THEY were the golden couple of S Club 7, but Paul Cattermole and Hannah Spearritt’s famed romance was a rocky ride from the start.

As the band announces a reunion tour, all eyes will be on the former couple, who clashed over a lookalike lover, money troubles and even claims their relationship was 'scripted' for TV.

Paul, 45, and Hannah, 41, got together in 2001, after becoming friends in their teens at the National Youth Music Theatre.

But their on-off relationship failed to launch and Hannah is now with a different partner. 

The pair first got together after their 'romance' was allegedly written into a storyline on their TV show, L.A 7, which ran from April to July in 2000.

Paul told The Guardian: “It didn’t feel like that because I had totally grown into the idea, quite quickly. I thought she was great.”

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Before the show aired, the couple kept their real-life romance a secret for six months, going to lengths to hide their tracks. 

Paul told The Sun: “We each had a chauffeur-driven limousine and to keep the relationship secret I would let mine take me home to St Albans before I drove myself to London to stay at hers.

“I’d have to wake up around 5am so I could get back to St Albans to be picked up from my house so no one would clock. I would do that pretty much every night.”

Paul left S Club 7 in 2002 and by 2006 Hannah was pursuing an acting career, joining the cast of BBC show Primeval the following year.

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Paul suggested he could have been dumped because her agent told her she needed an actor boyfriend to break into TV.

He said: “I very much felt she thought she needed to ­prioritise her career. 

“She was much more impressionable then than she is now so I reckon if an agent told her to ditch me then she might have listened."

Hannah responded to his comments in The Sun by tweeting: “Someone’s broke again.”

Hannah then got involved with her Primeval co-star Andrew Lee-Potts, who bore a striking resemblance to Paul. 

Paul started drinking heavily as a result of their break-up and believes his career suffered as a result. 

He said: “I didn’t get the opportunity to do anything for years when I got swapped for a lookalike on Primeval.”

Adding later: ‘I’d gone from thinking that we were going to be together forever to being replaced by someone who looked like me. It took me years to get over it.’

After two years together, Hannah and Andrew-Lee got engaged in December 2008, but had broken up by 2013.

He tweeted: "Just to put an end to speculation, Hannah & I decided earlier this year to go our separate ways. We thanku 4 your support over the years x"

'Kick in the teeth'

Soon after, Hannah started dating personal trainer Adam Thomas and got engaged after seven months. 

In 2014, S Club 7 performed together at Children in Need and the following year reunited for the Bring It All Back Tour. 

During the tour, Paul and Hannah – who had recently dumped her fiancé – reignited their relationship, and needless to say Adam was not happy.

Adam told The Sunday People: “Hannah moaned to me until she was blue in the face about Paul – she said he was so fat he could hardly dance. And now she’s with him.

"He’d moved into my bed before it’d got cold – that’s the biggest kick in the teeth.” 

Hannah hit back: “We're not bothered. No one is going to ruin what we have.”

But Paul said their reunion was blissful for only two weeks before things turned sour.

He claimed: “The first two weeks she treated me amazingly. She was cuddling me all the time.

“But after that her affection depended on how much cooking and vacuuming I’d done. 

“She also wanted someone with job security to provide, and that’s not me.”

Money woes and homelessness

In the years since, Hannah has got back with Adam and has two daughters with him – Tora and Taya. 

Last month, the former Casualty and EastEnders actress told how her family were left homeless and had to move into an office over Christmas and New Year, after being forced out of their home by a landlord.

Paul has also had money issues after he went bankrupt in 2014.

In 2018, he sold his Brit Award for £60,000 on eBay after telling fans he was skint. 

He then appeared on First Dates Hotel in 2019 – but left after his date failed to recognise him.

But despite their difficulties, Paul previously reaffirmed his affection for his bandmate.

He said: “I still care about her and loved that girl like crazy. 

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“I remember thinking when we first met that she had the cutest sunflower face and had this energy where if she walked in the room it got brighter.

“If it hadn’t been for Andrew-Lee I think we’d now be three children in.”

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