…people thought I’d fail - I’ve proved them wrong’

Primeval star and ex S Clubber, Hannah Spearritt, 26, on leaving pop stardom behind, finding happiness on TV – and owing it all to Billie Piper…

Hannah Spearritt is a girl done good. The former S Club 7 singer could so easily have gone the same way as many ex-pop band members before her – languishing in obscurity only to reappear for an occasional dip in the murky waters of reality TV. As it is, she’s become a mistress of reinvention, forging a highly respectable new career as an actress in the hit ITV1 drama, Primeval, which returns for a second series next Saturday night. When the tweeny pop sensations disbanded in April 2003, Rachel Stevens was the one predicted to succeed (the, erm, Gary Barlow of the outfit, if you like), and for a while that seemed to be the case. But no longer. Hannah has overtaken her ex-band mate on screen, proving herself to be the unpredictable Robbie Williams-style star of the group.

‘I don’t know about that. But what is quite nice is I don’t think anyone expected me to do anything – I was the underdog, I suppose,’ she says. ‘I always wanted to do something in the acting world, but I can see why no one predicted that I’d make a go of it.’

Hannah’s breakthrough as an actress has invited parallels with Billie Piper, who herself made a stunning transformation from teen popstrel to credible actor. ‘She’s done great, full respect to her. She’s going to be around for a long time, and I hope I can do the same. We’re very different types of actresses, but she’s shown it can be done and without that, I might not have found my route through.’

So has Hannah hung up her singing boots for good? ‘I have. It’s just not the career for me. I’m really happy and confident with what I’m doing, and I didn’t feel like that when I was singing.’

We take it she doesn’t especially miss the S Club days, or predict a 10-year reunion à la Take That or the Spice Girls?

‘Well, I’ve got fond memories, but I wouldn’t want to go back. It was such a brilliant time of my life and I wouldn’t change it, but it’s a closed book for me. Pop groups have a lifespan and I don’t think we were ever that big – Take That have done really well, they’re fantastic and it really works, but I don’t know about S Club getting back together.’

In fact, there isn’t an enormous amount of love lost between the S Club lot – after years of living in each other’s pockets, they barely send Christmas cards these days. ‘I’m in touch with Jon Lee and Tina Barrett. Erm, that’s about it,’ says Hannah. ‘I’ve seen Rachel at events, but I haven’t got her number. It sounds bad, doesn’t it? But we were all very different people. We had a good working ethic, but outside the group our interests were extremely different, so it makes sense that we’ve lost contact. Although if we met at a party, it’d be great to see them.’

That even includes Jo O’Meara, whose ‘career’ nose-dived spectacularly at the same time as Hannah’s sky-rocketed. A catastrophic appearance on Celebrity Big Brother last year made her a figure of hate, when she was caught up in the Shilpa-gate racism scandal with Danielle Lloyd and Jade Goody.

‘We’re not in contact, but that’s not because we don’t want to be. I haven’t had her number for ages. When all that happened I tried to get in contact to see if she was OK. She had a hard time, everyone came down on her really harshly. I felt sorry for her, I don’t think she deserved what she got.’

Hannah herself had what most would interpret as a low point after S Club disbanded. ‘I became quite reclusive after the band. I was ready to get away from the spotlight, so I withdrew, perhaps too much. I wanted the band to come to an end and for all the attention to stop, it was really OK for me. But I wasn’t unhappy,’ she says. ‘I hibernated and then came back gently. I had parts in the films Agent Cody Banks and Seed Of Chucky. I wanted to do a few jobs to get a bit of confidence back before I did a big one. Now I’m in a different place and doing something I’m really proud of.’

