S Club 7 have revealed that they never felt pressure to match the huge success of the Spice Girls when they were first starting out.

The idea for S Club 7 came to manager Simon Fuller the day after he was fired by the Spice Girls back in November 1997, but the seven-piece explained that they didn’t feel they needed to meet the same expectation because they are a different kind of act.

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“It was a completely different thing,” Jo O’Meara told Digital Spy. “They were all girls and we were mixed. It was a completely different vibe and different music.” Bradley McIntosh continued: “I think, for me, I felt proud to be under the same wing as a band that successful. It felt amazing. I was saying to my mates: ‘We’re with the ex-Spice Girls manager mate, whey!'”

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Tina Barrett added: “I was just so excited to be working with someone who worked with the Spice Girls and managed them. It was just huge. There was more excitement, really.” S Club 7 went on to sell over 10 million albums worldwide during their five-year career, as well as having their popular television series sold to over 100 countries amassing a weekly audience of 90 million viewers at their peak. The pop group have announced plans to reunite for an 11-date arena tour of the UK in 2015, with tickets on sale from 9am on November 20.

S Club 7 are eager to headline some shows outside of the UK for their international fans. The pop group admitted they were left overwhelmed by the response to their reunion on Children In Need, and they had received messages from fans all over the world. “We’d love to be able to take the tour global,” Jo O’Meara told Digital Spy. “I know in South America we’ve got loads of fans as well,” Paul Cattermole added. “If they’ll have us, we’ll go! “The fans have invested a hell of a lot of emotion, I think, in wanting it to come back in these places, so it would be great if we could go there.”
– DigitalSpy