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!

I think that comment is a bit harsh. It hasn't been that long since we started talking about the damage to child stars and I would say the majority are American child stars. I do think there is more care with children in the UK. To hold your child back from their ambitions and such a big opportunity could be damaging to them.

Ahhh. S Club 8 walked so Kidz Bop could run.

I loved S Club 8 and their tv show about putting the band together. It makes sense that Rochelle said she doesn’t remember a lot of it - she has done a HELL of a lot with her life since! Whereas for some of the others, S Club 8 will be the highlight of their life I’m sure. Nothing wrong with that, I would have DIED to be in SC8, was the right age and an incredible singer but too fat.

My question - did you as parents have a network, get to know each other, SC8 family BBQs etc?

God as a parent now I can’t imagine not being allowed to accompany my child and they had to go with an unrelated chaperone! Would that even happen today?

You only spoke to your child once a week?
How old were they at the time? Do you regret this?

Have you ever watched the show Girls 5 Eva on Netflix? If not you should.

We saw Jay Astoria’s as the mayor in the musical
’ Back to the future’ in the West End. His singing was one of the highlights of the show for me - superb!

So my child left home in 2001, and were away in total for almost four years on and off. They would come back home to visit every few months. 99% of the time they were in the UK however they spent months out in Barcelona filming the TV show, and we didn’t see them as often then.

They wanted us to move to a different part of the country after they struggled to get
auditions and gigs in our hometown but we didn’t.

Why do you think some members achieved continued fame after the group split up, and others didn’t?

Do the famous members still talk to the rest of the group?
Do they meet up in person ever?

Does your child still get recognised or stopped for autographs etc

Gosh that’s a long time!
Do you feel that you missed out on a lot of the teenage years as a result? That must have been very hard.

There were people of ALL shapes and sizes at the auditions and I know it bothered a few people that they only ‘employed’ (for want of a better word) very slim and reasonably tall members.

a certain member started to gain curves (she was not fat, she just hit puberty) and got very paranoid about it. In the Barcelona TV show they did, another actress in the show who was also slim, but not super skinny (not part of s club 8) was always comparing herself to other slimmer co stars. She hates her photo on the “welcome to Avalon heights” album cover to this day apparantly.

lots of theatre kids groups still have unrelated chaperones today

the parents did know and see each other but it all felt a bit false sometimes. Lots of us lived very far apart and the times we did meet there was a lot of resentment and jealousy especially in the later stages. Two or three of the members got a lot more attention than the rest and it started to irk people.

What was your favourite sc8 song. Personally I loved automatic high and new direction I think it was called

This is fascinating! I really liked the band as a teen, some great singles (sundown and new direction come to mind). Great talent and I wish your child well in their career.

One step closer will always be special to me because it was their first, but I also liked anytime anywhere.

a lot of the dance routines had to be changed drastically last minute due to the 9th member being removed from the band, and they did really well considering it was their first big concert (as a support act)

A later song I love is don’t tell me you’re sorry, though there was MANY arguments between the band members and parents over that music video. Maybe because they had all hit puberty by then and argued more!

No questions, but I was a huge S Club Juniors fan and still have One Step Closer on my playlist to perk me up on long car journeys!

Same, I've just put new direction on you tube for my kids. One loves it, one not so sure!!

I do. When they got back they went to school for a couple of years and left early. As soon as they left they were desperate to move, I think they missed living without parents deep down.

we are close as adults though which is nice.

It's sad but probably natural that there would be jealousy over some members having more success. That's the business though isn't it? You need a mixture of talent, hard work and luck to succeed.

Wow how amazing for your kid! You must have been so proud!

Why was the 9th member removed from the band at the last minute?

They completely dropped out and got tutored. The eldest member went back to their school to do their exams and travelled back and forth to school/ London/barcelona.

I used to love S Club 8!! Had a crush on Calvin and wanted to be Daisy 😅🙈 I hope your child is having a lovely life x

Amazing !

I absolutely loved s club juniors when I was 12! I remember dragging my mum to buy me their albums 😂

(Possible stupid question alert)... Why were they called s club juniors and not just their own band name ?

Do they cringe when they look back at old videos or do they like watching them?

He was just a bit inappropriate to be honest, particularly with the girls. Both verbally and being a bit touchy. He later went on to be on stars in their eyes kids but didn’t win. His mother was a bit strange and actively encouraged the way he was being with the girls, saying he was just being naughty etc. He got removed 3 weeks before the first performance with s club.

he was the same age as most of the other members so I’ve no idea where he got the behaviour from. One of the boys was sad he was removed but my child says most of the feeling was of relief. Funnily enough they were all told not to mention this boy to the press or in their tv interviews. Just act like he was never there. He’s in the first two eps of S Club search.

he later came out as gay and tried to get in touch with several of the band members but they did not reply to him

Management were very keen to hush it up and I remember them giving out a line that he had to choose between the band and a place in a performing arts school.

Did you witness the mixed race or black members experience any racism or bigotry?