BABY DOLL
S CLUB 7'S RESIDENT CUTIE, HANNAH SPEARITT, GETS A 60S HAIR MAKEOVER AND REVEALS THE SECRETS OF HER BARNET BACKGROUND, WACKY 'DOS, DYING DISASTERS AND ALL...
Hair was a topic close to Hannah's heart on the day we met her. Not least because she'd just had some funky new highlights in blonde, chestnut and red put in, but because her boiler's broken and that meant washing her locks in water heated from the kettle the night before. Who said the life of a pop star is all glamour? But if you're as laid-back as this little lady, barnet traumas just go straight over your head. That's not to say hair isn't important to Hannah - she's had about as many hairstyles ass we've had nights shimmying to S Club's dance floor filler, Don't Stop Movin'. Well, luckily there's both hot running water and a stylist at the ready today, so whilst Hannah sat back in the hairdressers chair to be transformed into a 60s icon, we had a natter about her rich and varied hair history...
SO KNOT A GOOD LOOK
When S Club 7 first hit the big time back in 1999, Hannah was the blonde, long haired Baby Spice-like one of the bunch. To match S Club's brand of sugar-coated pop, her early look was made up of a succession of wacky 'dos. Like bonkers Björk, Hannah was famed for her knotted hairstyle - a sight that makes her cringe these days: 'I so hate that look! Mind you, at the time I was like: "Give me more knots, as many as you can fit on my head!" Why didn't anyone tell me how stupid it looked?'
DOING THE TWIST
After the knots came the twists, 'They were meant to look like dreads but didn't turn out quite right,' laughs Hannah. So did doing the grungy thing mean not washing her hair for weeks on end too? 'Yep. I did them myself and they took so long to do I thought: "I'm not washing my hair to have them all fall out," so I didn't wash my hair for about six weeks - I was quite excited by that!' The non-washing thing comes as no surprise from Hannah. She's a seriously low maintenance girl, with 'a very laid-back style. It's the same with fashion - if it's comfy, I'll wear it.'
SLASH 'N' BURN
'I got my hair cut short because I'm lazy,' Hannah says. 'I like to get out of the shower and let my hair dry naturally - the easier, the better. But when I first got it done I looked like a 13-year-old lad! It's now up there with my worst 'dos.' But there's an even bigger disaster lurking in Hannah's hair past: 'During filming of the TV series in America. I dyed my hair a plummy brown colour. It was really drastic as I'm naturally blonde and it was supposed to wash out but it didn't. During filming there has to be continuity in the episodes and there I was blonde one day and brown the next.' So did it mean a slap on the wrist? 'Not really. Everyone was like: "There Hannah goes again, not thinking before she does things". Being blonde does have its uses then - it lets you get away with anything!
CURL, CALM AND COLLECTED
Our Hannah's a very practical girl and that meant her next hair move was... a perm! 'I had my hair permed when we were on tour,' she explains. 'It was basically to make things easy. I get pretty sweaty when I'm dancing and the perm was a style that held together better and looked full when it got hot. It ruined my hair though. At the time I had to use all these special masks and treatments on it. It started to get ridiculous and my bathroom looked like I was obsessed with hair products! I was using some heavy-duty stuff too, like protein packs for severely damaged hair - probably all the wrong stuff!' So, once the perm had lost all signs of life, it was time to get the condition restored. There was only one thing for it: the chop!
CHICK FLICK
These days, Hannah's still sporting a short, flicky hairstyle, but it's more feminine than before. Not unlike Emma Bunton, she's made the transition from girly to glam without losing her young and cheeky edge. But the best news? Hannah's at last found a style she's happy with. So what's her secret to this slick style? 'Smoothing cream is my saviour product,' she explains. 'I love anything that stops it from going fluffy. Without it I look like a little cloud. My hair goes all puffy, especially when it's really fair.' So what's the hair forecast looking like for the future then? 'Well, I've always fancied dying my hair jet black,' she says with a grin. 'But I'm not sure yet.' One things for sure - with a hair history as colourful as Hannah's, you can never say never...