I know there aren’t many girls in my age group who used to come home from school and eat their tea whilst watching STARstreet on CITV and wish so incredibly hard that one day they could live just like that!
allSTARS*
Just me then? Oh well, yet, even if you didn’t watch the TV show, there was no avoiding the band when they popped up on your Now That’s What I Call Music type CD’s. I guess the only problem with this show and the band was that it was a cheap copy of S Club 7’s Miami 7; been there, done that, new ideas please.
Needless to say, Sandi Lee Hughes, Thaila Zucchi, Ashley Taylor Dawson, Rebecca Hunter and Sam Bloom, did enjoy a small amount of chart success in the UK, even if it was only thanks to the super idea of having the first letter of each band member's name making up the "stars" of their band name. Wow!
So I might have made a little joke there, but the band did managed to blag themselves four Top 20 hits throughout their two-year forray into the charts; the first was the theme tune to STARStreet, Best Friends, which peaked at Number 20 in June 2001 and was a favourite on the pop video channels.
The second hit was a double-a-side of their own track, Things That Go Bump In The Night, which was even featured in the Scooby Doo movie, and a cover of Duran Duran's Is There Something I Should Know?.
Their third single, released in January 2002, and was yet another cover, this time of Bucks Fizz's Land Of Make Believe, which gave them their first, and only, top 10 hit single, after reaching a respective number 9.
Their fourth single was one of their originals, Back When and Going All The Way, which was also snapped up for use in a film, this time as the soundtrack to Thunderpants. However, the single itself failed to do very well and the band decided to give up their music career as a bad job. But what did they do afterwards I hear you cry…
Sam Bloom
Sam was always my favourite, and for a while he had pride of place on my bedroom wall, until I was forced to replace him by a poster of Tom De Longe. However, although I would have given Sam a job, it seems that no-one else would as he auditioned unsuccessfully for C4/E4 show Boys will be Girls and hasn’t really been heard of since.
Thaila Zucchi
Like most failed popstars, Thaila went on to do a bit of presenting work after the band split, she worked in the Meridian region of ITV, which included announcing the regional results for Record Of The Year in 2003. Wowee!
In 2005 though, Thaila got thumbs up from me as she played the Bunny Boiler character in Channel 4's Balls of Steel before going on to play one of the lead characters in Channel 4's Star Stories. What’s more, she starred as "fake" housemate Pauline in Big Brother 8 but was evicted for being found out to be fake by the housemates.
Ashley Taylor Dawson
Possibly one of the most recognisable of the former allSTARS, Ashley had played Darren Osbourne in Hollyoaks since he was 17 years old, and we have to admit, we didn't like his character for a long time, but since he shacked up with that witch Cindy, we have a new-found love for the chavvy wheeler dealer.
Rebecca Hunter
Much like her Ashley, Rebecca Hunter went on to bag a great part in a soap, and played Melanie Costello in Family Affairs between 2003 and 2005 and - gaining access to my bank of ‘cool people’ - she made an appearance as a guest on Never Mind The Buzzcocks in 2001. Plus, she lives in Southern California now, and that in itself is worth a round of applause.
Sandi Lee Hughes
Sandi has kept a low profile since the band's demise but is married to possibly the fittest man in children’s television; Mr Dominic Wood with whom she has a one year old son called Tommy.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison