The ladies from S
Club 7 warm up our chilly evenings...
The "fantastical"
stories from Greek mythology have kept wide-eyed infants and
stale-smelling, bearded historians wet with excitement for years.
Among the more famous of the mind-boggling legends are those of a
bronzed hero throttling a seven-headed serpent, razor-clawed birds of
prey with the faces of strangely attractive women gobbling up unwary,
sandal-wearing sailors and a snake-haired lady who turned people to
stone.
One of the slightly
less known tales concerns the birth of the Aphrodite - goddess of
love and beauty. This supreme deity was born on the coastline of the
Mediterranean island of Cyprus - where, it is said, she sprung from
the foam that gathered around the severed genitals of fellow god
Uranus. Therefore what could be a more fitting venue for FHM's second
shoot with the beautiful ladies from S Club 7 than in the cooling
waters of that very isle?
Since Rachel Stevens
(22), Jo O'Meara (21), Hannah Spearritt (19) and Tina Barrett (24)
last graced the cover and pages of FHM back in April, the S Club 7
phenomenon has continued to grow. Their second album, 7, sold over a
million in the UK and they've become the biggest-selling singles
artists over the last year, beating the likes of chart lingerers
Westlife and The Vengaboys. And of course no higher accolade was
bestowed upon the ladies than when Rachel and Hannah were voted into
this year's FHM 100 Sexiest Women In The World.
"Someone called
Hannah to say she was in the list and she was like, 'Oh that's nice,
but I'm not into all that,'" says Tina. "But then when they said she
was voted number 99, Hannah was all like, 'It's 97 actually,' ha ha!"
Meanwhile, their fame has stretched overseas to the likes of New
Zealand - where their first album S Club 7 has gone triple platinum,
and Chile, where it's achieved gold status. Their TV shows S Club 7
In Miami and LA7 have been sold to 106 countries worldwide, racking
up a combined audience of over 90 million.
But in the girls'
private lives it's been a time of change - there's been an
engagement, a break-up and a new boyfriend among the quartet - and
their success has meant they are finally reaping the financial
benefits; with new houses, cars and a nice selection of designer gear
hung up in their wardrobes. At the secluded opulence of the five-star
Grecian Park Hotel in Cape Greco - ten miles up the road from the
party town of Agia Napa and its pissed-up clientele - the girls are
sorting through a fine array of bikinis to slip into later. Clothing
has been in short supply, as half the group's suitcases are still in
Germany where the band had been performing at the Viva Awards
ceremony. S Club 7 were also nominated for Best Video for S Club
Party - the other artistes in that particular category were Moby, and
eventual winners Limp Bizkit. Good company to be in then.
Despite it only being
six months since their first FHM shoot, it's immediately apparent
from the girls' attitude that they have matured considerably -
whereas before they seemed a little distracted and a bit moody, as
they were in the middle of filming their TV show, they are now
confident and chatty women excited about the prospect of spending two
days on FHM's specially-chartered yacht. While lobster-like
"Engleesh" scurry around for binoculars to try and catch a view of
our boat of beauties, the girls lie out on the deck, grabbing the
opportunity for a bit of relaxation from their packed schedule - in
five days they fly to Mexico for more TV show appearances and
performances. "The past year has been a lot of work," says Tina. "But
we did manage to have some holiday. I went to Ibiza in the summer. It
was nice and chilled. I got recognised a bit but all the comments
they made were pleasant - no-one came up to me and went, 'Hey bitch
you suck!' which was cool."
The newspapers too
are now desperate for any story on the all-singing, all-dancing,
all-acting septet. Recent tittle-tattle has linked Rachel with Holby
City's Jeremy Edwards, Hannah with footballer Paul Dalglish - "That's
what happens when you go for a drink in the player's lounge" - and
one tabloid even mocked up pictures of the girls naked. "I wish I had
that body. I thought it was fantastic," says Rachel. "But the way
they stuck the heads on the bodies looked so silly - our heads were
on all wonky." With non-alcoholic cocktails in hand, and with the sea
lapping in the background, the girls settle back on their sun
loungers to face some probing questions...
