Author: Dale

We may have gotten use to seeing the glam that is Rachel’s new home on her Instagram feed, but it wasn’t always like this. In a new interview Rachel discusses purchasing her first home in the early days of S Club 7, and spoiler, it came pre-furnished!

Check out the interview below!

RACHEL STEVENS went from being a student living at home to being a household name as part of chart-topping band S Club 7. The global success of the band — which included a TV series — meant that she was on the property ladder at 20 and filming and performing all over the world. Since then, Rachel has gone on to have a successful solo career, appeared on Strictly and Celebrity Mastermind. She is currently working with Low Cost Glasses, an online prescription glasses retailer.

When and where did you buy?
I bought my first home in Hampstead when I was in early S Club days. I was never in the country as we were always travelling but I got good advice from my stepdad and decided to buy.

Why did you decide to take such a big step so young?
S Club was kicking off and we were out in America a lot. I was around 20 and it just felt sensible to invest in property. I was hardly ever at the Hampstead property after I bought it as we were in Miami a lot filming. I remember friends coming over to the Hampstead flat and I still had the plastic wrapping on the oven. I went from home and straight to the band. I never learnt to cook or anything, we were always on set, working and eating on the job.

How was it buying back then?
My stepdad is actually working in property so he helped me and it was a brand new development and I bought off-plan. There was no chain so not too much to get involved in. I didn’t learn too much about buying from the experience and the whole thing was relatively easy.

What was the place like?
I think I actually bought the show home flat at the time. Everything was done and I think that’s what I needed. My career was so full-on I couldn’t be at home to make any decisions. It had a gym and a pool, which was good. I was very lucky because I was so young and it felt very safe and ticked all the boxes. I slowly put my stamp on it. It was semi-furnished but at the time I didn’t know what my taste was. These days, I love interiors.

What is your style now?
My bedroom has just been finished and I wanted something calm, relaxing and glamorous. I’ve just bought a beautiful art deco mirror and dressing table. I would say glamorous with a calm, relaxed feel. I love period properties and mixing old with new. There are so many beautiful things on the high street these days that you can mix with antiques. It also has to be stylish but practical with children around.

Why did you move out?
Good question. I moved quite near my mum two or three years later in West Hampstead so not far. A property came up with a little garden and a different kind of space. Again I was hardly there and I really wanted to make something homely. I didn’t really know what home was at the time because I was always moving and it was just a crazy time. My world had changed overnight.

Did buying help you?
It was a bit of a blur if I’m honest. Everyone has a different experience. It’s such a huge thing to buy your first home. It was really exciting to have my own place but I’m not sure it made me grow up quicker. When you are in a band you aren’t that independent, because a lot is done for you and you have a lot of people around you and are really protected. I had to re-learn doing things for myself after leaving the band.

What’s your best memory living there?
The late night styling sessions there. I would have my stylist and make-up artists over and we would have a bottle of wine and play dress-up.

Have you got more interested in properties over time?
As I’ve got older I’ve been incredibly interested in property. I love looking online at different properties, I’m a bit obsessed. After West Hampstead, I moved to Primrose Hill and that was my first flat that was my own style and taste and I was able to make it my own place.

Do you have any advice about getting on the ladder early?
It’s harder than ever to buy but if you invest in property, then that money is always there. And on top of that, home is where the heart is.

In what can be described as confusing times, this hasn’t stopped the fabulous Rachel Stevens from consistantly working bringing us the best of what fashion has to offer.

In recent weeks, Rachel has switched management companies from InterTalent Management (whom at one point also housed former S Clubber Hannah Spearritt) and has now switched to Rom-Com Entertainment.

In a recent Instagram post Rom-Com Entertainment posted a behind the scenes picture of Rachel working with designer Karen Millen, so I see exciting things in our immediate future.

Earlier this week SheerLuxe posted a behind the scenes video of Rachel on a Podcast, as well as, during a video shoot for unveiling Rachel’s favorite makeup looks.

