She has topped the charts and been called the world’s sexiest woman, while also being stricken with anxiety. She discusses Paul Cattermole, therapy and finding her strength

In 2001, at the height of their fame, S Club 7’s reputation as squeaky clean, child-friendly pop puppets went up in weed smoke. Apparently bored with promoting their future wedding-disco staple Don’t Stop Movin’, the UK band’s three male members – Paul Cattermole, Bradley McIntosh and Jon Lee – were arrested in Covent Garden in London for sharing a joint. The briefest moment of rebellion saw the band rechristened “Spliff Club 7” by the tabloids, while the BBC – which aired S Club’s various spin-off TV shows on which the band would debut shiny, multi-platinum hits such as Bring It All Back, S Club Party and Reach – distanced itself from the controversy. A mooted endorsement deal with cereal brand Sugar Puffs was immediately nixed.

Twenty-three years later and Rachel Stevens, who, like band members Jo O’Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Tina Barrett, wasn’t present during the still-quite-PG-13 drugs bust (for which the three men received a caution), can just about laugh about it. “It’s so funny,” she says. “I mean, it wasn’t funny at the time. We were marketed to a young audience, and we really felt that responsibility. That’s a lot on teenagers who are making mistakes, and we did it publicly.” Did she ever partake? Silence.