S Club 7 star Hannah Spearritt has opened up about her “traumatic” year after losing a former bandmate and managing a secret health battle.
The 42-year-old has revealed she has been struggling with an autoimmune disease that has left her unable to engage in everyday activities such as getting on a train or cooking.
In April, Spearritt’s former S Club 7 bandmate and ex-boyfriend Paul Cattermole died at 46 of “natural causes”.
Stream the world’s best reality, entertainment and true crime shows for free on 7Bravo on 7plus >>
“It’s been a tough and challenging year, and things happened that were quite traumatic,” Spearritt told Hello! Magazine.
She added that “everything” changed after Cattermole’s death and led her to “crippling panic attacks”.
Touching on her health, the Dancing on Ice star said she did not realise “how much I’d deteriorated because it happened so gradually”.
“I had no energy and couldn’t even get on a train or cook dinner,” she said.
“That affected my mental health, too, because I’ve always been a physical and sporty person.
“It’s only when you get better and can do things you love again that you realise how bad things were.”
The singer said she knew something was not right when she began experiencing chronic fatigue, brain fog and vertigo.
In 2022, she had two miscarriages which she and her husband Adam Thomas believe caused the autoimmune disease.
She did not clarify which autoimmune disease she was suffering.
But generally they can be triggered by environmental factors including diet, exposure to chemicals, infections or stress. They can also be inherited.
Spearritt also suffered symptoms in 2013 after undergoing breast implant surgery.
The star spoke out about her health challenges in October, revealing that stress makes her symptoms worse.
It came after her health issues led to her withdrawing from the S Club reunion tour following Cattermole’s death.
“Will I ever perform with them again?” she told The Sun.
“I just don’t know, I’m glad that the tour is still going ahead and the songs will live on, but now I’m looking forward, not backwards.
“I hadn’t been in the best of health — I’ve got a compromised immune system and stress makes it worse.
“My body just couldn’t cope with everything that was happening.
“I wasn’t myself, I was getting these crippling panic attacks, was suffering from really bad vertigo and was tired all the time.”
Spearritt and Thomas have two children Tea, 4, and Tora, 2.
She dated Cattermole from 2001 to 2006 before they rekindled their romance briefly in 2015 for several months.
For more engaging celebrity content, visit 7Life on Facebook.
