Jo O'Meara

O'Meara was a member of S Club 7, a group who rose to fame by starring in their own BBC television series, Miami 7, in 1999. They enjoyed considerable success during the five years they were together, including chart-topping singles in the UK and hits in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the United States.[4] In April 2003, S Club announced that they were to disband.[5]

Between 2003 and 2005 O'Meara became addicted to gambling and had some problems with her spine at that time. In 2004, O'Meara signed with Simon Fuller as her artist manager and began recording her debut solo album, planned to be released between September and December.[6] The album would be focused on R&B sound and Fuller described O'Meara as "the next Christina Aguilera".[6] In December 2004 she split from Fuller when the negotiations with Polydor Records failed and they disagreed over the recorded songs – he proposed that she record music from other composers, but she wanted an album with only songs written by her.[6] She returned to the studio to record a new material, focused on pop rock style and produced by Richard Carpenter, and planned to release as debut single "Taxi Cab", "Lovely" or "Don't Wanna Let You Down", featured Lee Ryan, but failed to sign with a record label and the project was postponed.[6][7]

In July 2005, O'Meara signed with Sanctuary Records and on 26 September was released her debut solo single, "What Hurts the Most", a version of Mark Wills's 2003 song. The song peaked at number 13 on the United Kingdom and 26 in Ireland.[8] On 3 October she released her debut album, Relentless, produced by Brian Rawling, Graham Stack and Bill Padley. The album peaked at No. 48 in UK and it was described by music critics as "polished", "well constructed" and "better than other ex boy and girl band" albums, citing the O'Meara "strong voice"[9][10] In November the label began planning the second single but executives and O'Meara disagreed over the choice – between "To Ease Your Pain", "Wish I was Over You" or "Relentless" – and she left the label.[11]

In February 2006, O'Meara took part in the BBC reality show Just the Two of Us. Her singing partner was Chris Fountain, actor on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The pair came third in the competition, failing to attract enough votes to make the final after their performance of "Never Had a Dream Come True". In January 2007, O'Meara appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. Along with Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd, O'Meara was accused of racist and bullying behaviour toward fellow contestant Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, resulting in a record number of complaints to Ofcom, national and international media coverage, and condemnatory statements from the British and Indian governments.[12]

In November 2008, O'Meara, Bradley McIntosh, and Paul Cattermole formed the spin-off group S Club 3 and have been performing in nightclubs, universities and Butlins holiday camps around the United Kingdom.[13] On 12 November 2008 a bottle was thrown during their performance in Bradford. It struck O'Meara, leaving her with a cut to the head requiring hospital treatment. A 20-year-old man was arrested and it was suggested the attack was linked to her Celebrity Big Brother appearance.[14]

O'Meara featured in a cover of the Python Lee Jackson song "In a Broken Dream" on The Popes' 2012 album New Church, her first released recording in seven years. She also appeared on stage with them performing the song. In November 2014, all seven original S Club members reunited to perform a medley of some of their greatest hits on BBC Children In Need. They performed a reunion tour, Bring It All Back 2015, in May 2015.

O'Meara, McIntosh and Tina Barrett (replacing Cattermole) continue as S Club 3.[15]