Viewers of Dancing on Ice have been left devastated this week after ITV bosses announced that Rachel Stevens was having to pull out of the competition temporarily.
Rachel, 43, fractured her wrist after falling on the ice during training before her debut skate, which means that her first performance on the show will be on Sunday, January 30, rather than this weekend, leaving fans 'gutted'.
The London-born contestant shot to fame in the 1990s, as she was one seventh of iconic pop group S Club 7, who sang hits like 'Never Had a Dream Come True' and 'Reach'.
Read more: Dancing on Ice: Alison Hammond and Shaun Ryder reignite 12 year 'feud' off-camera
Active for five years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before getting back together in the mid-2010s for a short time, S Club 7 was formed in 1998 by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, who was fired by the latter group as they desired to manage themselves.
The young stars - Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, and Tina Barrett - were plucked out of a cohort of 10,000 hopeful young people, apart from Rachel Stevens, according to '7 Heaven: The Official Book'.
Rachel was the only member of S Club 7 not to audition for the highly successful group, as she was approached by two producers from 19 Management, who asked her to go to the studio and record a demo tape with Fuller.
But not all that glitters is gold, as Rachel has recently opened up on how she still goes to therapy to cope with the emotional toll of being a member of S Club 7. After leaving the band, she signed a £1.5million solo four-album deal.
Speaking on The Sun's Fabulous magazine podcast 'Things I Told My Daughter', Rachel revealed that she had become "very good at putting on a show face and putting a lid on things".
The star said: "You just kind of push it down and get on with it and suck it up. And that does take a bit of a toll.
“I’ve spent a lot of time trying to learn to undo that. It’s something I have to work on every day. I still speak to a therapist. That really helps.”
Dancing on Ice is not Rachel's dancing show debut, as she competed in Strictly Come Dancing back in 2008, and came second, with some fans thinking that her past experience may give her an advantage. However, Rachel still thinks there is an even playing field.
Rachel, who is partnered with professional dancer Brendyn Hatfield on the show, said: "We all come into the show with our own different backgrounds and careers.
"I’m not a trained dancer. And at the end of the day, it’s on ice so no matter what you do, that adds a whole other level of challenge. It’s crazy.”
Rachel is not the first star to have to pull out of the show for a short time, with Happy Mondays rockstar Bez announcing a positive Covid-19 test result on Monday (January 17), less than a day after appearing in the opening show.
Both contestants are hoped to star in next week's show, on January 30.
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