- Paul Cattermole was an English singer.
- He was best known for being a member of the late-1990s pop group S Club 7
- Paul was found dead on Apr. 6 in his Dorset home. The cause of death wasn’t immediately known.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of our beloved son and brother Paul Cattermole,” read a statement from Paul’s family and his group, S Club 7, per the BBC. Paul passed away on Thursday (Apr. 6) at the age of 46. He was found in his home in Dorset, England. “While the cause of death is currently unknown, Dorset Police has confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances. Paul’s family, friends and fellow members of S Club request privacy at this time,” read the statement.
“We are truly devastated by the passing of our brother Paul,” the official S Club 7 Instagram posted, along with a throwback photo of Paul. “There are no words to describe the deep sadness and loss we all feel. We were so lucky to have had him in our lives and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. He will be so deeply missed by each and every one of us. We ask that you respect the privacy of his family and of the band at this time.”
Paul was one of the members of S Club 7, an English pop group formed in 1998 by Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller. As part of the group, Paul – along with Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara, Hannah Spearritt, and Rachel Stevens – quickly rose to fame by starring in the BBC television series Miami 7 (or S Club 7 in the states.) The group had four UK no. 1 singles, a UK No. 1 album, and numerous hits throughout Europe.
In February, the group announced that they would reunite for a UK/Ireland tour to mark their 25th anniversary, according to the BBC. As the group mourns and the band’s fans grieve, here’s what you should know about Paul Cattermole.
Paul Cattermole Was An English Singer
Paul Gerald Cattermole (b. Mar. 7, 1977) hailed from St. Albans in Hertfordshire. He had studied at the National Youth Music Theatre, where he first met his future bandmate, Hannah Spearritt. At age 21, he auditioned and won a spot in S Club 7, the new project Simon Fuller devised after the Spice Girls fired him in 1997.
Paul almost didn’t join. “I honestly was very unsure,” he told The Guardian in 2019. “I’ve been asked so many times, ‘Were you sitting by the phone, just waiting?’ But when they did phone me up and offer it to me – ‘Hi, we’re so pleased to …’ – I remember putting the phone down and going: ‘I don’t know if I want to do that.’ I turned to my friends and said: ‘If I do this, my life is never going to be the same again.’”
S Club 7 released four albums: S Club in 1999, 7 in 2000, Sunshine in 2001, and Seeing Double in 2002. Their sophomore release was certified 4x-Platinum in their native Britain and reached Gold status in the United States.
For four years, the group was a presence at the top of their charts. Their debut single, “Bring It All Back,” reached No. 1 in the UK, a feat they’d repeat with songs “Never Had A Dream Come True, “Don’t Stop Movin’,” and “Have You Ever.” Other songs – from “Two in a Million” to “Say Goodbye” found their way towards the top of the charts, with “Alive” being their lowest-charting UK single at No. 5.
He Was Also A Television Star
One element that propelled S Club 7 to success was their television series. Miami 7 (S Club 7 in the States) saw the group portray fictionalized versions of themselves. They also appeared in LA 7 (S Club 7 In LA in the States), Hollywood 7 (S Club 7 in Hollywood), and Viva S Club (S Club 7 In Barcelona in the States.) They also appeared in specials like S Club 7: Christmas Special and Artistic Differences.
“The style and energy that was portrayed was coming from us, entirely,” Cattermole told The Guardian. “There was no management in that. The actual thing that people were buying into came from us. And to see people get hundreds of millions of pounds and all the credit – no. We created that sort of fun energy on our own, despite the pressure they put on us.”
Paul said he was tight with his bandmates, despite being compiled together through Fuller’s talent search. ” We were closer than many pop groups,” he told The Guardian. “People that used to work with us said: ‘Wow, you guys actually speak, you actually stay in the same room.’ Most of them don’t.”
Why Did Paul leave S Club 7?
Paul left the group in March 2002. Despite being in “one of the world’s biggest pop groups” at the time, he was making “a pittance” for his efforts, according to The Guardian. Paul claims that Simon Fuller was signed to Polydor Records while the group was listed as “associates.”
“It had got to the point where things were being handled so badly, I had to go,” he told The Guardian. Paul rejoined his old band, now called Skua, to play nu-metal.
“I want a change musically,” he said at the time, per the BBC. At the time, S Club 7 re-signed with Polydor Records, which the BBC said the new deal would ” make each of the members a millionaire.”
“I don’t mind admitting, I was upset,” Paul told The Guardian about how no one in the group asked him to stay after he announced his departure. He also said that, in hindsight, he was sick of being in the public eye. As part of S Club 7, a break wasn’t possible.S Club 7 dropped the “7” and continued for one more year before announcing their split in April 2003.
Were Hannah and Paul from S Club 7 Together?
Paul dated his S Club 7 member – and the friend he made at the National Youth Music Theatre – Hannah Spearitt, during his time in the group. Paul told The Guardian that his five-year relationship was written into the show. When asked if they were “forced” to date, Paul said, “Yeah, but like I say. It didn’t feel like that because I had totally grown into the idea, quite quickly. I thought she was great.”
Hannah would transition to acting following the end of S Club. Paul told The Sun in 2017 that he thought Hannah might have been told to end the relationship to further her career as an actress. “I’m betting she was told, ‘So your current boyfriend is doing music stuff. Well, that’s great, but you really need an actor boyfriend.’ She was much more impressionable then than she is now so I reckon if an agent told her to ditch me, then she might have listened,” he said.
“I’d gone from thinking that we were going to be together forever to being replaced by someone who looked like me,” he added.
Did Paul Have Financial Issues?
In 2014, Paul declared bankruptcy. In 2015, he joined the group for the S Club 7 “Bring It All Back” reunion tour. “I had been declared bankrupt, but it was annulled because I paid it off with the earnings from that tour,” he told NME. “Hardly anyone ever pays it off. It cost me everything. I paid £36,000 to HMRC but the lawyers’ fees were about 40-something. I didn’t let anyone down on not paying my share.”
Paul also put his 2000 BRIT Award for Best Newcomer up for auction on eBay. It eventually closed at £66,100 ($82,116) but the winner failed to pay.
“When I was doing The Rocky Horror Picture Show [the stage adaptation with Diana Vickers, which toured across the UK] a year ago, I was injured in quite a bad way,” he said when explaining why he attempted to auction the award. “There was an un-choreographed bit of dancing [that went wrong], and someone fell on me. I was out of the show for about two months. My back has gone – it hasn’t been right since. Things just haven’t gone well this year [in terms of finding work] with that injury.”
In 2019, Paul worked a series of odd jobs, including managing a community radio station.