That something is, of course, Primeval. Hannah plays zoologist Abby Maitland in the primetime drama, which famously sees her killing dinosaurs in modern-day shopping centres and the like. It also famously involves a lot of Hannah in her pants. She spent more time in her scanties than she ever did in clothes in series one, something that is all about to change. ‘There will be no more pants,’ she laughs, ‘All through the last series it was like, “Oh, Abby’s in her pants again.” I felt sorry for her, because she has so many other strong parts to her character, so she doesn’t need to do that. But there was always a reason why she needed to be in them – her flat was too hot, because her lizard could only survive at a certain temperature. I haven’t looked in to it, but I’m sure that’s crap. So no more. The producers were OK with it.’

Abby is quite the action hero, and this series Hannah did her own stunts. ‘I was trained to drive a JCB digger and fork lift truck. I used a digger to fight off a sabre tooth tiger in one scene. I nearly hit the camera guy – I got a little bit close,’ she admits. ‘I did lots of fighting too.’

Some of which led to an embarrassing incident on set, although more on the part of her co-star Naomi Bentley, who plays Caroline ‘In one scene, she teaches me a spectacular kick. She did it so many times and when it got to a shot that was focusing on her bottom, her white trousers totally split. I felt so bad for her. Me and Andrew were laughing for a long, long time.’

Ah, Andrew. That’ll be Andrew Lee Potts, her co-star and real-life boyfriend. The pair got together after meeting on set last series, a union which saw Hannah break up with her previous beau, Paul Cattermole, the fellow S Clubber who ditched bubblegum pop to become an angry rocker. Hannah and Andrew are so loved up, they’ve found themselves on the roster of celebrity hybrid names, pioneered by the likes of Brangelina and TomKat. ‘That was Dougie,’ she laughs, referring to their co-star Douglas Henshall. ‘It was a little in-joke he came up with. He couldn’t wait to tell us he’d decided we should be called Handrew.’

So how did Handrew get on with acting together in the new series, now they’re a proper couple and all that? ‘It’s what we’ve always known. We filmed the first series, then we got together, then we filmed the second series, so the first time was as mates, then as a couple, but it feels so comfortable. I was worried about how it might affect us, but it was cool. Andrew is talented and easy to work with, and that makes it easier.’

Hannah admits working and living together is a tad full-on. ‘It’s intense. It’s up and down, but we work through everything, we’re very in-tune and we talk everything through. When we shoot Primeval, we’re living it constantly, it’s all-consuming, so it’s nice now to have a bit of time off and be Andrew and Hannah,’ she says. ‘As actors, we’ll face being apart for long stretches at some point, which we’re not looking forward to. That’ll probably be harder than being with each other all the time.’

For now, though, Handrew are very much a couple and are planning on working together again. Andrew recently directed Hannah in a short movie called Little Lilly, which they’ve posted on You Tube, and they intend to do a sequel. And when they’ve done that, just maybe they’ll get married and have babies… ‘We’re definitely in a good place, I’d say it’s heading that way,’ she says. ‘It’s looking positive, but who knows…?’

Who knows, indeed? Two years ago, had you told Hannah she’d be a top TV actress, or that she’d form one half of a romantic partnership hereby known as Handrew, she might just not have believed you. Life works in mysterious ways, eh?

HANNAH ON…

…going back to her roots:
‘I’ve gone back to my natural hair colour because Abby in Primeval is so blonde, and now I’m going for other TV roles it’s better to look different. Plus, dying it constantly wasn’t doing it any good.’

…being tiny:
‘I’m naturally petite, but my body has changed a lot over the last year. Women will hate me for saying this, but up until about 12 months ago, I could pretty much eat anything. I love food, and I eat a lot of processed as well as fresh stuff. I still eat what I want, but if I didn’t go to the gym at least three times a week, I’d start to pile weight on, so I have to watch it now.’

…staying fit:
‘I’ve never worked out as constantly as this in my life. I’m the sort of person who does things to excess or does nothing at all. A stunt co-ordinator has taught me lots of kick-boxing moves and I’m getting a bit muscly – the old triceps are kicking in there. I do a lot of yoga too, and I even bought Davina McCall’s DVD. I did the leg section and the pump section last night.’

The new series of Primeval starts next Saturday on ITV1