S Club 7 star Paul Cattermole's death has been confirmed. There has been an outpouring of shock and grief after it was announced that the singer had died unexpectedly, aged 46, last month.
Paul, who shot to fame as part of the seven-piece band back in 1998, was preparing for a return to the stage with the Bring It All Back, Reach and S Club Party hitmakers. The band - made up of Rachel Stevens, Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O’Meara, Jon Lee and Tina Barrett - issued a heartbreaking statement on Friday (April 7) confirming the tragic news.
"We are truly devastated by the passing of our brother Paul," the statement said. "There are no words to describe the deep sadness and loss we all feel. We were so lucky to have had him in our lives and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. He will be so deeply missed by each and every one of us. We ask that you respect the privacy of his family and of the band at this time."
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Cattermole was found dead in his ground floor flat in Wareham, Dorset, on April 6. Dorset Coroner’s Service has now finished investigating the tragedy and revealed his cause of death for the first time.
A spokeswoman told The Sun: "I can confirm that Mr Cattermole died from natural causes and our investigations have concluded."
The news comes after S Club 7 was rebranded as S Club following the death of their “brother” Cattermole. It was also confirmed that Hannah, who dated Cattermole, will not join their 25th anniversary tour which will see the band become a five-piece.
Jon said in a video on the band’s Instagram: "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. We wish her all the best for the future."
The number seven had been removed from the band’s social media and website on Sunday. The band members were reduced to tears as they paid tribute to the star in the video. Jon said: "We have been in a bit of shock and it has taken a while for us to find the right words to describe how we feel about losing our brother Paul.”
Rachel added: "Just taking the time to process and get our heads around it all and also taking time to share time together so that we could remember Paul and all the memories we had together." Tina said: "It is just really sad, it is really really hard to process it right now."
Bradley commented: "All still in so much disbelief, Paul was a big brother to us, all of us and you guys out there. He truly was a unique specimen of human being. No one could replace our Paul, he lives on inside in each and every one of us." Jo O’Meara added: "Whenever Paul would walk into the room you definitely knew that he was there because he would just light it up with humour and love, just a really special person.”
The pop group announced the tour will be renamed the Good Times tour in memory of their former bandmate. Tina said: "We are calling the tour the Good Times tour in tribute to Paul because that was that was his song and all the fans know it was his song so it just feels right."
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