S Club have revealed they tried desperately to get hold of Paul Cattermole on the day that he died after becoming concerned when he stopped replying to messages.
In February, they announced that they were reforming to mark their 25th anniversary with a UK arena tour.
By April, preparations were heavily underway and they had all appeared together on a Zoom call on April 3.
Three days later, however, singer-turned-psychic Cattermole was found dead at his home in Dorset with a coronor later ruling that the 46-year-old died of “natural causes” due to heart issues.
Jo O’Meara, 44, recalled how panic began to set in when nobody could contact Cattermole and his WhatsApp messages were showing as unread.
“It was like, ‘Is he all right?’ But then it was like, ‘Yeah it’s Paul. You know, sometimes he doesn’t answer his phone,’” the Essex-born star told The Sun.
“Then the next day I phoned him and messaged him. Everyone was trying to get hold of him ... and no one could.”
She went on to share how she and Jon Lee, 41, were the first to find out from their management that Cattermole had died.
“I think I just went completely silent at first. It was awful. It was horrendous. It was just a complete shock,” she told the publication, with Lee adding it “felt like someone had punched me in the stomach”.
The group are now a five-piece after Hannah Spearritt decided to leave weeks after Cattermole’s death.
Spearritt and Cattermole were in a relationship from 2001 until 2006 and briefly rekindled their romance in 2015.
S Club intend to go on with the tour which kicks off in October and has been renamed to The Good Times Tour, which is a nod to one of their tracks on which Cattermole performed lead vocals.
Today also marks the release of their first new music in 20 years with new single These Are The Days.
Both the lyrics of the song and accompanying music video pay tribute to Cattermole, with O’Meara explaining that the band feel it is important to remember him for the “goofy” bandmate he was and will pay further tribute to him in their tour.
“The smiles have replaced the tears, in a really positive way,” she added.
