S Club's emotional tribute to Paul Cattermole by changing name of their tour
Rachel Stevens is far from the wide-eyed 19-year-old pop newcomer she was back in 1999, when she was telling us “There ain’t no party like an S Club Party”.
She is now 45, and mum to two girls, but she is back working with her S Club bandmates, preparing for a 15-date tour that kicks off next month in Manchester, and says nothing much has changed. Rachel says: “It’s a weird one because so much time has passed, but yet when we’re together in a room there’s so many memories, and so many laughs and jokes that we share from back in the day. It’s almost like no time has passed in some ways.”
But this time around Rachel, who has split from her daughters’ dad Alex Bourne, is having to juggle being a busy mum with going on the road. She says: “I am definitely in a different time of my life now. I’m just all about being organised, starting to eat really clean, and getting strong and fit, and organising the kids, so I’m in that sort of headspace at the moment. Juggling – the juggle is real.”
Paul, Rachel, Jon, Jo, Hannah, Bradley and Tina with DJ Scott Mills at tour announcement in February (Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images For X)The band split in 2003, but Rachel says they have picked up right where they left off. The tragic death of original member Paul Cattermole will hang over them, but Rachel explains that the tour will honour their friend, who died at his home in Dorset, aged 46, in April.
She says: “We have renamed the tour. It’s called the Good Times tour, that was Paul’s solo song that he was going to do an acoustic version of, so we just felt like that was so fitting. Paul is with us on so many decisions that we make, we think of Paul and there’s so many sort of elements that are there with him in mind. It’s definitely gonna be a huge celebration. It is so much fun, so much joy, lots of memories, and it’s a tribute to him.”
Rachel Stevens moves out of family home after split from husband of 13 years
Hannah Spearritt, 42, will also be missing. She was there in February when the tour was announced, but learned in July that she was not in the line-up. Rachel, who came second in the 2008 series of Strictly with her dance partner Vincent Simone, says: “The door’s always open for Hannah, but she won’t be on the tour.”
This line-up – Rachel plus Tina Barrett, 46, Jon Lee, 41, Bradley McIntosh, 42, and Jo O’Meara, 44 – will have a very different experience to being in the band the first time around in other ways too. Though Rachel admits she has never been one for partying.
Rachel with daughters Amelie and Minnie (Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Rachel has split from Alex Bourne (Getty Images)She says: “That’s never been me. I’ve always been older than my years. I’d much rather go to a lovely restaurant and sit and chat all night with my friends and put the world to rights, or snuggle up with a good cup of tea. I am not a party girl.” Now more than ever, Rachel, an ambassador for Activia’s new campaign on gut health, is focusing on her fitness.
She says: “I do believe that it all starts from the inside out and how important that is.” In July, S Club released These Are the Days, their first single in 20 years. Rachel says: “Nostalgia is such an incredible, powerful thing and there’s so much love for S Club, and there’s been so much support since our new single.
“So to get back out there and perform music we love and that the fans are going to love is really exciting. Some of our fans might have kids now, so that’ll be lovely to bring their kids along, and I can’t wait for all of our kids to be a part of this too.” Her daughters Amelie, 12, and Minnie, nine, are “massive S Club 7 fans”, says their proud mum.
Rachel says: “They’re going to be such a massive part of it, and they’ll be popping into tour rehearsals when they can. It’s going to be so lovely to share it with them.” Rachel, who had success as a solo artist with 2003 hits Funky Dory and Sweet Dreams My LA Ex, says she would be happy for the girls to follow in her footsteps.
Original S Club 7 line-up in 2000 (Getty Images)
Rachel with Brendyn in ice contest last year (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)She says: “I’d encourage them to do anything that they really want to do, and they’re passionate about. My eldest goes to drama school, she just loves performing and singing. She’s definitely going to be on the stage without a doubt. And my youngest wants to be an actress.”
Although she had incredible experiences being in the band, Rachel admits being in the spotlight so young did present difficulties. She says: “I was 19 when I first got into S Club, so growing up at that point in the spotlight and being asked my opinion on things – it took a while to really sort of find my voice. I did feel like I was in this little box, and I found it very hard to know how to deal with that.”
Out of all the S Club 7 members, Rachel, who is rumoured to be dating her Dancing On Ice partner Brendyn Hatfield, was the one who drew the most attention for her looks. She posed for lads’ mags and featured on FHM’s Sexiest Women lists 11 times before being crowned Sexiest Woman Alive by the magazine in 2014 She says: “It was fun, it was really lovely. It was very of that time and it was very flattering.
“But the thing that I instil in my girls is how much I value who they are, as a person, and their opinions. We talk about things so much and how I care about how they feel. That is something when I was growing up that wasn’t valued.” She says she started having therapy in her late teens, and says it has taught her a lot about herself.
S Club 7 enjoy mini reunion at the Brit Awards ahead of band's big announcement
Rachel says: “Like we all do, we grow, learn so much, we will learn about ourselves, and we learn what we need to help us grow and be the best people we can be.”
Activia have teamed up with Rachel Stevens to inspire people to look after themselves from the inside out and bring Activia’s mission to the masses on how we can all do more to support our gut health as nearly half (47%) don’t know where to start when it comes to looking after their gut health.
For more information on how to improve your gut health, visit www.danoneactivia.co.uk.
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