Rachel Stevens has had a bit of a bumper year – for a number of reasons. The main change for her is that S Club returned in a big way throughout 2023, playing some of their biggest venues in the process.
Included in this run of shows was a couple of gigs at London’s O2 Arena, where their comeback reached its apex, placing them in front of 20,000 people and relaying some of their biggest songs to date once again.
While it feels like business as usual for Stevens and S Club, though, a lot has changed in their eight-year absence.
For one, Stevens has two grown-up children to contend with in her household now. And, as a result, she exclusively tells Express.co.uk over Zoom, she’s forced to think about some of the more mundane things in life – like… keeping her glasses safe. Yeah, this probably isn’t something you’d expect a BRIT Award-winning pop star to be worrying about, but it’s a very real problem she thinks about.
“Obviously, glasses in itself are expensive,” Stevens explained, getting real. “And we want to look after them.” As a result, the S Club Party singer has teamed up with Vision Express to help promote their hugely generous Breakage and Loss Protection Cover, which “replaces and repairs broken designer glasses with 75 percent off as well as offering 50 percent off the replacement of glasses that have been lost”.
“I just think it’s such a brilliant thing which will help so many people,” she grinned through the phone. “I mean, because they’re expensive, aren’t they? So any help, and that kind of thing, it’s such a great thing to be involved with.”
Stevens also confessed that having children changed her touring life, as well. “I think, for me, initially it was just logistics,” she explained. “Because the last time I obviously in the band, I didn’t have children and it was it was different. This time around. I think we were all kind of, you know, working out the diaries of kids in the mix and all of that kind of thing. And you know, the thought of leaving them for go on the road was daunting.” She added: “But so wonderful to be back together… We were all so excited.”
That wasn’t the only massive change to hit the band, though. On April 6, 2023, S Club member Paul Cattermole was found dead at his home. As a result, the band rebranded from S Club 7 to S Club, and carried out their following shows in tribute to him.
“That was a really special thing to be able to do,” Stevens sombrely said of the comeback. “It was a mix of emotions, really – a real mix of emotions. It does feel like we all – I think we all would say the same – we all just fit back together again. We’ve got so much history and all this sort of banter and fun and just doing it a different stage of our life.”
Stevens continued: “And also bringing that nostalgia for our fans and people who are all grown up now who were like five and six who would come up to us before the show and say you were our childhood. It was really special to hear their stories and share them with our own. Yeah, it was a mix of everything.”
Thankfully, it sounds like this isn’t the last we’ll see or hear of S Club in the near future.
Stevens revealed: “Yeah, no, we are looking to carry on. We’ve got some festivals coming up in the summer, which is really exciting.” (At the time of writing, S Club are playing Isle of Wight festival – tickets are on sale now)
“We are potentially working on new music,” she added, without elaboration. “So lots of talk about that.”
Rachel Stevens has partnered with Vision Express to highlight the benefits of its Breakage and Loss Protection Cover. Vision Express will replace and repair broken designer glasses with 75 percent off as well as offering 50 percent off the replacement of glasses that have been lost. Book an appointment for an eye test here.
