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!

A lot of parents made scrapbook type albums with newspaper clippings yes! The bigger “pieces” of merch like the Disney award and bits and pieces from photoshoots are kept in one of the members mums attic.

Rudest - Noel Gallagher
nicest- Will Young

They say they always felt safe and looked after. In terms of inappropriateness, they sometimes weren’t happy with the cameras during live performances (mentioned before) and how strict some of the chaperones were. A lot of times they were urged through tiredness rather than being able to take a rest.

You mentioned in a reply there were MANY arguments about a music video where some members felt the other was taking the attention away from them in a music video? Surely the choreographer chose their spots in the video and stage so if the other felt outshined it wasn't the others fault? I'm just curious about this as I'm certain it was Calvin and Aaron. Could you elaborate what they used to argue about when you said about the music video? and was it Don't Tell Me You're Sorry? and were the arguments taken to managment or just between the kids and the parents? It's interesting to get an insight into this on how the band felt (not for gossip purposes) but for an insight into how there are always going to be mishaps in a band.

Do you never like to reminisce?

Why are you so stressed at someone reminiscing with their child about their, somewhat exciting, childhood activities - lots of people have been interested. If you aren’t, why post?

This is so difficult to try not to be too specific. 🤣

For one of the music videos, the dance arrangement was changed last minute. Not the whole routine, but in terms of who was standing in the front row and where. When one of the managers (not fuller) sat in on the final dress rehearsal for filming the MV, they asked how the band was getting on, one of the members expressed disappointment it had been changed because they found it hard to pickup the new steps/new spot. No parents got involved or anything, it was a throwaway comment. The other member heard this and assumed they were jealous and trying to get them to change the routine back so they’d be “lead” again, and there was a lot of typical teenage bickering and “he said/she said!”.

This all reminds me of poor Les McQueen when he was a member of Crème Brûlée. As he famously said:

I see!! So it seems like it was a massive misunderstanding taken the wrong way. It must have been stressful learning new moves last minute, but must have been nice for the other member to get a central spot. My guess is Calvin was at the front then Aaron was brought forward as no disrespect to Calvin but Aaron is a very talented dancer. It's a shame they went through that as from knowing loads of people who are fans of the band, everybody has their own favourites!
I noticed as they got older Calvin wasn't centralised as often in performances Aaron got a lot more spotlight (Calvin is still a great dancer) but I did notice that.

As time went on, did the band ever have disagreements with management or ever get told off?
Did anybody ever sell some horrible stories on the band? I swear I remember hearing one of Jay's teachers did and somebody betrayed Stacey for her wedding? (awful if this is all true people going behind their backs)
Also when the band ended what did the band get to keep?
Did they ever have a final goodbye together from management, or was it done individually, saying it's over?
Did the band have to pay for anything or was food costs hotels and everything covered? house bills ect?
Also really curious did they get free copies of albums or magazines they were in???

Aaron is a great dancer and was often brought to the Lead in rehearsal to help the others alongside the choreographer.

The kids only got told off for hyperactive behaviour or the tricks they’d play really, nobody did anything bad. They were all quite mature for their age.

Not sure about the other members but mine has the denim jacket with the S on the back, and a couple of the outfits from music videos. They got to keep all the clothes they chose but a lot were donated to charity or passed onto other family when they grew out of them.

We tended to avoid the press but I did see the thing about Stacey’s wedding.

Everything was covered, they were a very expensive band to keep.

They got told separately to go back to school (me husband and child got called in altogether) and got told basically “we will call you when the next opportunity is here.” But we werent called again.

Great thread OP - I’ve just spent a happy hour or so listening to SCJ, Hearsay etc off the back of it. I feel there’s no real equivalent for these bands these days. Innocent (mostly) poppy music for tweens!

To the people moaning - bore off! The band were very much of there time and this thread will appeal to a very specific age group. The fact that the band weren’t hugely famous forever makes it all the more interesting I think.

Do you think they would have preferred it if the management had said “that’s it now, it’s over” or did they like that they assumed they would be picked up again at some point?
It seems a bit harsh that they might have all been excitedly waiting for the next thing to happen and then it never did. But then again, perhaps that ‘it could be any day now’ was kind of what got them through. At one point did they realise that nothing was going to happen again?

Thanks for answering!! I'm finding this dead interesting, as it's stuff I've wondered over the years!

What was the timeline of it all happening? They released Don't Tell Me You're Sorry." At what point did they film I Dream? Was it all filmed and aired, and then they had the meetings, or?? It's a shame the internet hadn't developed yet because they'd have found their audience easier as they matured. Back then they were relying on CD sales, right? Also I feel getting other characters in I Dream was a huge mistake. People loved the members as they did S Club 7 even if all the members' acting wasn't on point I think just being themselves and having I Dream as a behind the scenes of them rehearsing for future hits like a realistic series with maybe a few things dramatised? I think management made the wrong call which led to their demise.

