The day after music svengali Simon Fuller was sacked as manager of the Spice Girls, he quickly got to work creating his next all-singing, all-dancing, smiley, happy, pop mega-beast, S Club 7. Budding model Rachel Stevens was plucked from the catalogue of 19 Management and moulded into a pouting pin-up as the group starred in their own Monkees-style kids' TV show and became huge, chart-topping, BRIT Award-winning stars. After four Number 1 singles and the hits Don't Stop Movin', Reach and Never Had a Dream Come True, the band split in 2003, with Stevens making a bid for solo stardom. High profile producers Bloodshy & Avant and Richard X were recruited to add an edgier synth-pop sound, helping debut single Sweet Dreams My LA Ex and Comic Relief charity record Some Girls both shoot to Number 2 in the UK, and album Funky Dory (2003) to Number 9 in the charts. Girls Aloud producers Xenomania were recruited for the follow-up Come and Get It (2005), but despite the Top 10 singles Negotiate With Love and So Good, the album flopped and Stevens took leave from the music business. Named Sexiest Woman in the World by FHM magazine in 2001 and 2002, she was last seen on BBC TV show Strictly Come Dancing in 2008, finishing second in the competition.