You can view the video below and be sure to check out their Instagram as they maybe uploading some Rachel content in the coming weeks!

(Rachel’s part begins at 7:47)

Ahead of the upcoming Christmas season, Rachel has taken over the ‘New Look’ Instagram account to share some of her favorite things from the company’s holiday collection.

Check out the video below:

Be sure to follow the New Look Instagram account, and be sure you are following Rachel @MsRachelStevens!

Rachel Stevens, 41, (pictured) who is best known for being in S Club 7, revealed she was attracted to Rip It Up because of the amount of dancing involved

Now she’s focused on touring the UK. ‘I saw Rip It Up The 60s in the West End. 

I loved its energy, although I could see how much hard work went into it. 

I know we’ll be featuring Tiny Dancer, perhaps my favourite Elton John song ever, Gladys Knight’s Midnight Train To Georgia and Harry Nilsson’s Without You, which I think I’m going to be singing.’

Rachel Stevens, 41, who came second on Strictly with partner Vincent Simone in 2008, had been on the look-out for another dance project after touring with a reformed S Club 7 in 2015. 

‘There’s a lot of dancing in Rip It Up and that was one of the things that first attracted me to it,’ she says. 

‘I also love 70s music, I grew up listening to it. Then I went to see Rip It Up The 60s and I understood how the show hangs together. 

‘By the end of the evening I was on my feet like everyone else.’

But life these days is all about juggling for Rachel, who’s married to actor and property developer Alex Bourne, the father of her two daughters Amelie, eight, and Minnie, five. 

‘I have a great support network. My mum lives round the corner, my parents-in-law are nearby and we’ve had an au pair for two years. 

‘My work is sporadic so it’s a question of logistics.’

The girls are her priority though. ‘I’m super-organised and they always know where I am and what I’m doing. 

‘In fact, I have a large whiteboard at home which has every detail on it of what I’m doing. 

‘I think when children know what’s going on, they feel reassured.’

Does she think S Club will ever reform? ‘We get asked that a lot. But because there are seven of us and we’re all so different, we’re all doing our own projects. 

‘But it would be amazing if we did. 

‘The last tour was such a celebration of what we had and there was clearly an appetite for us. But then music is such a potent form of nostalgia, isn’t it?’

In this new show Rachel is particularly pleased that she’ll be singing We’ve Only Just Begun and hopes she’ll do justice to Karen Carpenter’s peerless original. 

‘And then I’ll be part of various medleys and mish-mashes too,’ she adds.

She hadn’t met Melody Thornton before rehearsals began, but in 2014 she took part in the Strictly Christmas special with Louis and S Club were on the circuit with Blue, who were big around the same time.

No need to ask her who she thinks is going to be the joker in the pack. ‘Oh, Lee,’ she laughs.Additionally, check out the recent videos uploaded from the “Rip It Up” Twitter, to include interviews with Rachel regarding some of her favorites from the 70s! (Source: Daily Mail)

Are you ready to get that #70s dancing fever in our disco-drenched, glam rock #RipItUp UK Tour? ✨?? ???? #Bowie ✅ #PinkFloyd ✅ #LedZeppelin ✅ #FleetwoodMac ✅ #EltonJohn ✅ #TheCarpenters ✅ #ABBA ✅ & more… ?‍???

Book Now ➡️ https://t.co/lHFTOoLt06 pic.twitter.com/8g3NdBN9Up

— Rip It Up (@RipItUpTheShow) August 10, 2019

We asked ✨@MsRachelStevens✨… What’s your favourite dance from the #70s? ???‍? Tweet us your favourites! #RipItUp #MeetTheCast ???? pic.twitter.com/fnEPgg2aaU

— Rip It Up (@RipItUpTheShow) September 5, 2019

? Check out our ✨BRAND NEW✨ Behind-The-Scenes glitz & glam, groovy, disco-drenched rehearsals trailer! ????

