'We're teenagers again': Steps is turning 25 and is back on tour with new music
Claire and Faye from Steps tell ITV Meridian's Natalie Boare how it feels to still draw the big crowds decades after they first hit the charts.
Steps is about to turn 25.
But its stars say they still get "emotional" hearing crowds of thousands sing their songs back to them.
The hitmakers are reflecting on decades-long career that drew global audiences to their '90s-era dance pop sound.
The five-piece have a new album out and a UK tour underway.
ITV Meridian's Natalie Boare caught up with Claire Richards and Faye Tozer, who shared their secrets for playing for an audience of thousands, decades after their debut.
Q. You're on tour at the moment, 18 arenas, how are you finding it?
Claire: "It's amazing you know, I don't think any of us thought that after nearly 25 years we'd still be selling out 18 arenas and traveling around the country still doing what we do. It's amazing and the crowds have been incredible so far."
Q. You have some energetic routines, how do you prepare for all of those dance moves?
Faye: "We'd had about three weeks for rehearsals, which is probably the shortest ever. Everyone is working hard in the gym as well, in the mornings before we go on stage to get us ready for the shows."
Q. Claire, your latest single The Slightest Touch is a cover?
Claire: "I think the really great thing about this, apart from the vocals obviously, is we had a real hand in the production side of it. We just knew it had to be massive. It's turned out so well, we're absolutely over the moon with it."
Q. You recently did a track with Michelle Visage, who many will know from Strictly Come Dancing and Ru Paul's Drag Race, how did that come about?
Faye: "It came about as she did an Instagram live with us. I've been in contact with her for a while, because when she danced with Giovanni on Strictly Come Dancing I reached out and said 'I'm rooting for you', and the next thing I knew she was on FaceTime with me and we've been really close ever since which has been brilliant.
"So when we said to her in an interview 'Did you want to come and do something with us?', it just kind of happened and it was so much fun. We had a good month with her."
Q. Is touring as much fun as it seems?
Faye: "It's more fun than you think, we've all regressed into being teenagers again. I think one we feel so privileged to be back on stage after such a tricky time, and the fact that we've got so many incredible loyal fans that keep us on stage, keep us busy, keep us coming back for more.
"We're having such a lovely time and just to be able to get out on the arena and sing our little hearts out and dance our little socks off with everybody else, it's just wonderful it really is."
Q. Do you ever pinch yourself when you see people singing your songs and dancing your routines?
Claire: "Sometimes I get a bit emotional. We have ear monitors in our ear which feeds what we're doing, so it is a bit hard to hear the audience all the time, but there is a point in the show that we get everybody to sing along with us, so there's nothing but voices.
"It is quite overwhelming to hear 11,000 people singing your song back at you, It's just one of those things that growing up and imagining being a popstar, you don't realise how powerful that is and it gets me every time."
Steps will play Brighton on November 25 and Bournemouth on December 1.
This interview was filmed just before Faye tested positive for Covid-19 and had to miss part of the tour.