You've been travelling all over the world for the
World Wildlife Fund to track down endangered species. Do you fancy
yourselves as being the next David Attenboroughs?
Tina: I'm not sure
we've got the stomachs for it. We were in Malaysia and were taken to
this incredibly old cave. The stench was so bad - think of a men's
loo but a million times worse - all you could hear was this
squeaking, but it was pitch black and we couldn't see anything. It
was then we found out there were thousands of bats. We then went off
the path and were wading through what we thought was soil, but it was
bat droppings and the mounds of crap were covered in cockroaches that
started crawling up our legs. Jo started crying, she hates
cockroaches.
Jo: I refused to go
in there. There was bat poo in there that had never been touched.
There was every creepy-crawly you can think of moving around. The
walls were shiny because there were billions of insects.
Rachel: I went to
Siberia to look for the Siberian Tiger. I hated it. First of all I
had to fly Aeroflot, which I will never do again - I'm not a lover of
flying anyway. It was a dodgy flight over, we stayed in a hotel which
was infested with cockroaches and I couldn't eat anything because
they don't have proper food there. Nobody spoke English. The only
amazing thing was seeing the tigers. I got very close, although it
was a bit unsettling as it was like it was sizing me up for
dinner.
Hannah: I went to
Brazil to find the macaw parrot and Turkey to have a look for the
monk seal. I was a bit unlucky because I didn't find the seal. The
best bit was in Brazil where I did hang-gliding off a huge mountain.
I jumped off, sailed over another couple of mountains, some
skyscrapers, a motorway and the beach and landed in the sea. I did it
twice. The initial jump was a bit scary - well, jumping off the side
of a mountain is not a normal thing to do, is it?
Since
April there have been big changes in your lives. Jo got engaged,
Rachel's no longer with long-term boyfriend Daniel, while Tina's
managed to snare a new man...
Jo: Yes, I've got
engaged. I didn't want it to be too romantic because I'm not like
that and he's not like that either. So it was a case of putting it on
my finger and job done. I'm not sure when we are going to get married
- when it will be, it will be.
Rachel: For me it was
the right thing to do. We've been together for a while and we're
still friends. It wasn't because of S Club 7, I think it would have
happened anyway. It's always nice to have someone around but I'm OK
being single again.
Tina: Jason worked on
the show in LA. He was part of the art department designing the sets.
But then we got talking and discovered we were born on the same day,
which initially freaked me out a bit, but I guess it's like
destiny.
When
you're out and you spot a man you fancy, do you go and make the first
move?
Tina: There's no
reason why women shouldn't ask out men - if you like them you should
go for it. A lot of guys are very shy too.
Hannah: Definitely. I
haven't blatantly gone, "Oh will you go out with me?" but I have made
the first move - I've slapped a man's backside before because he
wasn't giving me the look.
Rachel: I think guys
like that. But I'm personally not the type of girl who'd do it. I
wouldn't go up to blokes.
Jo: I'm a bit too
shy. I'm one of those people who are all mouth, but when it comes to
the crunch I'd back out. That's why I was really lucky with my
fiancé, we had known each other a couple of days so we'd been
talking already. No-one had to ask anyone out, we just ended up
together.
In
our pictures you're modelling bikinis. Do you usually go for the full
body-covering swimsuit or a skimpy thong?
Tina: I'm not a huge
exhibitionist so it would be normal knickers for me. In Ibiza I saw a
few men wearing thongs who should not have gone out looking like
that. I was with Jason, who's American, and he was quite shocked
about how many topless girls and naked people there were. I was like,
"Welcome to Europe."
Hannah: The thong is
not my normal choice at all, even though I'm wearing one in your
pictures. From the front it looks amazing - I just had to make sure
my back was pointing away from the camera at all times. There was an
embarrassing point where I was standing on the yacht with my bum out
to the whole world.
S
Club 7 have always been portrayed as a bit "nicey-nice". What's the
worst thing you've done?
Tina: We once went to
a party to meet heads of record companies, but it was getting really
late and we were told to go home as we had to get up early the next
morning. We all went back to the hotel, waited a few minutes and then
went out clubbing till six. We had no sleep and then had to do a big
show the next morning.
