Rachel Stevens shut down a question regarding her former bandmate Hannah Spearitt’s abrupt exit from S Club 7.
The pop singer, 46, rose to fame as a member of the pop group in the early Noughties, along with Spearitt, Jo O’Meara, Bradly McIntosh, Jon Lee, Tina Barrett, and the late Paul Cattermole.
Formed by Simon Fuller after he was fired as manager of the Spice Girls and famous for their squeaky-clean image, S Club 7 enjoyed hits including “Reach”, “Don’t Stop Movin’”, “S Club Party” and “Never Had a Dream Come True”.
They disbanded in 2003 then reformed for a reunion tour last year, which was overshadowed by Cattermole’s sudden death.
It was later announced that Spearitt, who had a relationship with Cattermole during their time in the group, would not be taking part in the reunion, sparking tabloid reports that she had fallen out with the other surviving members.
Speaking to The Guardian, Stevens explained that they had to stop and “be there for each other” while they processed the loss of Cattermole.
“We were mindful of his family,” she said. “We were never going to not do the tour, it just became a special tribute to him, and for him, and for the fans.”
Questioned over claims that Spearitt was “pushed out” of the band, Stevens apparently “briskly” responded that she was “not going to go into that”.
“All I will say is that I respect her decision, everyone has their own reasons, and I wish her well,” she said.
Spearitt herself did not announce her decision to leave; it was instead confirmed by the remaining band in an Instagram video.
“You’ve probably noticed that there’s only five of us here today, and although Hannah will always be part of S Club 7 she won’t be joining us on this tour,” Lee said in the video. “We wish her all the best for the future. However, the five of us are really excited and geared up.
“It’s just really sad, it’s really really hard to process it right now,” Barrett added.
S Club also dismissed the Spearitt rumours, which were reported in The Sun through an unnamed source who alleged that “the rest of S Club has been told not to contact her”.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning in July last year, Lee stated that “whenever an article starts with ‘a source said’, you can kind of take it with a pinch of salt”.
“The one thing they did get right is that we are doing a 15-date tour across the country,” he added.
When presenter Josie Gibson asked whether the door was still open for Hannah, he responded: “We’ve said that many times.”
Meanwhile, Barrett described the article as “nonsense” as O’Meara said: “We’re doing a lot of stuff in 2024, so you never know what’s going to happen in the future.”
Spearitt so far has not spoken publicly about her exit from the group.
Stevens is currently promoting her new autobiography, Finding My Voice, in which she discusses her time in the band, her experiences with therapy and the breakdown of her 13-year marriage to real estate mogul Alex Bourne in 2022.
The book is out now via HarperCollins.
