S Club 7 star quits the group after Paul Cattermole's death
Ali Condon
S Club 7 is now down to five members now that one singer has taken a step back following the devastating passing of Paul Cattermole.
The recently reunited pop band got together to record an emotional video to acknowledge Paul's death and announce that their upcoming tour would be dedicated to him.
But it was impossible to ignore the fact that someone was missing from the S Club 7 line-up.
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Speaking to the camera, Jon Lee told fans: "It's taken a while for us to find the right words to describe how we feel about losing our brother Paul."
Rachel Stevens then chimed in: "We've just taken the time to process and get our heads around it all and also take the time to share time together so we can remember Paul and all the memories we have together."
With tears in her eyes, Tina Barrett added: "It's just really sad. It's really, really hard to process it all right now."
"We're all still in so much disbelief," Bradley McIntosh continued.
"Paul was a big brother to us, all of us. Truly he was a unique, special human being. No one could ever replace our Paul. But he lives on inside each and every one of us."
And Jo O'Meara, whose voice was quivering while she spoke, shared: "Whenever Paul would walk into the room, you'd definitely know that he was there, because he would just light it up with humour and love. He was just a really special person."
Paul was found dead in his Dorset home last month, aged just 46.
Jon then acknowledged that there was somebody missing from their group.
"You've probably noticed that there's only five of us here today," he began.
"Although Hannah will always be a part of S Club 7, she won't be joining us on this tour. But we wish her all the best in the future.
"However, the five of us are really excited and geared up to crack on."
Hannah Spearritt and Paul Cattermole dated from 2001 to 2006, and again in 2015 for a few months, before going their separate ways.
Following Cattermole's passing, Hannah paid tribute to her late bandmate in an interview with The Sun, sharing: "I am grateful to have had that time with him, to make peace with each other.
"Because I know that's all we both ever wanted. To have had that opportunity to see him and to see him well. Unfortunately he didn't get to do the tour. He was just so excited for the tour."
In their video, the band of five explained that their upcoming tour would now be named the Good Times Tour in honour of Paul.
"It's going to be our tribute to Paul. We actually have named the tour The Good Times Tour," said Jon before pausing to cry.
Tina continued for him: "That's the song that all the fans know was his song. So it just feels right."