the song, finishing in fourth place. No Angels reunited in 2007. Benaissa announced her departure from the group in 2010 after she was found guilty of one count of causing grievous bodily harm and two counts of attempted bodily harm and given a two-year suspended sentence. The charges stemmed from Benaissa having unprotected sex with people who were not aware of her HIV-positive status. Months later, Benaissa released Alles wird gut, her first autobiography, and relocated to Berlin where she withdrew from the public eye to pass her Abitur exams, and qualified as an event manager. In 2019, Benaissa joined the a cappella group Medlz, with whom she recorded and released two studio albums. In 2021, she left the band to re-join No Angels for their 20th anniversary celebrations. Early life Born in Frankfurt, Benaissa is the second child born to a Moroccan father, Muhamed Benaissa, and a mother of mixed Serbian and German ethnicity, Sabina. Raised alongside her three years older brother Amin, she spent much of her childhood in Langen, where her parents worked in the catering business, and she attended the Geschwister-Scholl-Schule. At the age of nine, Benaissa began playing instruments, learning the piano and the flute. Her early musical interest grew after having auditioned and won a role in the school stage musical Tabaluga during her first year at the Dreieich-Schule-Langen. In her early teenage years, she began writing songs, and at the age of 13 Benaissa started performing in several cover bands within the Frankfurt area, eventually winning the second place at Jugend musiziert, a supraregional music contest for youths. On 25 October 1999, at the age of 17, Benaissa gave birth to her daughter Leila Jamila, an event which she describes as "the proudest moment of [her] life". Although Benaissa and her boyfriend ended their relationship, Benaissa began attending evening classes in pursuit of her Realschulabschluss school certificate. Career 2000–2003: