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 (21), Tina Barrett (23), Hannah Spearritt (18), Jo O'Meara (20) 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.
