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Claire Ann Richards (born 17 August 1977)^{[citation needed]} is an English singer best known for being a member of Steps from 1997 to 2001 and again from 2011. She was a contestant on the second series of Popstar to Operastar before being voted off in the Semi Finals. Richards possesses the vocal range of a soprano.^[1]

History[link]

Early career[link]

Richards began her career in the pop trio TSD with Cossie and Bonnie. They had little success and were dropped by their record label after the release of their second single "Baby I Love You". Richards went on to work as a receptionist for seven months, winning the temporary worker of the month award for May 1997.

1997–Present: Steps[link]

Richards auditioned for the lineup that would become Steps. She was offered a place in the group on the condition that she lost weight.^[2] Steps were formed by Steve Crosby & Barry Upton (writers of "5, 6, 7, 8") alongside Manager Tim Byrne after auditioning hopefuls who answered an ad in The Stage newspaper. Byrne had previously been involved in the production of the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, the BBC collaboration with the pop magazine, Smash Hits. Byrne was looking to manufacture a band in order to release "5, 6, 7, 8" as a one-hit wonder.^[3] After auditions, the original line-up of H, Lisa, Maddy, Derek and Mitch was finalised and the band started shooting promotional images and recording tracks.^[4] However, Maddy, Derek and Mitch left, as they wanted more than a one-hit wonder, and saw no long-term future with Steps. New auditions were held on 7 May 1997, this time with H and Lisa acting as the judging panel, and they selected Faye, Lee and Claire as the remaining members.^[3]

Their first single "5, 6, 7, 8" was a techno line dance song. Though not typical of what would become their style, it became their first hit both in the UK and internationally. Despite only peaking at number 14, the single achieved considerable longevity in the fast-paced singles climate of 1998, racking up over four months on the UK chart. The track remains one of the highest selling singles never to reach the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart. Its release in Australia gave the group their first number one in 1997.

In 2001, following their Boxing Day split, the group were heavily criticised by their own fans. Many UK tabloid papers published the fans' disgust on their front pages, displaying quotes taken from Steps message boards. After the group spent much of 2001 strongly dismissing claims of a split, fans were furious and accused the group of capitalizing off the success of a host of merchandise released in the lucrative pre-Christmas market. However, it has since come to light that both H and Claire left the group on the last night of the Steps "Gold: Greatest Hits" tour because of their ongoing unhappiness within the band, although Steps' official statement stated that the split was caused by their belief that they should end on a high, while they were at their best and could be remembered for being the best of their kind.

Ever since the band's break-up, rumours had been circulating that they would reunite in one form or another. In 2009, Lee Latchford-Evans revealed that the band had been approached to perform a series of concerts. He hinted that a future reunion was possible, but that "it isn't the right time right now".^[5] In Early 2011, rumours began circulating that Steps would reunite for a TV series and a one-off concert to mark the tenth anniversary of their 2001 split.^[6] Despite the claims being reported by various news stations and newspapers, the reunion was denied by bands members, including Claire Richards on her Twitter page. Richards also announced on 9 July 2011, that a Steps reunion would be "silly", but she would "never say never".^[7] However, contrary to these claims, just 12 days later, it was announced that Steps would be reuniting for a four-part Sky Living documentary, depicting their split and the interim years. The band would also release their 'Ultimate Collection', as well as potential new material.^[8]

On 10 October 2011, the group appeared for the first time on This Morning, performing "It's the Way You Make Me Feel" and "Tragedy" and announced their fourteen-date 2012 arena tour entitled 'The Ultimate Tour'. They also announced that they had reformed as a band full term.^[9] On 14 October 2011, Steps appeared on Lorraine and sang "Deeper Shade of Blue", to which they also sang during an appearance on Loose Women on 24 October 2011. They have since added an additional 6 performances and removed 2 from the tour bringing the total number to 18 dates,^[10] they have also announced a new date at the Summer Saturdays at Newmarket Racecourse on 25 August 2012.^[11] On 16 October 2011, their new album The Ultimate Collection went to number one in the UK Album charts.^[12] The group performed a medley of their singles including "Deeper Shade Of Blue" and "One For Sorrow" on 19 November for Children In Need. The group appeared on Chatty Man on 25 December 2011 and performed a medley of "One For Sorrow", "Deeper Shade Of Blue" and "Tragedy".

2001–11: Life after Steps[link]

After she and her fellow group mate Ian "H" Watkins resigned during the last leg of their final tour, the two continued singing as the duo H & Claire. The pair experienced success with their debut single "DJ", which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and their next two singles, which both charted in the Top 10. While the duo had initial success, their album Another You, Another Me, which was released in 2002, did not chart high. Richards also co hosted alongside Brian Dowling and Cat Deely on SMTV Live in 2002. She took a break from singing to plan her wedding to Steps dancer Mark Webb. H & Claire disbanded in 2003. Richards married Webb on 2 August 2003; the couple split in 2005. After leaving her music career Richards wanted to take a break from music and concentrate on other projects, she was set to release a debut solo album but due to falling pregnant Richards decided to not pursue music any further.