Featuring our fabulous #RipItUp #70s cast @louissmith1989, @MsRachelStevens, @MelodyThornton & @OfficialLeeRyan! ???

Book Now ➡️ https://t.co/biXqkxDeOI pic.twitter.com/KsPeYIJe3c

— Rip It Up (@RipItUpTheShow) September 2, 2019

? What are you most excited about with #RipItUp #70s? Check out what @MsRachelStevens thinks! ? #MeetTheCast ???? pic.twitter.com/QbQ7HWZs4S

— Rip It Up (@RipItUpTheShow) August 24, 2019

Rachel will be joined by Olympian Louis Smith, former Pussycat Doll Melody Thorn, and former Blue member, Lee Ryan. The show kicks off this Wednesday, September 11th in Portsmouth and will run through the UK until November 6th.

She took the polished routines of S Club 7 in her stride and set new records on Strictly.

Now Rachel Stevens is gearing up for her greatest dancing challenge.

She is taking to the stage for Rip It Up The 70s, the new show that’s following on from the amazing success of the 50s and 60s productions. Those tours sold over 100,000 tickets and went down so well they rounded off with a four-month run in London’s West End.

“It was a brilliant night but it was so full-on and so packed with routines that at the end my husband turned to me and just said, ‘Good luck!’”

The formula of the shows is brilliantly simple – get a lead cast of well-known faces to show off their dance skills to a soundtrack of some of the biggest hits of the decades.

This time round it’s toe-tapping tunes from the Bee Gees and Bowie, Queen and Elton John, Abba, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and many more that will be heading to venues all over the country, including Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Olympic gymnast and Strictly champion Louis Smith, Pussycat Dolls star Melody Thornton and former Blue singer Lee Ryan will join Rachel on stage each night.

Scary though it is, it’s a prospect she welcomes – as long as she gets herself in shape.

“I’ve wanted to do some kind of dance show ever since Strictly so I jumped at this when it came up,” confided Rachel, 41.

“I go to the gym anyway and I’ve got a trainer, so it’s really been a case of upping the cardio. My two little ones mean I’m always running around, but this is a different kind of energy.

“Although I’m not naturally a runner, I’ve been doing that more, as well as pilates and just eating healthily.”

Rachel, who’d been in S Club for five years between 1999 and 2003 and then followed it up with solo success, took part in Strictly in 2008.

She notched up more perfect 10s than anyone else at the time and made it all the way to the final with Vincent Simone, narrowly losing out to Tom Chambers.

She says the invitation to take part on Britain’s biggest TV show came at the perfect time.

“Being able to get on such an incredible show was an amazing thing,” she explains. “I’d done my solo stuff and then was living out in LA for a bit. This was the first TV thing I did when I got back from America.

“It was a massive challenge and an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. But it was the most nerve-wracking show I’ve ever done.

“No matter what background you’ve come from you are so out of your comfort zone. You come to care so much for your partner and just want to do well.”

Rachel married Alex a few months after Strictly and with the arrival of Amelie in 2010 and then Minnie is 2014, a different phase of her life beckoned.

While she has undertaken various projects, including a festive return to Strictly and a starring role on one of its sell-out stadium tours, motherhood has been her biggest happiness.

“It’s full-on and challenging but the girls are just incredible and bring so much joy,” said Rachel.

“They’re gorgeous and funny. The little one, Minnie, is hilarious and cracks me up every day.

“And I definitely think Amelie is going to be on the stage. Whenever I see her in a show I’m such a proud mama – I was crying at the last one.

“She is so passionate about her singing and music. When she is performing she lives every moment and is so expressive.

“I’m going to encourage her all the way. If that’s her passion, then I’m fully behind her.”

Like Amelie, Rachel grew up in a musical house, always singing with her hairbrush in front of the mirror like so many little girls.

