There was excitement this week as S Club 7 announced a 25th anniversary reunion tour. The late 90s and early noughties pop band are going back on the road for an arena tour this autumn, it was announced as they appeared together on BBC One chat show The One Show.
After sparking nostalgia with their reunion news, a clip of Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman interviewing them has resurfaced. A 2003 clip from the BBC show Liquid News has resurfaced showing pre-fringe Claudia being told off by a PR for asking the singers about their finances.
Her question led a member of their team to storm in and order them out of the interview. Afterwards Claudia looked sheepish before defending her probing.
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"Let's talk cash," she told band members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara and Jon Lee. Referring to reports about the group's finances and how much their manager reportedly earned, Claudia said: "Mr Simon Fuller - don't look at me like you're angry - has got 90 million in the bank."
In a bid to break the tension, Jo joked: "How much? 90 now? I thought it was 50 last week." And Claudia continued: "There are rumours, I don't know how true they are, that you guys are grumpy because you guys haven't made a mint..."
Jon said no while Bradley and Hannah pretended to misunderstand, joking that they wished they had a breath mint. "I would love a mint," said Bradley.
Picking up the question, Jo replied: "We are all really really lucky to be where we are today at our age and have the bank balances that we do." But the question was seen as a step too far for the band’s angry PR, who was seen storming the set and declaring: “I’m not having that. I’m not having you ask that question."
She told Claudia: "I’ve had to stop this and I’ve had to walk in here and we are going.” After they left, Claudia stood by her line of questioning, saying she hadn't been given a list of questions that were off-limits.
She said: "It has been in the papers and they didn't give a list. You interview all sorts of people and you are told 'actually. do you know what, don't ask this'... but they seemed fine."
@henweb reacted to the clip, shared by Twitter user @jonoread: "I’d LOVE to hear @ClaudiaWinkle’s memories of this incident!" And @lucyvkearney said: "This was really a disaster for the publicist. Our job as #commspros is to prepare the interviewee & have confidence that they can handle the qs. Stepping in never a good look."
Other tweeters were distracted by seeing Claudia, 51, without her iconic fringe. @cloudburstttt exclaimed: "Claudia without a fringe tho!!" And @BoroIsLife4Me wrote: "I don't think I've ever seen Claudia's forehead before."
S Club 7 were formed by former Spice Girls manager Simon in 1998. The group sold more than 10 million albums worldwide, had four multi-platinum selling albums, won two BRIT Awards, and nine number-one international hit singles, including Bring It All Back and Don't Stop Moving.
They disbanded 2003 but briefly came back together in 2014 to perform a medley of their best-known songs for BBC Children In Need. "We're so excited to get back out there and perform," they said on The One Show.
The band told hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas that they said "yes" staight away to a reunion and set up a WhatsApp group. 'The S Club 7 Reunited' tour The band will go on an 11-date tour of the UK, and will be calling at Manchester's AO Arena on October 21.
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