**They were one of the biggest groups of the late 90s/early 00s, but Hannah Spearritt has confessed S Club 7 didn’t earn as much as you’d expect. **
Despite the band selling over 10 million records, Hannah, 34, has admitted that each member earned around £150,000 a year. Which, when you consider that One Direction singers Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne are worth a reported £15m each, isn't actually a lot.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Hannah said: “I’ve been so lucky. I got about £600,000 from S Club 7 over four years. It was a lot of money, I didn’t really realise.”
Hannah reunited with her S Club band mates in 2014
Although Hannah was just 18-years-old when S Club 7 hit the big time, she insists she was always careful with her money – thanks to guidance from her dad.
She continued: “I used [the money] to buy my first ever house with Paul [Cattermole, ex-boyfriend and former bandmate].
“It was a mews house in Crouch End with three bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, lounge and toilet downstairs. We paid £375,000 and then sold it for about £475,000 after three years. I didn’t realise how lucky I was then to be able to buy the house outright. I really appreciate it now.”
She is currently starring in BBC One's Casualty
Hannah now lives in Richmond, and insists buying the house was her best financial decision. She said: “I bought it in 2008 for £665,000 and it’s worth £1.1m. It’s a terrace, three floors and I got the attic converted recently.”
And S Club 7 has set Hannah up for life. The singer-turned-actress, who now stars in BBC One’s Casualty, set up a pension when she was 21, and regularly receives money from royalties.
She added: “Things pop through all the time in terms of DVD sales from Primeval or royalties from S Club 7. You might get 57p or a couple of thousand. It really depends. You can’t rely on it, but it’s a bonus when it does come in.”