My child was in a S Club Juniors, ask me anything

[BeEagerEagle]

In 2001, my child auditioned for a CBBC show called ‘S Club Search’ and got a place in a child pop group who initially were meant to support S Club 7 on a one time support gig basis. This band was called S Club Juniors, later known as S Club 8.

The band ended up taking off and we basically had to sign or children away to Simon Fuller’s management to release a single. The kids were given tutors and chaperones, and spent most of their time in hotels (the ones London based stayed either their parents) or on the road. After that, they went on tour and I only saw my child once every couple of months. It was brutal but I knew that’s what they wanted to do.

they released two albums and the second one didn’t do that well, Simon Fuller tried them on a TV show called I Dream, however that also tanked. My child will admit that themselves. They all got dropped when aged 14-17. He said they had grown out of their roles a bit.

Now they are in their late thirties and trying to get back into the entertainment industry fully but it’s difficult. They’ve never quite got over their time in the band. They released music but it never really went anywhere. They would never say so, but it doesn’t help them that two of their fellow band members went on to become big stars, both were in a chart topping girl band and now are TV presenters.

their band (minus the two still-successful members) were meant to reunite for a TV show a long while ago, but for various reasons it didn’t happen. When S Club reunited, S Club juniors didn’t get asked to reunite as there was ‘no call’ for it and only a few were up for reuniting. (My child, and another boy and girl member)

they are still acquaintances with S club 7 and went to Paul Cattermoles funeral.

I know my (now adult) child doesn’t regret the choices they made as a child, but feels sad as an adult.

AMA- child (now adult) is also here to answer questions too and is happy to answer questions about specific members and music!

Did they make strong bonds with the chaperones? Have they kept in touch?

Some of the chaperones they despised because they were very strict. A couple they liked and have attended various members weddings. The majority of the band now struggle to remember all their names. It’s something we all spoke about at a wedding a long time ago.

The kids got up to a lot of mischief though, one time they hid in an hotel and pretended they’d been kidnapped and all panic broke loose.

one particular chaperone (a member tells me now) used to yell at them “what sort of parents do you have if you behave like this??”

Why are you posting this? So desperate! This band hasn’t been around in a while - surely they’ve moved on with their lives and have decent jobs … this is just so desperate

That reads so bitter. I’m also in the industry and found it a really fascinating read.

I am away for the night as of 5pm but I’ll try and answer anything before then

Which one is your child?

In fairness it’s far more interesting that a lot of the drivel that people post about in AMA!

In regards to the chaperones being very strict, there was a clip in one of the S club juniors search episodes where some of the children in the band were made to stand against the wall in a sitting position as punishment. That never sat right with me. How did that feel as a parent to see that?

My child can’t actually remember this (nor can I) and would love to know where in the clip it is. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 they said it’s unsurprising though and they suspect what chaperone it was.

How is it any more desperate than any other AMA on here? It's definitely more interesting.

I don’t know loads about them but she said she bonded with Mollie because they were stuck in the background. I think most would agree Vanessa was by far the strongest voice out of all of them

I know you’re not replying to me, but I posted a while back about how Fuller saw a star in Frankie (and another girl who didn’t end up in the band) from the beginning!

Did they struggle to adapt back to normal life and school life when it all ended? How did other kids in school treat them?

Yes, for sure. A lot of them actually wanted to move out ASAP despite only being aged 14-17. In school they were very popular though. One went to college and said they felt a lot of judgement because everybody knew basically everything about them but they didn’t know anyone back.

Why are YOU posting this?! You can easily ignore the thread if you're not interested. All the nasty comments just come across as bitter and jealous. I think the OP has every right to be proud of their kid's achievements and it's a fascinating read for many of us.

Not the same situation, but my daughter does a sport where most people at the intermediary and lower levels are absolutely horrible and bitchy (akin to the nastiest on this thread), but I have recently accidentally bumped into the mother of an athlete who does this sport at the highest level (think Simone Biles level compared to regional gymnastics - different sport though) and she couldn't have been nicer and more helpful to us. She helped us out in a really tricky situation and even though she didn't even know us and was so modest about her daughter's achievements (countless international Gold medals). It's only later that I found out whose mother she was. My point is that people on this thread who claim to be "in the industry" but are making derogatory comments about the OP's child are probably not very successful themselves.

It was only about 3 of the 8 so could have easily not been your child. It was one of the later episodes where they were living together but don’t think it was at the house. Possibly a hotel or conference room. It was in the background of the shot but still very evident what was happening.

I see! We haven’t watched that show for years, my child blushes at the way they acted as a kid, it’s like digging out the old family photo albums. We will have to check it out again.

Some wanted to leave the parental home at aged 14-17? And they thought being in a manufactured band from pre-teen with a strict chaperone gave them the life skills to do that? And you thought they would resent you otherwise. How sad.

Talent emerges, usually through song writing, in the most unlikely places. Ed Sheeran grew up in Suffolk! He would never have made the cut in a manufactured band.

Someone further back asked if Christopher Lloyd from I dream (and back to the future) was friendly with them on set but deleted their reply- yes he was friendly enough although he kept forgetting their names ie calling Stacey Tracy, calling Aaron Arthur, Frankie Francine!

Why are you posting this? So desperate to slag off someone else’s AMA that loads of people are finding informative and interesting.

Yes, I think this wasn’t out of spite, it was just because they were used to living on the road with (nice) strangers like chaperones. They missed being what they thought was independent although of course it wasn’t really.

ed Sheeran is great, SC8 and 7 had a very different vibe, still good but more manufactured. I saw this for myself at the auditions.

But you said that chaperones were strict and not nice and certainly not a substitute for parents who loved you. I’m not suggesting the children acted out of spite. Just that they were unused to a family atmosphere of unconditional love and support. Because they had been removed from it at a young age. In other circumstances it would be seen as very unusual that a 14 year old would want to leave home. Maybe you see this like a child that has been boarding? In any case you must see it is unusual?

they were all strict but the majority were either nice or forgettable. There was only a couple who weren’t so nice.

parents still spoke to them on the phone, it wasn’t as if we totally abandoned them!

i will say that by the end of the show, only one of the children was fourteen. The rest were either sixteen or about to turn sixteen, one was seventeen.

the younger one was a lot more amiable than the rest throughout and was very close to her parents.

Do they regret not being more prudent with their money?

Two had parents who helped the teens invest in either high interest account or stocks on their behalf. They then doled the extra money out to the teenagers.

the rest, possibly as they had access to their money Willy nilly. Money isn’t something we really discuss now.

one constantly spent theirs on expensive clothes and always travelled with two huge suitcases and the chaperones didn’t really do anything to stop them.