The Girls Interviewed by FHM

The days of scorn being poured on manufactured bands who can't actually write a middle eight or execute a "G seventh with augmented fifth" on a guitar are now long gone. The most successful bands of the last decade - Take That, Boyzone, the Spice Girls - were all formed from ads in theatre magazines or hand-picked by a music svengali with a vision for "an all dancing, all singing quintet".

In fact the mastermind behind the Spice Girls - Simon Fuller - is also the driving force behind the latest pop sensations to hit the charts, S Club 7. He deployed an army of talent scouts to search for suitable good-looking talent from every theatre school, club and holiday camp in the country, which is how Rachel Stevens, Tina Barrett, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara and the three boys Bradley McIntosh, Jon Lee and Paul Cattermole became stars.


What was the worst job you had before joining S Club 7?

Tina: I once had to wear a bikini and stand in a swimming pool for a Wrigley's chewing gum advert. It was freezing cold and we could only wear these flimsy robes between takes. Then I was the roof of a house in an ad for Halifax. It was the one where the people are standing on each other's shoulders to create this "human house". I had to wear a long silver dress and lie down, harnessed to the ceiling, and pretend to be roof tiles.

Jo: I never had a rubbish job. I worked in a Spar behind the checkout, then I worked in a pet shop looking after the cats and dogs. Even there I didn't mind clearing up the poo. I don't care about things like that - poo is poo innit? I'm not saying I like it, but it didn't bother me at all.

Rachel: I worked in a shoe shop every Saturday for two years for some extra cash. Thankfully I never had to put the shoes on the customer's feet, I didn't like the idea of that.


Do you all have different taste in men?

Tina: I don't like clean cut guys. I prefer a bit of a rough edge. And if I'm in a club I don't like the men who just want to sit down and have a beer and not dance. What's the point in them going to a club? They're so boring. They don't have to be John Travolta, but they need to make an effort.

Hannah: Looks aren't that important, if you look at my previous boyfriends they all look different - the only thing they have in common is they make me laugh. I'm so changeable. Sometimes if a guy is too nice to me he'll make me feel sick, then another guy will do the same thing and I'll be like, "Ah that's so sweet." I find the best way to meet men is to be good mates with them first, but I'm sure I'll change my mind about this tomorrow.

Jo: I like short men and they have to have something about their teeth that I find sexy. I know it's odd but teeth are so sexy. My boyfriend has got the teeth. They're just perfect.

Rachel: There's got to be an instant attraction. I go for guys who are funny and charming. I've always been really choosy, even at school. I used to have a different boyfriend every week but we never went anywhere and it was a time when even a kiss was a big deal. I've actually had a boyfriend for the last few years, I think being away from him will make our relationship stronger. I just run up enormous phone bills.


Now that you're famous do you get a lot more guys hitting on you?

Tina: No, I think less. Although I did have this one really posh guy come up to me and say, "Listen don't be alarmed, would you like to join me for a spot of lunch?" He was very polite but I was like, "Sorry luv, I have plans." I'm single at the moment and I'm glad, I would find it difficult to have a relationship because we are working round the clock and are here, there and everywhere.

Rachel: Well I once had this really strange experience where this guy said, "Your parents did a good a job with you." I just smiled, said, "Thank you very much," and wandered off.

Hannah: I don't get chatted up. It's so disappointing. The only thing a bloke has said to me is, "Are you that girl from S Club 7?" and I replied, "No. Who are they?"

Jo: Men stay away from me now more, which suits me as I'm involved. And I don't tend to go out on my own when I'm back home.


Have you had any strange requests from fans?

Tina: We've had a lot of men asking us to sign their chests and I'm like, "Oh yeah, go on then - get your shirt off!" Some of them have been quite old. We did one signing in New Zealand and this man who must have been 80 years old wanted us to sign his chest.

Jo: We've had a few chests, but no bottoms as yet.


With so many similar pop bands in the charts, has anyone thought you're Faye Beckham from Steps or Britney Aguilera?

Hannah: Some people say I look like Emma Bunton, but no-one has ever come up to me and gone, "Oh my God, are you Baby Spice?" Everywhere I go I get told I look like someone else. I've been described as Geri Halliwell, Cameron Diaz and Goldie Hawn.

Tina: At least they're flattering comparisons. No one's compared you to Pat Butcher!


What's the juiciest piece of gossip you've heard about yourself?

Tina: A lot of it is rubbish, and you laugh it off. I was in a teenage magazine problem page recently and it said that my problem was chapped lips. Now I'm paranoid about how my lips look.

Hannah: There was a story in the Sunday Mirror that I was going out with Jack Ryder (Jamie) from EastEnders. When I heard that, I just laughed. I'm intrigued to find out where that story came from.


If you could change one thing about you, what would it be?

Rachel: Well I'd like to be taller and have longer legs. And my feet are partially webbed, too. The toe next to my big one and the one next to it are slightly webbed. My dad used tease me, telling me I'd grow up to be a duck, and I believed him.

Hannah: I have the most horrendous feet on earth because my toes are so long. I think I'm like a freak. And I don't know, you might think it's cute, but I have a little podge belly. Even though I love cuddling up to it, it doesn't look good in photos.

Tina: I sometimes say things without thinking. I was being fitted for an outfit for Miami 7 and this costume person pulled out this outfit and I went, "Oh no, that looks like something pregnant woman wear," and I looked down and she was wearing the same dress. I then had to go, "Oh, but it suits you."

Jo: My legs - they're too stumpy and short. I would like somebody like Ru Paul's legs - I know he's a man, but women would kill to have legs like that. I also have an obsession with cleanliness. If I'm staying in a hotel for more than a week I'll buy a duster and polish. I can't bear dirt around me and I don't trust the maids to do it properly.

All Original Content is Copyright © 2001-2008