Rachel: We're normal
people, so of course we've done some bad things. No-one's
perfect.
Hannah: I once put a
woman in hospital. We were appearing on GMTV and it was a really
early start. I was late and racing to the dressing room. Still half
asleep I banged through these double doors and hit a lady on the
other side. I didn't think it was anything too bad, said, "Oops,
sorry," and kept running.
In
your lingerie drawer do you have a special pair of pulling
pants?
Tina: I've got so
many I don't know. I'm always buying them so I don't have a special
pair. They're all just the run-of-the-mill stuff. Although I've got a
pair by La Perla which have lots of little sequins on. They sound a
bit corny but they are the bomb.
Rachel: I think it's
important to always wear nice knickers. I think it's nice to have
sexy underwear on just for yourself.
Jo: No, I don't. As
long as they're comfy and the right size, Marks And Sparks cotton
ones are fine. I love buying underwear but I don't buy expensive
stuff - I just need to know I have a lot of them.
Hannah: I had to buy
an expensive pair of knickers the other day as I came here to Cyprus
with no underwear - it was all dirty. I had to pay £20 for a
pair of knickers can you believe that? What a rip off.
Burt
Reynolds once famously had a fan mail herself to him in a big box.
What's been the weirdest thing a fan has given you?
Tina: In Bangkok and
a girl said to me, "Can you sign my arm?" and I was like, "Oh no
problem." Then she said, "This is going to be my tattoo." The next
day we saw her with a big plaster on her arm and she'd tattooed over
my signature. That was a bit scary - she's stuck with that for
life.
Rachel: I wouldn't
mind a man mailing himself in a box to me.
Jo: Maybe if you say
that someone will. The weirdest thing I had was a guy in Thailand who
gave me a picture of his pet Jack Russell and asked me to put it on
my fridge. I have kept it. I'd feel bad if I just threw it
away.
Rachel: I did expect
something odd through the post as I heard that Miami 7 was very
popular in prisons. In one prison all the men told their warders they
had to be let out at ten past five to watch it. Apparently they were
banging on their doors causing a riot.
Hannah: Someone asked
for my eyelash so they could keep it in a little box. I didn't feel
much like getting a pair of tweezers and tugging one out.
An
American businessman apparently offered to deflower Britney Spears
for $10 million. How would you feel if a wealthy entrepreneur put up
that sum to get jiggy with you?
Tina: It's a bit of
an offer, isn't it, ha ha! No, you couldn't say yes, although it's a
lot of money. He wouldn't have enough in his bank account
forme.
Rachel: To be honest,
I'd be very flattered. But it wouldn't matter how much money it was.
It has to be flattering that there's a guy who would spend so much
money just to be with you. But it can be insulting to think that a
person can be bought.
Jo: You'd be
flattered but you'd definitely say no.
Hannah: I'd tell him
to bugger off. I'd think, "What a sick man." If you didn't say no, it
would be like you're a posh prostitute.
What's been the wildest night out you've had?
Rachel: I went on a
girls' holiday to Spain and we had one bad night. I got home at eight
in the morning and then slept on the beach.
Hannah: I had a mad
one when I passed my driving test. It started at lunchtime, moved
from pub to pub and ended up going on till six in the morning. I
puked up halfway through and then started drinking again.
Tina: I'm always a
bit lairy when I've had too many drinks. I tend to think I can do
anything and don't care, although not to the extent of being stupid
and jumping off bridges. There's usually lots of singing of Grease
medleys.
Have
you ever been involved in a girly tussle?
Rachel: Yeah, I've
been hit a couple of times. When I was 18 I was going out with this
guy and another girl fancied him. I was standing talking to friends
and she pushed me in the back. I turned round and she punched me in
the side of the head. It wasn't like a jab, it was a full-on
punch.
Hannah: I do like a
bit of a rough and tumble. I play-fight with the boys all the time
and I don't care if I get hurt - that's all part of it. I constantly
have bruises. When I was at school I had a few scraps. The worst one
was when we had to be pulled apart by the teacher. It was during a
game of basketball and me and this girl went for the same ball and
banged into each other and it just kicked off. I'm not exactly Mike
Tyson but I'll have a good go. I don't give up easy.
