Former S Club 7 singer Paul Cattermole has made a dig at ex-bandmate Jo O’Meara, branding her “the bully from Essex”.
The singer jibed at Jo as he discussed why he no longer performs with the rebooted S Club 3, who tour clubs and Students Unions across the country.
Claiming Jo muscled her way into the mini incarnation of the group, Paul told NME he had originally been planning to perform as a duo with Bradley McIntosh.
Taking off Jo, he continued: “‘You know what I am, Paul – I’m the anchor in this band.’
“I think you missed a W there!” he added.
Admitting he was “half mucking about, half serious”, he continued: “We do actually get on. Bradley’s Dad manages that [S Club 3] situation, so when the opportunity came to bring Tina [Barrett] in and make it a three that way, I found myself not getting booked as much.”
A representative for Jo declined to comment when HuffPost UK contacted them, but did issue a statement on behalf of S Club 3.
They said: “Prior to 2008, Bradley McIntosh and Paul Cattermole were doing a number of DJ sets which proved to be successful and due to their success we, SLNB (Management)/ Loco Talent (Agent), approached Jo O’Meara in 2008 to ask if she would be interested in working in a new project called SC3. Jo agreed and from that point onwards they have been working ever since.
“A number of years later, Tina Barrett was also approached by us and agreed to join in the project.
“In 2015 Paul made a decision that he no longer wanted to be part of the project as he wanted to concentrate more on acting. The door was always left open for Paul to return to the project if ever he wanted to.
“We wish Paul all the best in his future endeavours.”
Jo and Paul were in S Club 7 together from the group’s inception in 1998 until Paul quit in 2002.
Years later, they performed together as members of S Club 3, before a full reunion with the rest of their bandmates came in 2014.
They have since disbanded again, but Jo, Bradley and Tina have continued as a trio.
Paul recently hit headlines when it was revealed he was selling a Brit Award for Best Newcomer he won with the group in 2000.
It went on to fetch £66,000 on eBay, but Paul has since revealed he had to sell it having struggled to find work after suffering a back injury while in a theatre production of ‘The Rocky Horror Show’.
“My back has gone – it hasn’t been right since,” he told NME. “Things just haven’t gone well this year [in terms of finding work].”
Read Paul’s interview on the NME website here.