Hannah’s given a really interesting interview about her finances. She talks about how her attitude towards money has changed over the years and what she spent her S club 7 earnings on. Read the full interview below:
How did your childhood influence your work ethic and attitude to money?
I did get pocket money from my parents when I was little, but my mum encouraged me to save it up so that by Christmas I would be able to use it. I started earning money quite young. There was nothing really at school to teach you about money. I think I would have appreciated it if there was. My dad is really good at guiding me, but it would have been nice to have had that as well.
What was your first job and how much were you paid?
My first job was playing Louella in Bugsy Malone in the West End. I was 16 and earning £250 a week and my rent in London was £50 per week, so I just lived on what was left. I never went mad with that money though. I was living in London. I didn’t really think about money at the time.
What has been your best paying job?
I’ve been so lucky. I think it’s probably S Club 7 or Primeval. I got about £600,000 from S Club 7 over four years. It was a lot of money, I didn’t really realise.What did you spend the money on?
I used it to buy my first ever house with Paul [Cattermole, ex-boyfriend and former bandmate]. It was a mews house in Crouch End with three bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, lounge and toilet downstairs. It was nice. We paid £375,000 and then sold it for about £475,000 after three years.
I didn’t realise how lucky I was then to be able to buy the house outright. I really appreciate it now. After that, we bought a place on a whim in Brighton. We popped on the internet, found it, went down there to view it and then paid £280,000 for a basement flat.
When we went to see it, the guy who lived there had the coffee machine going and it smelt all lovely. It wasn’t until after we moved in that we realised it had a damp problem. We had a few parties down there but we didn’t want to spend the money fixing up the damp problem.
How much do you earn in royalties each year ?
Things pop through all the time in terms of DVD sales from Primeval or royalties from S Club 7.
You might get 57p or a couple of thousand. It really depends. You can’t rely on it, but it’s a bonus when it does come in.
Source: Telegraph