What does your child think?? I Get the group as you mentioned was supposed to be bubblegum pop and they started to grow out of it but it was obvious from don't tell me you're sorry music video they had huge potential as a mature group?? Just my thoughts anyway

The auditions (s club search) were filmed in summer 2001.
I dream was pitched to the bbc after DTMYS was released. in The “sundown” album had been perceived a failure (I hate saying that) to record execs and so Simon Fuller tried to do a tv show as sc7 TV shows had proven very popular.
The meetings to drop the band were held after I dream aired and “welcome to Avalon heights” was released. They were dropped in very early 2005. Fuller tried to keep on two members as a duo, and they declined. Frankie was offered a solo deal after this but for various reasons it didn’t work out.

Other people had to be in I dream because the juniors were still at the age they were could only legally work a certain number of hours. Some of the other “new” actors in I dream (as in the kids) were a lot older- George who played Ollie was in his twenties I believe. To put that into perspective, the youngest member of SC8 was 14 at that time. That’s why the new folks tended to take the lead.

it was based on CD sales and (with I dream) views. I dream got cancelled in a few other countries mid season and it just didn’t do as well as management hoped I guess. Maybe because people couldn’t warm to the new characters.

19 management kept us (well my child) hanging for a long time as they weren’t outright told the band was over. Just that Fuller would be in touch at the next opportunity. Which I do think was wrong of them, especially when my child’s face lit up every time the house phone rang. I think they were almost relieved when they realised they weren’t going back, they were at the age where they wanted to start trying new stuff.

George was 23, so he was 9 years older than the youngest member. He is a lovely lovely bloke (he owns an open air cinema now and it’s fab) but I think at the time you really noticed the age gap, even in interviews. He was very polished which a lot of the others weren’t.

Funnily enough an older member of the juniors got on incredibly well with the new “older” cast, and tended to hang out with them a lot more during shooting.

my child says nobody had any sort of grudge about the other actors and that it was almost exciting to have new people around, as it had always been just the 8 of them until then.

oh and to answer your last question, my child thinks they wouldn’t have worked as a mature group honestly. Their “gimmick” was that they were cute kids, and album sales “proved” it wouldn’t work. They are so hard on themselves!!

I think so. It would’ve hurt, but it would’ve meant my child wouldn’t have kept turning down other stuff (not just work opportunities but holidays) “incase simon fuller called up.” They were convinced he was going to call for probably a full six months.

I can’t remember for sure but I do have a feeling that as the band ended, it was also around the time that specific type of cheesy pop was falling out of fashion and music like pussycat dolls was becoming more “in”.

Perhaps if there had been a few more years of that type of pop left, they’d have managed just fine as a mature pop band just like s club 7.

However I don’t think it’s easy to change your image to do something different sadly and can’t imagine that reinventing themselves to suit the changing tides would have worked.

Also, not a question but random musing - I feel that back then 11, 12, 13 year olds were treated as older than they are now. I remember watching the s club juniors search and the narrator made a comment along the lines of “beauty hurts” and one of the girls (maybe Stacey) was getting her eyebrows plucked. I think nowadays people would be horrified about telling a 12? year old they needed to remove body hair especially something like plucking your eyebrows which, as most of us of that time are aware, really messes your eyebrows up long term!

Then there was seemingly also a lot of questions from adults about which girls/boys they liked and a lot of us even now wondering if our musings about who fancied who were correct - presumably because that was the kind of interview questions in magazines.

I don’t want to say it was sexualised exactly, as it was all about innocent crushes, but I think the way they were spoken to was more like how 13 - 15 year olds are nowadays. Eg I can’t imagine 11 year old girls now being described as “boy mad” like they were back then.

Transitioning to sc8 was an attempt to reinvent themselves and appear more adult. They quit the denim jackets and jeans, and brought in the miniskirts and tight vest tops.

The eyebrow plucking is something my child remembers at the time, and the MUA’s did ask if Stacey wanted this done, it wasn’t forced upon her. They were aware of age and I remember them being very reluctant to do anything to Hannah.

they also told me:

A lot of the girls were very paranoid about any kind of leg or arm hair showing. Before performances or shoots they’d be checking to make sure nothing had been missed. One of the members also started fake tanning later down the line and was convinced they were way too pale.

Straight hair got into fashion around the time of sundown and Rochelle was very very keen on getting her hairstyle changed from curls to super straight with a fringe, eventually wardrobe agreed. They were funny about hairdos and clothes- for some reason they didn’t want all the kids to look the same or too similar to each other. They wanted Stacey to keep her curls and were even more firm about it when Rochelle changed her hair- that’s why you barely see Stacey with straight hair. With Calvin he got sick of what he calls his “cockatoo” hair- he needed about 3 cans of hairspray a fortnight. They were weird about clothes too- For example if too many people wore black in a video shoot they would keep Frankie and Calvin in black shirts so they’d stand out and make the others change.

As a parent I’m not sure if I’d describe it as sexualised but I understand what you mean. A lot of us parents thought the lyrics in their last single (don’t tell me you’re sorry) were way too grown up for them, there was a line in sundown we found iffy too. Interviewers embarrassed the boys a lot too asking about girls and how far they’d gone. Especially as two were struggling with their sexuality. Very odd.