“I didn’t really seek out a musical career. But I went to see Kylie when I was about 11 – it was my first concert – and I remember saying to my mum that was what I wanted to do when I grew up.

“I was in awe of it all and I used to put on my own little shows.”

Stage school wasn’t her way into the business but before she’d even turned 20 she was in S Club 7.

Formed by the Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, their own TV show in 1999 was the springboard to success that saw them have four number one UK singles and sell over 10 million albums worldwide.

But it was a crazy whirlwind that, as a teenager, could be hard to take in and stay on top of.

So, looking back two decades on, what advice would Rachel offer to her younger self?

“Travelling the world was an incredible experience but I’d tell myself to worry less.

“I’ve always been a bit of a worrier, even about the little things, so I’d advise not over-thinking everything.”

Turning 40 is a big deal for many and Rachel says she was no different when she reached the milestone in April 2018.

“I drag my birthdays out anyway but I really dragged that one out,” laughs Rachel. “I had a big party and we probably celebrated over about a month.”

Age – hopefully – brings wisdom, experience and perspective and Rachel can look back on lessons learned and attitudes changed.

“It doesn’t happen overnight and it takes time as you grow, but I feel I definitely know myself more.

“At this time in my life I’m much more confident. We all have our insecurities but you learn how to deal with them better and work with what you’ve got.

“I’m just striving to be the best person, the best mum, best friend I can be.”

She may be a 40-something mum-of-two but Rachel is still in great shape, even more so with her Rip It Up regime.

Back in S Club’s heyday she regularly topped polls for her looks and just five years ago a lads’ mag voted her the sexiest woman of all time.

“I got rear of the year, another highlight of my career,” she says with a cheeky grin. “I went from doing kiddie bopper magazines to being told I was topping these polls.

“It was a shock and I took it all with a pinch of salt, but I very much enjoyed it. I’m going to ride on that forever!”

The tour starts on September 12 with Scots dates from October 11. Tickets at www.ripituptheshow.com

Never say never on S Club 7 comeback

Fans were bereft when S Club 7 split in 2003 but they reunited in 2015 for their Bring It All Back arena tour.

Rachel insists that unlike other girl groups, there was no big fall out and getting back on stage after more than a decade was a thrill.

In fact, it’s something she would be happy to repeat should the opportunity arise.

“There’s a bond that we all still have,” says Rachel of her former bandmates, Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O’Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole and Tina Barrett.

“We don’t speak often but we are definitely in touch. Everyone does their own thing – some of the guys still perform together – and we’re all scattered all over London but we certainly still speak.

“Things were very amicable and although we were all very different, we pretty much got on really well, other than annoying each other now and again like brothers and sisters do.

“S Club reunion talk bubbles up every now and again and I feel very proud of what we had, so why not? Never say never.

“I saw the Spice Girls when they toured and I think it’s brilliant to revisit those times.”

This morning, Rachel joined the couch over at ITV’s Lorraine to discuss her upcoming stint on “Rip It Up: The 70’s” as well as how she manages her children’s time on social media.

She also briefly discusses her FHM awards, as well as a potential an S Club reunion in the future! (We would love to see that, personally).

We would love for it to be known, that Rachel should perform her hit single “More More More” on Rip It Up because really….. it wouldn’t be fair not to. I mean look at how incredibly disco Rachel can be. Check out this classic clip for TOTP back in 2004!!

Rachel Stevens has recorded an episode of Alesha Dixon’s new Podcast “Wear It’s At”. She is joined by parenting guru Louise Pentland and the trio discuss a variety of topics, including motherhood and fashion and how to navigate that social calendar.

The episode titled ‘We Should Do Drinks Soon’ is an episode all about friends, frenemies and foes –covering off how friendship circles shift as life progresses and the art of making (and flaking) on plans.

You can listen to the Pop Cast directly by clicking here or you can search “Wear It’s At” on Apple Podcasts.