Siobhan Donaghy has said she and the other Sugababes thought “whatever” when they met former footballer David Beckham – as they were distracted by his wife Victoria Beckham.
The girl group, who began in 1998 and now feature Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Donaghy as a trio, released their first new album in eight years, The Lost Tapes, at the end of last year.
Speaking to Apple Music’s The Rebecca Judd Show, Buchanan recalled being on music television programme CD:UK – which ran on ITV during the late 1990s and early 2000s – when former Spice Girls singer Beckham was embarking on her solo career.
The 38-year-old singer said: “I remember meeting her and being so excited because I was a huge Spice Girls fan. We all were.
“In year seven I got loads of girls together and I was like: ‘Right, we need to make a band. We need to perform like the Spice Girls.’”
Beckham, 49, who is now a fashion designer, married her then-England and Manchester United midfielder husband in 1999, and they went on to have four children.
Following her girl group going on hiatus, Beckham released This Groove / Let Your Head Go, A Mind Of Its Own, I’m Not Such An Innocent Girl and Out Of Your Mind from 2001 to 2004, which were all top 10 hits.
Recalling meeting the star, Donaghy, 38, then said: “I love that David Beckham was sat outside the room and none of us even noticed him.
“We were like: ‘Whatever…’ She was really lovely, she gave us a little pep talk before we went on and it was quite nice.
“She was like: ‘Have fun.’ She was trying to relax us and make sure we weren’t nervous. She was really lovely.”
The Sugababes – who had six number ones during their career including Freak Like Me, Round Round and Hole In The Head – also recalled recording Too Lost In You with Diane Warren in LA which featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 romantic comedy film Love Actually.
Buchanan said: “We knew it was going to be on our album, not for a soundtrack and then later on, obviously they approached us about that, which was really lovely.
“It was a great time. I remember one of my memories about that song was we were shooting the video and I got this weird eye infection and I remember my eye swelled up massively.
“Then we had to shoot, I don’t know if you can remember, we had to shoot with my hair over my eye.”
Buena, 37, also said she did not know it was going to be used in the film and added: “I watch it literally every day. It’s actually so refreshing to watch it and then hear your music because it’s just a really big accomplishment.
“Especially when the whole of England’s listening to it or watching the film. It’s just nice.”
Sugababes originally featured Buena, Buchanan and Donaghy in the original line-up between 1998 and 2001 before they lost the right to record and perform under the name following a number of radical line-up changes.
After briefly reforming under the moniker MKS around 2013, they regained the right to use the Sugababes name in 2019 and have seen gone on to perform a packed-out set at Glastonbury.
The girl group will perform at London’s O2 arena on September 15 2023 as part of their tour which includes dates in Warrington, Oxfordshire and Liverpool.