Magazine Source: Hello!
Timeframe: August 6 2002
Former STEPS stars H and Claire tell us why they have no regrets about calling time on one of Pop’s great success stories.
It was a curtain call of sorts, but not the one they’d been expecting when last Boxing Day STEPS stars were handed letters of resignation from their band-mates Claire and H backstage after a Manchester gig. It was without a doubt a bombshell for the remaining three members of the chart-topping group. But for the duo who called time on one of the most successful British groups in recent British pop after notching up a string of catchy chart hits, the decision was no less traumatic, as the pair reveal in this exclusive interview.
“It was such a huge decision and we were at the height of our career,” says H. “Not many people would have been able to say goodbye to millions of pounds. But the quality of life just wasn’t good.” It’s a decision both he and Claire feel has paid off. Though they’d initially toyed with the idea of going solo the pair soon teamed up to send their debut single DJ straight into the charts at number 3, and they’re set to release another track, Half a Heart, in August.
Now that they’ve proved themselves away from STEPS, Claire and H are willing to talk about what prompted the split. And the reasons turn out to have less to do with the rumoured tensions and frayed tempers than with physical exhaustion and a yearning to get more out of life. Explaining why, for her, the winning formula fell irrevocably apart, Claire says, “Sometimes you have to draw the line and say, ‘Right, I know if we stay together and make this much money I will be an empty shell.’ We had thought for a year about it. The first time was when I was sitting in front of H and I was so tired. I turned to him and said, ‘You know, I can’t do this anymore.’ He just looked at me and saud he felt the same. That was the beginning of the end for us.”
The band members had been gradually sliding into two camps. “We were the youngest,” says H. “I’m 26 and Claire’s 24. The music we liked was the same.”
“On tour we didn’t mix with the others during the day,” adds Claire. “H and I would go shopping and they would do their own thing. It just wasn’t working anymore. We didn’t fall out. H and I went off to do our own thing so people thought there was a conspiracy but there wasn’t.”
H agrees: “There is certainly no bad feeling on our part and we wish the others lots of luck. Like when a long-term relationship breaks up it was quite raw at the beginning, but hopefully things will even out. We have seen Lee and Faye at premieres and we chat normally.”
Is there any danger that Claire and H may find themselves drifting apart in a similar fashion once the honeymoon of their latest musical marriage is over? “Claire and I are different characters but that works,” says H. “She is laid-back and says life is too short to worry. I’m full-on and I worry. Working with Claire means we balance each other out.”
He explains that he has problems sleeping which made STEPS’ hectic schedule espeically punishing for him. Now, he and Claire make sure they get one precious day off each week to unwind. Even so, “We do snap at each other if it all gets too much,” admits Claire. “But then we make sure we go out for a drink and remember why we’re close friends and why we’re doing this. We bring ourselves back to reality. If we didn’t get on we wouldn’t be here. We know each other’s moods.”
They also share the same nonchalance when it comes to dealing with fame. “We just go about our own business. Some of the others in STEPS liked famous,” says Claire. “We just wanted success. The thing which may be bad is the lack of privacy, but then every job has its downside. As long as you have good people around you then you are OK.”
One of those good people is her fiance, dancer Mark Webb. She hopes to marry him next year, possibly in a Highland wedding.
“Mark understands my job and that I’m not going to be there everyday. I was horrible to him when we first met because I had come out of a bad relationship and I was guarded. I wasn’t sure what I wanted and messed him around. He has never dated a pop star, but he understands and he never complains. He is also great friends with H, and they sometimes speak to each other more than I do with either. They are the most important men in my life.”
She even hints that she might be planning on expanding her fanbase in the not too distant future. “I do want children, but I want to have time with Mark first. I’ll be 27 or 28 when I start a family. Even if I go on stage with a little bump, it will be the right age.”
With the thought of Nappies still some years away, right now Claire’s content to enjoy the sweet smell of success. “I’m having the time of my life now, emotionally and physically. H and I have grown up together. I went from 19 to 24 in STEPS and those were my growing years. The minute I hit 24 last August I felt like a woman and I suddenly knew what I wanted,” she says.
As for H, he too feels happier than ever. “Right now I couldn’t wish for more and I feel balanced,” he says. “Eventually I want to own a beach bar somewhere in Europe. I want to lie in a hammock and get a good night’s sleep!”
Read more classic STEPS interviews in our Interviews & Reports section here.