Truestepper
9th Dec 2007, 22:49
From a Times article on Love Against The Odds.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article2987025.ece
WITH SOMEONE WHO USED TO BE FAMOUS
Reece Hill, 39, an electrical engineer, is engaged to Claire Richards, 30, a former member of the pop group Steps
I never thought I would be with a pop star, even though I was in the music business for 15 years. I worked with everyone from Madonna to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I would be lying if I said there weren’t members of female pop groups to whom I was attracted. But all pop stars are pretty much the same: attention-seeking, fame-hungry, egotistical megalomaniacs. Then I met my Claire, my soul mate. She was one of the few normal stars: she never wanted someone to pick out the yellow M&Ms.
We met when I was assigned to promote her band, Steps. I was 30 and Claire was 20, quiet, naive, unassuming and still living at home with her parents. Gradually, we became attracted to each other. We got together, but, after a couple of years, we split, because Steps were so busy travelling the world.
Eventually, I left the music industry to become an electrical engineer. Claire married Mark Webb, a dancer for Steps. She left the group to make an album with her fellow band member H – it didn’t do as well as they had hoped, and Claire decided to take a back seat for a while. She had worked at such a pace for so many years. She then realised she and Mark weren’t soul mates, and they got divorced. Three years ago, Claire and I decided to meet for coffee. I knew straightaway that I wanted to be with her again. We bought a house and got engaged.
Now we’ve had Charlie, Claire’s a full-time mum. People in the media still contact me for interviews, and I find myself acting as a manager, but I’m happy to be out of it. I would be 100% supportive if she were a star again, because that’s what I think she wants to be eventually, and I want her to be happy. But it doesn’t matter.
My friends are window-cleaners and ambulance drivers; Claire’s friends include Shaznay Lewis from All Saints and the other former members of Steps. We’re used to hanging out with couples where one person is famous and the other isn’t.
I enjoy the fringe benefits of being with someone who was famous – we’re lucky that money isn’t a problem – but I look upon it as normal. Every now and then, we get asked to a special event, but Claire’s not one to ask for preferential treatment, so we drive ourselves and she does her own hair and make-up.
I adore the fact that people love my fiancée. She isn’t stopped in the street as much now, but it’s great to watch her face light up when someone comes up to her for an autograph and says they love her voice. At the end of the day, everyone was a fan of Steps.
I’ve never really looked at Claire as being famous – we just have a normal, honest relationship. And we still play Steps in the car.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article2987025.ece
WITH SOMEONE WHO USED TO BE FAMOUS
Reece Hill, 39, an electrical engineer, is engaged to Claire Richards, 30, a former member of the pop group Steps
I never thought I would be with a pop star, even though I was in the music business for 15 years. I worked with everyone from Madonna to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I would be lying if I said there weren’t members of female pop groups to whom I was attracted. But all pop stars are pretty much the same: attention-seeking, fame-hungry, egotistical megalomaniacs. Then I met my Claire, my soul mate. She was one of the few normal stars: she never wanted someone to pick out the yellow M&Ms.
We met when I was assigned to promote her band, Steps. I was 30 and Claire was 20, quiet, naive, unassuming and still living at home with her parents. Gradually, we became attracted to each other. We got together, but, after a couple of years, we split, because Steps were so busy travelling the world.
Eventually, I left the music industry to become an electrical engineer. Claire married Mark Webb, a dancer for Steps. She left the group to make an album with her fellow band member H – it didn’t do as well as they had hoped, and Claire decided to take a back seat for a while. She had worked at such a pace for so many years. She then realised she and Mark weren’t soul mates, and they got divorced. Three years ago, Claire and I decided to meet for coffee. I knew straightaway that I wanted to be with her again. We bought a house and got engaged.
Now we’ve had Charlie, Claire’s a full-time mum. People in the media still contact me for interviews, and I find myself acting as a manager, but I’m happy to be out of it. I would be 100% supportive if she were a star again, because that’s what I think she wants to be eventually, and I want her to be happy. But it doesn’t matter.
My friends are window-cleaners and ambulance drivers; Claire’s friends include Shaznay Lewis from All Saints and the other former members of Steps. We’re used to hanging out with couples where one person is famous and the other isn’t.
I enjoy the fringe benefits of being with someone who was famous – we’re lucky that money isn’t a problem – but I look upon it as normal. Every now and then, we get asked to a special event, but Claire’s not one to ask for preferential treatment, so we drive ourselves and she does her own hair and make-up.
I adore the fact that people love my fiancée. She isn’t stopped in the street as much now, but it’s great to watch her face light up when someone comes up to her for an autograph and says they love her voice. At the end of the day, everyone was a fan of Steps.
I’ve never really looked at Claire as being famous – we just have a normal, honest relationship. And we still play Steps in the car.