S Club 7 rebrands as five-piece following death of Paul Cattermole

Pop band S Club 7 has rebranded as S Club following the death of Paul Cattermole.

Hannah Spearritt will not join their 25th anniversary tour which will see the band become a five-piece.

Member Jon Lee said in a video on the band’s Instagram: “You’ve probably noticed that there’s only five of us here today, and although Hannah will always be part of S Club 7, she won’t be joining us on this tour.

“We wish her all the best for the future.”

The number seven had been removed from the band’s social media and website on Sunday.

Founding member Cattermole died at his home in Dorset on April 6 aged 46.

Band members were reduced to tears as they paid tribute to the star in the video.

Lee said: “We have been in a bit of shock and it has taken a while for us to find the right words to describe how we feel about losing our brother Paul.”

Rachel Stevens added: “Just taking the time to process and get our heads around it all and also taking time to share time together so that we could remember Paul and all the memories we had together.”

Tina Barrett said: “It is just really sad, it is really really hard to process it right now.”

Bradley McIntosh added: “All still in so much disbelief, Paul was a big brother to us, all of us and you guys out there. He truly was a unique specimen of human being. No one could replace our Paul, he lives on inside in each and every one of us.”

Jo O’Meara said: “Whenever Paul would walk into the room you definitely knew that he was there because he would just light it up with humour and love, just a really special person.”

The pop group announced the tour will be renamed the Good Times tour in memory of their former bandmate.

Barrett said: “We are calling the tour the Good Times tour in tribute to Paul because that was that was his song and all the fans know it was his song so it just feels right.”

In a statement last month, his family and the band said the singer’s cause of death was currently unknown but police had confirmed there were “no suspicious circumstances”.

S Club 7 were created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller in 1998, and were known for hit songs including Reach, Don’t Stop Movin’ and their debut track Bring It All Back.

Cattermole was dating bandmate Hannah Spearritt when he left S Club 7 in 2002 after four years to embark on a solo career.

Fuller was among those who paid tribute after news of Cattermole’s death broke.

“Paul was a beacon of light for a generation of pop music fans and he will be greatly missed,” he said in a statement to the PA news agency.

“We’re all deeply shocked and saddened by this news.”

Following his stint as a solo artist, Cattermole became a member of the spin-off group S Club Allstars.