Tina Barrett opened up about her time filming with S Club 7 (Picture: Getty / BBC)
S Club 7 star Tina Barrett lifted the curtain on filming their iconic series Miami 7 and revealed things didn’t pan out exactly as they seemed on VHS tape.
The 46-year-old singer admitted she had more fun filming for the Los Angeles spin-off due to their Miami location being less than lively.
Airing in 1999, the show was a CBBC smash hit and followed the group as they basked in the American sun and navigated life as young pop stars.
Despite appearing to be having the time of their lives, the brunette slashed fun-loving illusions and explained they filmed the thirteen episodes in the sleepy city of Fort Lauderdale rather than on the glittering streets of Miami.
Tina described the coastal location – that sits 30miles outside Miami – as being a ‘retirement village’ and assured fans it wasn’t as glitz and glam as it seemed at the time.
She explained her experience during a press conference at the Soho Hotel on Tuesday: ‘In Miami, we were actually in a retirement village so it wasn’t actually as glamorous as it looked but we sort of made it out to look a bit better.
Tina pulled the curtain back on the realities of filming in America (Picture: Getty Images)
The band came together to discuss their upcoming tour on Valentine’s Day (Picture: Getty Images)
‘We did a little bit in Miami but most of it was in Fort Lauderdale, sleepy, sleepy – so yeah, LA was better.’
Fellow S Clubber Paul Cattermole, 45, hoped in to offer some positives to their trip State-side: ‘Two minute walk from the beach though, like literally 200 years in fact so that was nice.’
Rachel Stevens, 44, also commented: ‘Not a bad place for our first job.’
Their announcement delighted fans as they revealed they were gearing up for an 11-date show run (Picture: Getty Images)
When questioned over a re-make and where they would like to see another series take place, Jo O’Meara, 43, quickly grabbed the mic to say ‘London 7’ which was met with a round of laughter.
Following years of rave reviews, LA 7 is still CBBC’s highest-rated show of all time and during the same chat Jon Lee, 40, revealed he was almost certain the series would be snapped up by streaming sites soon.
He said: ‘That’s something we’re talking about and something we’re looking into about what platform it’s going to go onto but that is something that’s most likely, almost definitely happening.’
The revelations came after the band announced their return to the stage in celebration of the 25th anniversary with an 11-date tour.
Pre-sale for tickets opens Wednesday Feb 15, 10am GMT while general sale begins Friday Feb 17, 10am GMT.
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‘We were actually in a retirement village’.
