Everything is Hunky Dory

Stunning Rachel Stevens reckons she and boyfriend Jeremy Edwards are stronger than ever since their summer split. Despite rumours it was all a stunt to promote her debut single, Sweet Dreams My LA Ex, Rachel, 25, vehemently denies this and says it was a horrible time.

She said: "It should have been an amazingly happy time for me. I was releasing my debut single and everyone seemed to like it. But instead, my personal life was a mess. Saying it was a stunt upset me. All the stories in the press complicated it even more."

It was in August that former S Club singer Rachel and Holby City star Jeremy reportedly split. They were engaged, but just as her debut single was about to be released the stories appeared. Critics howled that she was doing a Geri Halliwell, keeping herself in the news to punt her single - especially when the single went straight in at No.2 and the pair got back together again.

Rachel said: "We were arguing but we didn't know why. It was a horrible time, a nightmare. I was having amazing experiences and couldn't share them with Jez because all we'd do was argue. But we kept talking and got back together again. It's as simple as that."

Much of the subsequent blame seems to have been heaped at Jeremy's door. Critics claimed he was jealous after he left Holby City as Danny Shaughnessy and Rachel was the one in the limelight. But Jeremy, 32, claims his dark moods were caused by the death of Holby City co-star Laura Sadler.

He does have double standards. He recently admitted in a magazine article that he didn't think it was necessary for Rachel to have a raunchy image (of course Madonna, Kylie, J-Lo and Beyonc have all done it but he thinks it will overshadow Rachel's singing). However, last weekend he gave his opinions quite happily on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sexy Moments.

It's perhaps wise of Rachel not to rush into anything. She doesn't wear her engagement ring any more. She added: "We're not planning the wedding. We're both busy. One day I'm sure we will get married but at the moment we're happy as we are."

Jeremy is appearing in his first stage role, in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, in London's West End. It started this week.

This comes as a relief to Rachel. She said: "He has to do something. He needs to be challenged. He's not one of these people who sits in and does nothing. Our relationship has changed. You can't go through what we did, this downtime with your partner, and work it through without it changing you. It definitely makes you stronger. We're happy and things are good."

The only blip on Rachel's horizon is her dad Michael Stevens. Earlier this year made a bizarre and bitter attack on his daughter for not helping promote his ladies' clothes shop branding her a "total a******e" and claiming he didn't care if he never saw her again.

For any daughter such comments would wound deeply, but to have them in the press must have been hell. She's never spoken about it before but for the first time admitted: "Yes, it hurt. It hurt very much. But I'd rather not say any more."

Rachel provided a highlight of this year's Royal Variety Performance at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Her racy version of Sweet Dreams included chains and whips and was said to have made the Queen blush.

The singer said: "I think she knew who I was but she only said hello and moved on. It was the first time I'd met the Queen. I'd performed in front of her with S Club at the Jubilee concert in the Buckingham Palace gardens."

The Queen's husband Prince Philip hung about a little longer. Rachel said: "He was funny and quite chatty. He asked me what I was doing. He didn't ask about my whips but I should have given him one for his horses."

The Royal Variety topped off an amazing year for Rachel which began with S Club announcing their split in April this year and the group's final single, Say Goodbye, in May.

Rachel, together with Bradley McIntosh, Paul Cattermole, Hannah Spearritt, Jon Lee, Jo O'Meara and Tina Barrett were created by Simon Fuller as S Club 7. The band first topped the charts in 1999 with Bring It All Back and had huge hits with S Club Party and Reach. They won a Brit Award for Best British newcomer in 2000. Their song Don't Stop Movin' went to number one twice, won a Brit award and Record of the Year in 2001.

Thanks to their music and their own television show, seen in 110 countries, they became one of the UK's biggest pop groups. Then Paul Cattermole, 26, left, forcing them to change their name to S Club. Their debut film, Seeing Double, got a critical mauling and the writing was on the wall.

Rachel was first to be offered a solo record deal - £1 million from Polydor. She admits to being worried before Sweet Dreams My La Ex was released - concerned about whether she could move from pop band member to more mature solo vocalist.

She said: "It's a hard transition to make, especially when people see you in a different light. I didn't know what to expect and how my fans were going to take it. My first performance as a solo artist was on Top of the Pops and I was very scared about being on my own. But now I'm used to it. It's amazing how quickly you adapt."

"I miss the guys but I'm enjoying being on my own. And the reaction to Sweet Dreams My LA Ex has been fantastic. It was perceived so well. I couldn't believe it."

The song has sold over 200,000 copies, going silver, and is still in the top 100 after 11 weeks. Her second single Funky Dory - the title track of her debut album - is out on Monday.

It seems her S Clubber pals are a thing of the past. But she still sees them. She saw Jon at Children In Need. She said: "It was really strange. He was with all his Les Miserables cast pals. And it's rubbish Tina and I don't get on. We all had our moments when we didn't speak. It would be for a day then we'd kiss and make up. Our relationships wouldn't be as strong as they are without ups and downs."

Rachel had a just a week off between the end of S Club and starting to record her album. It took four months to make and included songs by Cathy Dennis - famous for Kylie's Can't Get You Out Of My Head. There's dance with Glide and Silk, R&B with I Got The Money, lounge music with Blue Afternoon and a pop gem in Little Secret - a song written by Cathy Dennis and Robbie Williams co- writer Guy Chambers.

Rachel's main concern now is promoting second single Funky Dory which takes a guitar riff from David Bowie's song Andy Warhol, which was on his album Hunky Dory.

Rachel's bought the Bowie album. She said: "I knew some of his work, but not that album. I bought it and loved it all. I hope my younger fans who maybe don't know him, will hear this track and get into him. I hear he's given the track the thumbs-up which is just amazing - he's a legend."

Does she hope Funky Dory goes to No.1? She said: "It's not the be all and end all. Sweet Dreams was amazing as it went to number two. I'd love a solo number one but it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't happen."

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