Now its S Club 6

S Club 7 star Paul Cattermole has quit the group to concentrate on a solo career, just as the other six members are set to become millionaires.

The rest of the band, which has had four number one hits, have signed up for a deal with both their management company and record label which will boost their earnings.

Cattermole, 25, will not leave the band immediately. He will continue to perform with them for the next few months to record their fourth TV series.

He said: "I've had some of the best times of my life over the past four years with S Club. It will be a sad day when I leave and I'll really miss not being with them every day - they are my best mates. I've reached a point where I'd like to experiment in different types of music as a solo artist." In a statement the band said:

"Emotions are high obviously as we'll miss Paul hugely and it's sad to see him go, but at the same time we're delighted to have extended our contracts. This means we'll be recording heaps of new material, we're about to film another TV series and there's the movie too - and that's just this year."

Never the group's most prominent member, Cattermole was perhaps best known for his offstage antics. In March last year, together with fellow band members Bradley McIntosh, 18, and Jon Lee, 19, he was arrested after being caught smoking cannabis. All three received cautions.

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