S Club are back with a new single in memory of their late friend and co-star Paul Cattermole (Picture: Leigh Keily/Rex)

S Club are certain their late bandmate Paul Cattermole will be cheering them on months after his shock death as they release their first comeback single in his memory.

The British group had recently announced they would be embarking on a reunion tour when 46-year-old Cattermole died unexpectedly in April, due to natural causes.

Left utterly shaken by his death, the band then took time away to grieve the loss of their ‘brother’ – with Hannah Spearritt, who dated Cattermole for five years, between 2001 and 2006 and again in 2015, deciding she wouldn’t return for the tour.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk to celebrate the release of These Are The Days, out today, the pop legends shared how Cattermole has become the inspiration behind their comeback, and how they will pay tribute to him on stage in an uplifting and celebratory way. 

‘Paul was a part of this process up until April – he was fully excited about this, he wanted to do this,’ revealed Jon Lee.

‘He is the driving force – more so than ever now. We are doing this for him. He’s giving us that real push to show we can do it, and [the single and tour] will be in honour of Paul. If he could see us now, he’d be saying, “Yes guys!” He would be very happy and very proud [of us],’ Jo O’Meara added.

Paul died in April this year, sending shockwaves through the music industry (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty)

S Club’s Jo O’Meara, Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Rachel Stevens and Bradley McIntosh are raring to get back out on tour (Picture: Leigh Keily)

Tina Barrett continued: ‘He just had mad energy.

‘He wanted this [comeback] to happen so badly. We always feel him with us – it’s an odd thing to explain, but he is here with us.’

S Club 7 – comprised of Paul, Hannah, Tina, Bradley, Jon, Jo and Rachel Stevens – shot to fame in 1998, while starring in their own BBC children’s show Miami 7. The group were together for five years and went on to achieve 11 top five singles including Never Had A Dream Come True, Bring It All Back and Reach, selling more than 10 million albums during that time.

More than 25 years on, The Good Times Tour – beginning this October – will take place over 14 dates and in 10 cities across the UK. According to the band – who will perform as a five-piece – this will be a time for fans to join them in commemorating Cattermole’s life. With most shows now sold out, only a few tickets still remain in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Leeds.

‘The Good Times Tour is named after Paul’s song,’ explained Bradley. ‘It was going to be called The Reunion Tour, but we changed it in dedication to him.’ 

The band, complete with Paul and Hannah Spearritt, originally announced their comeback tour in February (Picture: Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images For XIX Management)

The group will do everything they can to pay tribute to their co-star on stage (Picture: Leigh Keily)

‘We will pay tribute to Paul onstage. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t,’ Jo added. ‘This is all so driven by Paul – we will completely [honour him]. But we don’t want to make it sad for the fans, we will look back on fond memories and it will be a celebration.’

The single, meanwhile, echoes the band’s music of the noughties, and was written by the same team behind hits such as Don’t Stop Moving and S Club Party. A nostalgic video accompanies the song, looking back at memories of the band over the last 20 years with happy memories of Cattermole taking centre stage.

‘It’s a nod to the old days but also looking forward to what comes next,’ explained Jon Lee. ‘Sort of like a palate cleanser, if you like.’

S Club 7 rose to fame way back in the day, and delighted us with megahits such as S Club Party, Reach and Never Had a Dream Come True (Picture: Ilpo Musto/REX/Shutterstock)

Despite the devastation of their co-star’s death, Jon admits that what has happened has brought the group back together ‘in a really strong way’. As a result, they are able to comfort and support each other during the moments when the sadness takes over.

‘Every single day we’re together, something will happen where we say, “Oh Paul would have found that funny” or “Paul would have said that”… So, when we are feeling down, we do something silly or funny [to get each other out of it]. For me it’s to be present and mindful about what’s happening now. It’s important to take a minute.

‘I think what motivates us now is that life is short and you never know when it’s going to go – so we want to be kind to each other, enjoy what we’re doing, push life as much as [we] can.’

These Are The Days is out now.

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‘He was always the driving force – even more so now.’