It was announced in May 2011 that Claire would be taking part in Popstar to Opera Star 2011 making it her first major high profile appearance in nearly ten years. The series started on ITV1 on 5 June. Richards appeared on OK! TV on 6 June to promote the show. Despite a much-praised performance of the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's Magic Flute in the semi-final, she lost out on a place in the final to Cheryl Baker.^[13]

Discography[link]

Tours[link]

Main act

• Step One Tour (1999)
• Next Step Tour (1999)
• Steptacular Tour (2000)
• Open Air Tour (2000)
• Steps Into Christmas Tour (2000)
• Gold Tour (2001)
• The Ultimate Tour (2012)

Supporting

• ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999) – Selected dates

Controversy[link]

In 2000, both Richards and Lee Latchford-Evans were criticised by the Anti Fascist Action organisation for making allegedly xenophobic remarks against asylum seekers.^[14] Latchford-Evans said "there should be more jobs for English people". Richards said, "Why are we paying for all these people to come into the country anyway?" All accusations were denied by both Latchford-Evans and Richards.

Personal life[link]

Richards' first child, Charlie, was born on 8 May 2007. In January 2008, Richards and long-time partner Reece Hill announced their engagement and were married 1 November 2008. Richards announced in the 30 June 2009 edition of Woman magazine that she is expecting her second child with her husband, and gave birth to a girl named Daisy on 29 December 2009.^{[citation needed]}

After her Steps career she gained more than 4 stone (25 kg) in weight.^[15] Richards went from a size 20 to a 16 and when she planned to slim down to a 12 in time for her winter wedding in November 2008. She exceeded her goal by fitting into a size 10 dress. On 13 September 2008, she performed "Tragedy" on the show Everybody Dance Now without the other members of Steps. Richards appeared on Celebrity MasterChef on 25 June 2009 as part of the programme's "comeback" week. Claire Richards: My Big Fat Wedding, a programme following Claire on her journey to lose weight before her wedding, was shown on BBC Three in May 2009. The programme featured her wedding and a reunion of all Steps members and drew an audience of over 763,000.^[16] Richards released a fitness DVD Five Step Fat Attack on 26 December 2008.

References[link]

1. ^ "Richards: Opera's right Step for me". Yahoo News. 10 October 2001. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/richards-operas-step-230954336.html. Retrieved 22 November 2011. 
2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T5c5U4CGEk
3. ^ ^{a b} "Steps Reunion on Sky Living HD - Here the band reveal how the got together at the first audition - Sky Living HD". Skyliving.sky.com. http://skyliving.sky.com/steps-reunion/steps-to-stardom. 
4. ^ "The Original Steps". Ultimate-steps.com. http://www.ultimate-steps.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/tfs1.jpg. 
5. ^ Ball, David (1 April 2009). "Steps 'eyeing future reunion tour'". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a151428/steps-eyeing-future-reunion-tour.html. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
6. ^ Holmwood, Leigh (11 February 2011). "Steps are reforming for TV show". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3411513/Steps-are-reforming-for-TV-show.html. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
7. ^ RTE (9 July 2011). "No Steps reunion on the cards for Richards". RTE. http://www.rte.ie/ten/2011/0709/richardsc.html. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
8. ^ Eames, Tom (21 July 2011). "Steps to reunited for Sky Living documentary series". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
9. ^ "Steps announce first arena tour in ten years - Music News - Digital Spy". Digitalspy.co. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a344731/steps-announce-first-arena-tour-in-ten-years.html. 
10. ^ http://stepsofficial.co.uk
11. ^ "Saturday 25th August - Steps at Newmarket Racecourses". Newmarketracecourses.co. http://www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk/concerts/2012-concert-dates/summer-saturdays-live/saturday-25th-august-steps/. 
12. ^ "Nineties pop group claims number one album spot ten years after they split". Daily Mail. 17 October 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2050032/Steps-claim-Number-One-album-spot-years-split.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
13. ^ Daily Mail Online, 4 July 2011
14. ^ "Steps upset by 'racist' claims". BBC News. 25 July 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/850520.stm. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
15. ^ Loose Women (12 September 2008)
16. ^ Dan French (2009-05-06). "763,000 watch Steps star's 'Fat Wedding'". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a155040/763000-watch-steps-stars-fat-wedding.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 

External links[link]

• Claire-Richards.com (Fansite)
• Gen STEPS
• Claire Richards Facebook page