S Clubs Hannah Spearritt only found out she was ditched from reunion tour when band announced it

Hannah Spearritt only found out she had been dropped from S Club’s reunion tour when the band announced it in an online video.

The 42 year old singer and actress expalined that the social media announcement came as she was still trying to process the death of her ‘best friend in the band’ and ex-boyfriend Paul Cattermole.

Paul died of natural causes in April at the age of 46 – just weeks after the band announced plans to celebrate their 25th anniversary as a group with a new tour starting in October. It was thought that Hannah had herself withdrawn from the run of shows after her bandmates – Rachel Stevens, Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Jo O'Meara and Bradley McIntosh – shared a video to social media announcing her absence.

"Although Hannah will always be a part of S Club, she won't be joining us on this tour," her emotional bandmates said.

However, in an interview with The Times, Hannah has now opened up on how the video announcement came as a shock to her as she ‘had not been consulted on her exclusion and had no idea she had been dropped’. Hannah said she had gone quiet in her communications with the band because, “I needed to be with my family and take the time to process [Paul’s] loss,” but had never said she did not want to be involved in the tour.

Speaking of Paul, who she dated for five years until 2006, she said: “He was my best friend in the band. Paul’s death, that was just a whole other level of trauma.”

OK! has contacted S Club’s management team for a comment.

In July this year, S Club – who enjoyed massive pop success as a seven-piece in the early 2000s – released a new single, These Are The Days, and also revealed they were renaming their 15 date reunion tour in honour of their late bandmate Paul. The same month, the group also addressed rumours that Hannah had been pushed out of the band during an appearance on ITV show This Morning.

Presenter Craig Doyle quizzed S Club members about newspaper stories from the time that quoted sources as suggesting that Hannah was not on speaking terms with the band and was not aware she had not been included in the reunion tour until the video announcement was made.

S Club’s Jon replied: "I mean, for us, and for everyone listening actually, whenever an article starts with 'a source said' you can kind of take it with a pinch of salt. The one thing they did get right is that we are doing a 15 date tour across the country."

He went on to start listing tour destinations until host Josie Gibson cut in to ask: "The door is always open for Hannah, is that what you're saying?"

The band all agreed the door would always be open for her and branded claims to the contrary as "nonsense".

Meanwhile, it was revealed last month that Hannah would be among the stars appearing on this year’s Dancing on Ice. S Club’s reunion tour, on the other hand, got off to a rocky start earlier this month when the second show, in Liverpool, had to be postponed at the last minute due to an 'unforeseen technical issue'.

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