Steps meet fans in Midlands as 90s pop group celebrate 25 years with new album

Iconic British pop group Steps are in Birmingham and Nottingham today to meet fans as they celebrate 25 years since releasing their first single.

The band will be on tour in November - where they'll perform at the Resorts World Arena as well as the Motorpoint Arena.

Five years on from staging their comeback, Steps are celebrating their 25 years in style with The Platinum Collection.

The Platinum Collection includes all their biggest and best hits including #1's Heartbeat/Tragedy and Stomp plus epic comeback singles Scared Of The Dark and What The Future Holds alongside classics including One For Sorrow and Deeper Shade of Blue.

The album is packed full of their greatest hits from 1997 to 2022 and was released on 19 August.

ITV News Central correspondent Des Coleman went to meet Steps on their tour in Nottingham.

What happened to Steps members?

Following Steps' split, Lee went on to carve out a successful stage career, starring in Grease: A Charmed Life in the West End as well as a production of Wolfboy at the Fringe Festival.

He has also starred in reality TV shows such as Fear Factor and I'm Famous and Frightened! and he won Commando VIP.

Lee is also a qualified personal trainer and owns an online fitness magazine.

Faye went on to continue her music career by releasing the single "Someone Like You" with singer Russell Watson, and went on to tour with him.

She took up acting in 2004 when she performed in the one-woman musical "Tell me on a Sunday," and shows like "Love Shack."

In 2018, Faye went on to appear on the BBC's dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing where she came runner-up in the final.

H left Steps with Claire after a rift formed between the pair and the rest of the group. After splitting they announced they would record as a duo.

Despite initial success from the duo, they only released one album called Another You, Another Me. The pair split in 2003.

H decided to join a musical theatre course where he appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and continued to pursue a career in TV when he filmed H-side Story, a reality show.

Soon after he took up a career on stage and played Buttons in the pantomime Cinderella followed by roles in Jack & The Beanstalk.

He then went on to appear in the West-end performance Fame in 2007, before entering the Big Brother House and appearing on ITV's Dancing on Ice years later.

Meanwhile, Claire took a break from singing to focus on her personal life and other projects.

However, in 2015, she released an acoustic track called "One for Sorrow" which prompted her return to music.

Lisa embarked on a solo music career after Steps disbanded, but it soon ended after her label dropped her a year after the split.

Shortly after MTV UK released the reality show "Totally Scott-Lee" which followed Lisa's journey to get her career back on track.

Lisa continued to pursue her patchy solo music career until the pop-groups reunion.

Like H, she appeared on ITV's Dancing on Ice in 2007.

Steps said the anniversary "marks the perfect moment" to reflect on what they've achieved over the years.

In a statement, they said: "We cannot believe this year marks our 25th anniversary! Someone recently mentioned that the latest era of Steps has actually now outlasted our original run which was a delightful surprise.

"This anniversary marks the perfect moment to take a look back at everything we've achieved as a band.

"We realised that we've released a full 3 new studio albums since our last Greatest Hits so it felt like time to combine all our hits on one package.

"We've recorded two brand-new tracks for the album and presto, the 'Platinum Collection' was born. 

"It was such good fun listening back at 25 years of our songs and we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane as much we did."

Who is in Steps now 2022?

Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer, Lee Latchford-Evans, and Ian 'H' Watkins are the current members of Steps.

Only two of the members are from the original 1997 line-up. Lisa Scott-Lee, and 'H' were joined by Derek O'Brien, Maddy Chan and Mitch Stevens.

The three soon left the band later that year after only a few recordings, and were replaced by Faye, Lee and Claire joined.

The five members have formed Steps since then.

How old are Steps now?

Steps formed 25 years ago when the cast were in their early 20's.

Claire joined when she was just 19 years old - making her the youngest member of the group. She is currently 45 years old.

At 47, Lee is the oldest member, while Faye, Lisa, and 'H' are all 46.