FHM: You’ve been traveling all over the globe for the World Wildlife Fund to track down endangered species. Do you fancy yourselves as being the next David Attenboroughs?
Tina: I’m not sure we’ve got the stomachs for it. We were in Malaysia and were taken to this incredibly old cave. The stench was so bad-- think of a men’s loo but a million times worse-- all you could hear was this squeaking, but it was pitch black and we couldn’t see anything. It was then we found out there were thousands of bats. We then went off the path and were wading through what we thought was soil, but it was bat droppings and the mounds of crap were covered in cockroaches that started crawling up our legs. Jo started crying, she hates cockroaches.
Jo: I refused to go in there. There was bat poo in there that had never been touched. There was every creepy-crawly you can think of moving around. The walls were shining because there were billions of insects.
Rachel: I went to Siberia to look for the Siberian tiger. I hated it. First of all I had to fly Aeroflot, which I will never do again-- I’m not a lover of flying anyway. It was a dodgy flight over, we stayed in a hotel which was infested with cockroaches and I couldn’t eat anything because they don’t have proper food there. Nobody spoke English. The only amazing thing was seeing the tigers. I got very close, although it was a bit unsettling as it was like it was sizing me up for dinner.
Hannah: I went to Brazil to find the macaw parrot and Turkey to have a look for the monk seal. I was a bit unlucky because I didn’t find the seal. The best bit was in Brazil where I did hang-gliding off a huge mountain. I jumped off, sailed over another couple of mountains, some skyscrapers, a motorway and the beach and landed in the sea. I did it twice. The initial jump was a bit scary-- well, jumping off the side of a mountain is not a normal thing to do, is it?
FHM: Since April there have been big changes in your life. Jo got engaged, Rachel’s no longer with long-term boyfriend Daniel, while Tina’s managed to snag a new man...
Jo: Yes, I’ve got engaged. I didn’t want it to be too romantic because I’m not like that and he’s not like that either. So it was just a case of putting it on my finger and job done. I’m not sure when we are going to get married-- when it will be, it will be.
Rachel: For me it was the right thing to do. We’ve been together for a while and we’re still friends. It wasn’t because of S Club 7, I think it would have happened anyway. It’s always nice to have someone around, but I’m OK being single again.
Tina: Jason worked on the show in LA. He was part of the art department designing the sets. But then we got talking and discovered we were born on the same day, which initially freaked me out a bit, but I guess it’s like destiny.
FHM: When you’re out and you spot a man you fancy, do you go and make the first move?
Tina: There’s no reason why women shouldn’t ask out men-- if you like them you should go for it. A lot of guys are very shy too.
Hannah: Definitely. I haven’t blatantly gone, “Oh will you go out with me?” but I have made the first move-- I’ve slapped a man’s backside before because he wasn’t giving me the look.
Jo: I’m a bit too shy. I’m one of those people who are all mouth, but when it comes to the crunch I’d back out. That’s why I was really lucky with my fiancé, we had known each other a couple of days so we’d been talking already. No-one had to ask anyone out, we just ended up together.
FHM: In our pictures you’re modeling bikinis. Do you usually go for the full-body covering swimsuit or a skimpy thong?
Tina: I’m not a huge exhibitionist so it would be normal knickers for me. In Ibiza I saw a few men wearing thongs who should not have gone out looking like that. I was with Jason, who’s American, and he was quite shocked about how many topless girls and naked people there were. I was like, “Welcome to Europe.”
Hannah: The thong is not my normal choice at all, even though I’m wearing one in your pictures. From the front it looks amazing-- I just had to make sure my back was pointing away from the camera at all times. There was an embarrassing point where I was standing on the yacht with my bum out to the whole world.
FHM: S Club 7 have always been portrayed as a bit “nicey-nice.” What’s the worst thing you’ve done?
Tina: We once went to a party to meet heads of record companies, but it was getting really late and we were told to go home as we had to get up early the next morning. We all went back to the hotel, waited a few minutes and then went out clubbing till six. We had no sleep and then had to do a big show the next morning.
Rachel: we’re normal people, so of course we’ve done some bad things. No-one’s perfect.