Do you have any old clippings from magazines? Would love if you could share!

that will be a reply for another day as they are filed away in the attic!

Yeah they are definitely hard on themselves! The way they see themselves is different from how fans do. It's like when people say they weren't that successful at the time (I'm sure I read something along those lines in this thread by somebody moaning about it) is absolute insanity to me. They were huge and on every TV show going back then performing! One step closer automatic high ect stands the test of time and obviously the members have matured and look different but I bet they all get recognised by a specific age range of fans. I'd recognise any of them if I saw them out and about. They were also under a huge record label and achieved hits in the charts, which is unbelievably successful regardless of how old they were when they did it so I hope your child is proud of themselves regardless of what they do now.

That's awful they were kept hanging, not knowing it was over! They should have done something after it ended. Imagine what Simon Fuller could have done with Daisy or Stacey if he had been tactical—they had it all! Absolute missed opportunity! It even grinds me when I see statements about there's no point in a reunion nobody would come or they wouldn't sell I can guarantee even if they did a one off date at Wembley, they'd sell it out or do a good job at getting close to with correct marketing. Or even a talk with all of them live in person it'd sell out. It's a nostalgic piece of a lot of our lives, and we absolutely loved them! Hence why there's so much interest in this thread. There's still people out there who would give a left arm to see a reunion; it's just finding the people as back then it was all CDs and stuff so there's not massive traces of them on current social media only small bits on tik tok. I know you said not all members would reunite, but I think they're missing a moneymaker by not doing it. I'm suprised they didn't support S club when they came back out. There's so many who still play their songs and so many who would love to see them all together again.
I watched the interviews Jay did and hannah said something along the lines of "I wasn't sure people still knew who I was" There's a whole generation who know who S Club Juniors are even if we are all older now. Thought I'd state this for your child to read as what they did is a huge deal and not achieved by many and the fact they did it at the age they did is still incredibly impressive.

This is really sweet and my child says thankyou.

The reason a reunion never became a thing wasn’t just due to lack of demand (though that was one factor) but because 5 out of the 8 members didn’t want to reunite and/or had other stuff on.

A couple of the members while being proud of their roots and looking back on them fondly have tried to distance themselves from the S Club brand. One changed their name to avoid the connotations. It’s something nobody blames them for at all. I know from seeing my child have rejections it can be hard to be taken seriously in the adult industry when you are so well known for being in a (wonderful) child pop band.

A while back some fans started a petition for reuniting for a bit of fun and sent it to my child’s SM but it didn’t garner enough signatures. Even if it did I suppose you can’t force people who don’t want to reunite to perform, so I’m not sure how it would’ve worked truthfully.

I just wanted to say it so they know how it is from an outside perspective, as this whole idea of them being in the past or they "weren't that big back then" is absolute madness to me. Also the way they did newspaper articles with what they're all doing now and play down certain things or "ex pop star" it's like regardless of the age you achieved the stuff you're still a pop star you achieved what you did it's in music history. I think people have a mad way of looking at things! ( as in the press, world, some people not yourselves)

Can you name the members who wanted to reunite? it would be interesting to know? my wild guess is Daisy Stacey and Aaron? could be wrong though.
Still find it crazy that them being in a pop band would stop them being taken seriously for opportunities. The industry is backwards. Surely they'd think ok this person has achieved such amazing things at a young age and was capable of doing all that as a child that's impressive so they're more than capable of doing this job? (if the job was right obviously) If anything it should have been a stamp on their portfolio. I did see the petition, and I think it would get enough signatures it just needed to have a push behind it like "if people sign it screenshot and put a s club juniors song behing it on tik tok" as I bet alot of people don't even know it existed. It won't be a lack of interest! I guess as you stated regardless of interest if the members don't want to do it they don't want to do it hey!
I think a live chat questions answers would be more doable than performing. Sorry for the rants it just frustrates me how differently your child and maybe the rest of the group don't realise how successful they were.
The issue is as I mentioned earlier it was all cds magazines ect the history of their success isn't too dominant on the internet now. Say their cd sales were sat as evidence and translated to spotify numbers now or how many people played their cds would be a spotify play. it was a weird time as they were in the cross over of physical sales to streaming I guess. Either way as you can tell a reunion is wanted! We'll forever have to cry!

You must be a huge fan. You’re 100% on the money when guessing the 3 who want to reunite!

Absolute agree!

I'm loving hearing the insights of a world I know absolutely nothing about.

Yeah definitely a fan!! massive part of my childhood and still blast them out today! Was this a second time round then?

The big reunion was said that everyone one was up for it but calvin pulled out last minute ( aaron said in his interview and was really upset about it as went to itv rather than the band) so there only being 3 was this another time?
(I know for big reunion frankie and rochelle weren't involved)

There was an Instagram live series which I didn’t watch fully but a reunion was talked about on there.