Strictly star Kym Marsh was just a young girl of 24 when she was chosen from thousands of hopefuls to join Hear’Say on the first ever singing reality show, Popstars.
She and bandmates Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw, Noel Sullivan and Danny Foster moved into a house in London together as music mogul Nigel ‘Nasty’ Lythgoe prepared to launch the group.
Myleene and Kym soon became inseparable and even shared a room in the house.
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The Strictly star joked it put her in a position that blokes would kill for – “to see Mylene in the nude”.
In her autobiography, From the Heart Kym Wrote: “Neither of us could believe we’d been selected. It felt like all my dreams were coming true. We were in a whirlwind of promotional events and photoshoots.”
(Image: Jamy/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
However the high from being selected didn’t last forever.
Kym quit the band in 2002 after a series of blazing rows with her bandmate.
The band was very successful with an instant number one hit with the song Pure and Simple.
Following that was a sell-out tour, which saw them tour the UK.
However Kym just wasn’t happy.
She wrote: “I was lonely, stressed and sad when I should have been loving it.”
“Tensions were building in the band and I felt like I was the odd one out.”
The blazing rows
There was one blazing row on the The Jerry Springer Show in the US where Kym just decided she had had enough.
Kym wrote: “”Me and Myleene had a slanging match but someone split us up as we were due to go on air.
“Going on to perform our single was horrible. At one point, me and Myleene had to put our arms around one another. It was so fake and I hated every minute of it.
“We had been overheard arguing by staff at the studios and the following day our row was all over the newspapers.
“We managed to put it behind us but the niggles remained. I wish we’d been able to explain honestly how we were feeling.
“But the problems festered.”
According to a report by The People at the time, the row erupted over Kym’s suspicions that Myleene has been slagging her off to the other bandmates.
The final straw
(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
However the final straw that led to Kim’s sensational exit was when a story was leaked to a newspaper and Kym was told it was by one of her bandmates.
Kym felt “utterly betrayed” and told the newspaper that she quit.
In her autobiography, Kym wrote: “I’m sorry I quit through a newspaper rather than sitting down with the rest of the band. If we could have had a chat to clear the air it wouldn’t have been so bitter afterwards.”
Kym then had little to no contact with Myleene except for the odd chat and a few texts.
Grief brought them back together
(Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
In 2009, Kym’s world was turned upside down when her baby boy Archie tragically passed away.
Kym and her then partner Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas lost their little boy shortly after he was born at 18 weeks early.
Despite their prickly past Kym revealed that her former bandmate was one of the first to reach out to her.
She said: “We hadn’t really kept in contact but, being a mum herself, Myleene rang to see how I was.
“We were both in tears on the phone and, in the days after Archie’s death, we talked more and more.
“Myleene really was there for me. She helped me choose the music for Archie’s funeral and sent the most beautiful bouquet of flowers to the crematorium.”
Friends for life
(Image: Brett Cove/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The two reconnected when they were working on ITV’s Popstar to Opera Star and Kym is determined not to let petty rows come between them again.
“We have both grown up now that we have children of our own,” explained Kym.
“Life is too short to hold grudges and what happened back then isn’t anyone’s fault. I am determined not to let anything or anyone come between us again.”
Kym rushed to her pal’s defence when she was criticised in 2016 for her ITV show Single Mums on Benefits.
Some viewers thought that it was outrageous that she visited struggling families in an expensive car while wearing top of the range clothing.
At the time, Kym told OK! magazine: “Some viewers said that because she hadn’t been in the position of being a single mum who has struggled financially, then she couldn’t understand the women she interviewed.
“I actually do think you can empathise with people while not being in their position.
“If Myleene had said it was as tough for her as a single mum being in a privileged position as it is for women with little money, then I’d understand the criticism, but she wasn’t saying that.”
Hear’Say reunion?
There has been whispers that the band could get back together.
Before the second national lockdown, Hear’Say reportedly held secret talks over a comeback.
It was reported that the group are thinking of marking the 20th anniversary of them winning ITV reality show Popstars.
There has been no confirmation of a reunion so far but its fair to say it is definitely not off the cards.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
