Hannah Spearritt has recalled falling in love with her late ex-boyfriend Paul Cattermole during a trip to America.
S Club 7 star Hannah, 42, has spoken out on her romance with Paul, who died age 46 earlier this month, after breaking her silence on her ex's passing.
Hannah and Paul dated for a number of years after meeting as child performers. The pair were initially friends after meeting as teens at the National Youth Music Theatre in London, where Paul was "larger than life".
She recalled how: "Everyone loved Paul." Hannah also added how her pal Sheridan Smith was the first to notice how good-looking Paul was.
Now, Hannah has spoken out about her past romance with Paul and revealed how they were on a group trip to the US to ski when she realised her feelings for Paul.
The pair even lived together in a former corner-shop, which had been converted into a flat – but the pair were just good pals at the time.
It wasn't until the pair moved to America with the rest of the group to film their sitcom Miami 7 that feelings began to grow.
Hannah recalled feeling "jealous" when seeing Paul "flirting with anyone else" during a skiing trip.
The pair then shared a "drunken snog" before things developed – going on "long drives together" when in Los Angeles and "watching the sunset" when they returned from the ski trip.
Hannah said the pair were "sneaking around" for approximately six months where they would stay at one another's apartments but "sneak out in the morning".
She recalled coming clean to their bandmates Rachel Stevens, Jon Lee, Tina Barrett, Bradley McIntosh and Jo O'Meara.
Hannah told The Sun: "Their reaction was, ‘Yeah, we knew something was happening.'
"But they were all really happy for us. Then we broke it to the management team."
Singer Hannah said their fans "got used" to the idea of the pair dating and their romance was even written into their show.
Hannah described their love as "honey-moon like" and added: "We were loving life, we were young and we had an amazing lifestyle."
Paul struggled with fame when returning to the UK and then quit the band in 2002, which made their romance tricky to maintain.
S Club 7 went their separate ways in 2003 and Hannah and Paul split in 2006. However, during a reunion in 2015, the pair briefly rekindled their romance before breaking up again.
The band were due to reunite for a tour to mark their 25th anniversary before Paul's tragic death.
However, it's reported the tour will go ahead as Paul was "so excited" about it.
A source told the MailOnline: "Paul was so excited, though he seemed awkward on the outside he was looking forward to reliving some of the old, happy times with the group.
"That's why there are some members of S Club 7 who are determined the tour goes on. To them, it seems the perfect way to pay tribute to him."
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