Profile of Hannah Spearritt on Famous Like Me

Hannah Louise Spearritt (born April 1, 1981) is a British actress. She was previously a member of the successful pop group S Club 7 and is the younger sister of former model and fashion designer Tanya Spearritt.

Early Life

She was born in Gorleston in Norfolk, the youngest of three children. At the age of 3 she modelled in a Mothercare catalogue. When she was 12 she landed a part in the Great Yarmouth Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society's production of Annie. Thereafter she successfully auditioned for the National Youth Music Theatre, and became part of the company. While with the NYMT she met future S Club member and boyfriend Paul Cattermole, as well her friend and future actress, Sheridan Smith. She appeared in the NYMT's productions, of Pendragon (1994-1995) - performing in New York and Hong Kong, Tin Pan Ali (1996), and the West End musical Bugsy Malone (1997) - she was a member of the original cast.

In 1998 she got a part in the television film The Cater Street Hangman, playing the part of a maid who gets murdered. She had also made appearances on the National Lottery Show, Blue Peter and a television advert for Mercedes Benz. While Hannah was studying maths, performing arts and media studies at college in Great Yarmouth, she auditioned for S Club 7 after seeing an advert in a magazine - it was a life changing decision.

S Club 7

As a member of S Club 7 (1998-2003) Hannah became known to and loved by a large number of people. Hannah quickly became one of the groups most popular members - her impish and hyper personality, as well as her trademark smile appealed to a wide audience.

The group had four UK number one hit singles, one UK number one album and one US top ten hit. She co-starred in the groups own TV series - Miami 7 (1999), LA 7 (2000), Hollywood 7 (2001) and Viva S Club (2002). She took part in three UK tours, won two prestigious Brit Awards and numerous other awards. Along with Rachel Stevens, Hannah was a regular pin-up in dozens of magazines and was a regular in the FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women polls between 2000 and 2004. Perhaps more importantly Hannah gained the chance to act in a movie, when S Club released their movie Seeing Double in early 2003. Most famously, in October 2001, amid a blaze of publicity, she revealed that she had been in a secret relationship with fellow band member Paul Cattermole for the previous 6 months. Paul Cattermole was the first to quit the group in 2002, thereafter S Club 7 became simply S Club.

Rumours

However, if rumours are to be believed then Hannah wasn't comfortable as a squeaky clean pop star. Hannah had reportedly caused some friction between herself and 19 Management (owned by Simon Fuller) as far back as late 2001, when she had allegedly been unhappy over the formation of S Club Juniors. Between then and the split of the group Hannah was constantly rumoured to be on the verge of quitting. Such rumours said she wanted a quiet life away from fame with Paul Cattermole, that the other band members were ignoring her, and that her heart was no longer with the group. Soon after the split of S Club in May 2003, she became the first, and so far only, member of the group to publicly declare her unhappiness with 19 Management. Details of the group’s contracts were revealed, it was claimed that 19 Management still owed her money and her intention of suing 19 Management over her contract was revealed (each member received only £590.000 despite around £50 million-£60 million. Ultimately no legal action against 19 Management ever occured.

Hollywood

In the last week of S Club’s existence, Hannah was meant to be at home in bed with the flu. In fact she was in Los Angeles to audition for a role in the film Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, a fact that Hannah revealed at the UK premiere of the film on the 24th March 2004 in London. She got the role and 3 days after leaving the band she began filming - technically a breach of her contract with 19 Management. Hannah received much critical acclaim for her performance in the film and was instantly earmarked as one of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses.

Thereafter Hannah threw herself into auditioning for other roles - her stated desire was to appear in innovative independent films along the lines of The Blair Witch Project. Rumours suggest that at around this time she rejected a starring role in the West End musical Chicago. In March 2004 she successfully auditioned for a minor role in the horror Seed of Chucky - a move which was seen by many as a deliberate attempt to distance herself from her squeaky clean S Club image. However, in reality her role was only a bit part and she dissappointingly received hardly any publicity for it.

Recent Developments

After the Seed of Chucky Hannah vanished from public view, working behind the scenes to improve her overall acting abilities. She briefly popped up at a charity auction in her hometown of Gorleston in early 2005 and made a brief appearance on ITV's Hells Kitchen along with ex S Club 7 member Jon Lee and boyfriend Paul Cattermole. She also appeared at a number of premieres with Paul.

In the meantime, Paul Cattermole (who had vanished after leaving S Club 7), made his comeback with a rock group called Charlie Bullitt. During the first half of 2005 Hannah attended many of group's gigs in London pubs and clubs.

As of October 2005 she is scheduled to make her acting comeback in the BBC's Blessed - an 8 part sitcom.

TV and Filmography

• The Cater Street Hangman (as Lily) (1998)
• Miami 7 (as herself) (1999) (TV series)
• LA 7 (as herself) (2000) (TV series)
• Hollywood 7 (as herself) (2001) (TV series)
• Viva S Club (as herself) (2002) (TV series)
• Seeing Double (as herself) (2003)
• Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (as Emily) (2004)
• Seed of Chucky (as Joan) (2004)
• Blessed (2005) (TV series)

Trivia

• Her uncle, Eddie Spearritt, was a professional football player who played for Ipswich Town in the 1960s.
• She was the chief bridesmaid at the Rome wedding of her sister Tanya Spearritt in July 2005.
• She originally met Paul Cattermole in 1994 - 4 years before the formation of S Club 7.
• Despite her squeaky clean image she smokes.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Hannah Spearritt