Claire Richards heartbreaking admission: 'I was forced to get skinny for Steps'
ok.co.ukClaire Richards had a horrendous decision to make when she first auditioned for the pop group Steps 26 years ago. Known for their hit tunes Tragedy, Deeper Shade of Blue and Better the Devil You Know, Steps - made up of Lee Latchford-Evans, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer, Ian 'H' Watkins and Claire, 46 - were a force of nature for four years up until disbanding in 2001, before reforming twice in 2011 and 2017.
Speaking to The Sun, the soprano revealed that she was a size 10 when record label bosses were originally considering her for a spot in the band, but this clearly bothered them. "[I was told], 'We love you, we want you to be in the band, but we need you to lose weight if you want to be in it,'" shared Claire. "It wasn’t right then and it absolutely isn’t right now.
But when you are young and you’re being offered that kind of opportunity — and the only stipulation is that you lose half a stone — I think any young girl would." Desperate to make her musical dreams come true, the star ultimately agreed to shed the pounds. "I wasn’t fat or big — I was a size 10 or 12 — but I got skinny for the band.
It was a polished pop group — everyone had their own idea of what people should look like. It was as close to perfect as anyone could get.
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