Rachel casts her mind back to her early years.
'We all used to go out together a lot, to the the seaside and stuff. I remember being about four and being stung on my backside by a wasp! I think that's my earlieast memory. I also remember being on the rides at the seaside when I was about six or seven. We had a lot of fun together as a family.'
North-London lass Rachel was a very girlie when she was young, and aged seven she got into the habit of trying on her mum's dresses and make-up. Perhaps preparing her for her later glamorous S Club days?
'Probably!' she laughs. 'I loved make-up and being really feminine. I started ballet classes when I was about five and even then I think I knew I wanted to be in the entertainment business. But I also used to go out riding my bike with the other kids up my road, so I had that side to me as well.'
Rachel has fond memories of school but she readily admits that she was more interested in hanging out with her friends than doing her homework.
'I wasn't really academic. I was more creative, and preferred classes like drama and art. I guess I was kind of an average student. I wan't particulay naughtly, but I was a bit cheeky. If I was told not to wear jewellery to school I would, and I would always customize my clothes to my own uniform look a bit different.'
Needless to say, Rachel was always in demand with the guys. She remembers having her first kiss during a game of Spin the Bottle round at a friends house. 'We were in a cupboard for some strange reason. It was very odd. At least I won't forget it in a hurry!'
Rachel's first taste of fame came when aged twelve when she won a modelling competition in J-17 magazine.
'My mum saw the competition and said that I should enter it for a lugh, so I did. Then a month afterwards, I got a letter though the post saying that I'd won. I got picked up by a limousine and had my hair and make-up done and everything. It was fantastic. I did some other bits and pieces of modelling afterwards for hair magazines and things, but nothing serious.'
From age of fifteen, Rachel worked in a local shoe shop on Saturdays.
'I absolutely loved working there. It was a real laugh and they sold wicked shoes. I used to come home with a nice new pair of practically every Saturday.'
After leaving school, Rachel attended The London College of Fashion for two years where she did a GNVQ in business fashion. Once she graduated, she landed a job with a film company before going to work for a fashion-PR company. It was during this time that she was spotted and asked to try out for S Club 7, as she explains: 'My brother works for a record company and I went to meet him for lunch one day, and there happened to be a couple of record producers in his canteen. They asked me if I could sing and if I would go into a studio and record a song, which I did. Out manager Simon Fuller heard the tape and liked it. So we met up and the rest is history!'
(Here's some 'Before S Club 7' pictures of Rachel below)
From top left, clockwise: Rachel aged one, fourteen, three, and five years.
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