Hannah: I once put a woman in the hospital. We were appearing on GMTV and it was a really early start. I was late and racing to the dressing room. Still half asleep I banged through these double doors and hit a lady on the other side. I didn’t think it was anything too bad, said, “Oops, sorry,” and kept running. I got a phone call later telling me that she’d gone to hospital with a broken arm. Isn’t that awful, wee little me breaking someone’s arm? I sent her some flowers because I felt bad.
FHM: In your lingerie drawer do you have a special pair of pulling pants?
Tina: I’ve got so many I don’t know. I’m always buying them so I don’t have a special pair. They’re all just run-of-the-mill stuff. Although I’ve got a pair by La Perla which have lots of little sequins on. They sound a bit corny but they are the bomb.
Rachel: I think it’s impotant to always wear nice knickers. I think it’s nice to have sexy underwear on just for yourself.
Jo: No, I don’t. As long as they’re comfy and the right size, Marks and Sparks cotton ones are fine. I love buying underwear but I don’t buy expensive stuff-- I just need to know that I have a lot of them.
Hannah: I had to buy an expensive pair of knickers the other day, as I came here to Cyprus with no underwear-- it was all dirty. I had to pay 20 pounds for a pair of knickers. Can you believe that? What a rip off.
Tina: Hannah doesn’t wear any pants, ha ha! Someone, and I’m not going to say who, has got days of the week written on their knickers.
FHM: Burt Reynolds once famously had a fan mail herself to him in a big box. What’s been the weirdest thing a fan has given to you?
Tina: In Bangkok a girl said to me, “Can you sign my arm?” and I was like, “oh no problem.” Then she said, “This is going to be my tattoo.” The next day we saw her with a plaster on her arm and she’d tattooed over my signature. That was a bit scary-- she’s stuck with that for life.
Rachel: I wouldn’t mind a man mailing himself in a box to me.
Jo: Maybe if you say that, someone will. The weirdest thing I had was a guy in Thailand who gave me a picture of his pet Jack Russell and asked me to put it on my fridge. I have kept it. I’d feel bad if I just threw it away.
Rachel: I’d expect something odd through the post as I heard that Miami 7 was very popular in prisons. In one prison all the men told their warders they had to be let out at ten past five to watch it. Apparently they were banging on their doors causing a riot.
Hannah: Someone asked for my eyelash so they could keep it in a little box. I didn’t feel much like getting a pair of tweezers and tugging one out.
FHM: An American businessman apparently offered Britney Spears $10 million to deflower her. How would you feel if a wealthy entrepreneur put up that sum to get jiggy with you?
Tina: It’s a bit of an offer, isn’t it, ha ha! No, you couldn’t say yes, although it’s a lot of money. He wouldn’t have enough money in his bank account for me.
Rachel: To be honest, I’d be very flattered. But it wouldn’t matter how much money it was. It has to be flattering that there’s a guy who would spend so much money just to be with you. But it can be insulting to think that a person can be bought.
Jo: You’d be flattered, but you’d definitely say no.
Hannah: I’d tell him to bugger off. I’d think, “What a sick man.” If you didn’t say no, it would be like you’re a posh prostitute.
FHM: What’s been the wildest night out you’ve had?
Rachel: I went on a girls’ holiday to Spain and we had one bad night. I got home at eight in the morning and slept on the beach.
Hannah: I had a mad one when I passed my driving test. It started at lunch time, moved from pub to pub and ended up going on till six in the morning. I puked up halfway through and then started drinking again.
Tina: I’m always a bit lairy when I’ve had too many drinks. I tend to think I can do anything and don’t care, although not to the extent of being stupid and jumping off bridges. There’s usually lots of singing of Grease medleys.
FHM: Have you ever been involved in a girly tussle?
Rachel: Yeah, I’ve been hit a couple of times. When I was 18 I was going out with this guy and another girl fancied him. I was standing talking to friends and she pushed me in the back. I turned around and she punched me in the side of the head. It wasn’t like a jab, it was a full-on punch.
Hannah: I do like a bit of a rough and tumble. I play-fight with the boys all the time and I don’t care if I get hurt-- that’s all part of it. I constantly have bruises. When I was at school I had a few scraps. The worst one was when we had to be pulled apart by a teacher. It was during a game of basketball and me and this girl went for the same ball and banged into each other and it just kicked off. I’m not exactly Mike Tyson, but I’ll have a good go. I don’t give up easy.
