S Club 7’s Jo O’Meara has opened up about feeling like an ‘outsider’ and the ‘ugly one’ of the group.
The singer also admitted that she knew how Jesy Nelson felt before she left Little Mix last year.
Jesy announced to fans in a shocking statement that she couldn’t deal with the comparison to her slimmer bandmates, which Jo says she understands.
Jo, 42, enjoyed her time in S Club 7 when they skyrocketed to the top of the charts in the Noughties.
During the four years, they won two Brit Awards and all 11 of their singles soared to the Top Five of the charts.
(Image: PA)
But she admits she had crippling insecurities and felt like “the ugly one” in the group as a result of intense body shaming.
She told The Sun: “When I look back, I wasn’t that big really.
“But because I was standing next to three absolutely stunning girls, I was always ‘the ugly one that sang the songs’.
“It made me feel very insecure as a singer and as part of that group. I did have a hell of a lot of insecurities to overcome.
“Obviously there wasn’t social media back then. But the headlines would be ‘Fat Club 7’ and ‘Flab Club 7’ and it would be a photo of me.”
She explained she would hold a cushion over her tummy on TV appearances so it wouldn’t be picked up on, and that she felt worse if she put weight on.
Jesy, 30, faced abuse on social media, with the likes of Twitter and Instagram, and the S Club star can “totally relate” to how she felt.
(Image: Getty Images for Live Nation)
The Don’t Stop Moving hitmaker also said she didn’t overcome the issues for a “very long time”.
She also dealt with a devastating back injury and was left struggling to move while the band was promoting their final album Seeing Double.
The mum said it was a “tough time” when she had to just stand at various parts of the stage while bandmates Rachel Stevens, Tina Barrett, Hannah Spearritt, Bradley McIntosh, Jon Lee, and Paul Cattermole danced around.
(Image: PA)
Alongside body image insecurities, Jo feared her fellow singers would grow to resent her because she became the vocal powerhouse of the group.
She says: “I’d think, ‘Oh no, it’s me singing again. They’re going to hate me for it’”.
But the star has said she’s now the “happiest” she’s ever been and finally content in her own skin.
Jo recently relaunched her solo career with her upcoming album, With Love, set to be released on August 27. The first single from the album, Sweet Surrender, came out on Thursday.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
