Melanie Blatt takes part in the first ever series of Celebrity Race Across the World, but there was a time when she toured the globe with her band – so where are the rest of All Saints now?
It’s been 30 years since the pop band first formed in 1993. However, it took them several years – and two new band members – to hit the big time. In 1997, the group released arguably their most famous hit single Never Ever. They became one of the most successful British female groups of all time, and the four singers were catapulted to fame…
But it wasn’t just their music that made headlines – their personal lives did too. So what have Melanie Blatt, Nicole Appleton, Natalie Appleton and Shaznay Lewis been doing since they broke up?
Here’s everything you need to know about where the band members of All Saints are now…
Who were All Saints?
All Saints originally formed in London in 1993, with members Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis, and Simone Rainford. However, Simone made the decision to leave the group, and were dropped by their label ZTT Records.
In 1996, the group were joined by Canadian-born sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton and signed to London Records. As a foursome, the girls released their debut album All Saints in 1997. It became the third-best-selling girl group album of all time, and contained three UK number-one singles Never Ever, Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade, and Bootie Call.
However, reports of feuds between the girls, resulted in the band breaking up (for the first time) in 2001. The group later reformed after signing to Parlophone Records. Following a second split in 2009, the group reunited in 2014 for a series of live performances, and released new material.
In 2017, the group confirmed they were recording their fifth studio album. They continue to perform as a group sporadically, and made a guest appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2021.
They have all released solo material under their own names. Since their huge chart success, the foursome have remained friends, and are often reuniting and sharing snaps on their respective Instagram accounts.
Where are All Saints now? Melanie Blatt
Melanie Blatt was the first member to record a solo single after All Saints disbanded. In September 2001, she collaborated with Artful Dodger on the track TwentyFourSeven. The song peaked at number six in the UK.
In February 2002, she replaced Kelis’ vocals on the UK release of the track I’m Leavin’ by Outsidaz and Rah Digga, and later released her third single Do Me Wrong. After a brief hiatus, she returned to release a new single See Me, which was included on the Robots film soundtrack. However, none of her solo work achieved the success of All Saints.
In 2013 and 2015, she was a judge and mentor on The X Factor in New Zealand. More recently, in between various All Saint resurrections, Melanie has popped up on several TV shows.
In 2019, she took part in Celebrity Gogglebox alongside her fellow bandmate Nicole Appleton. The friends appeared in several episodes. In 2022, Mel competed in Celebrity MasterChef. In fact, she became a finalist, alongside Danny Jones and Lisa Snowdon, who went on to win.
Now, in 2023, she is taking part in Celebrity Race Across the World, alongside her beloved mum Helene who she’s lived next door to for the past 10 years!
The singer and TV personality, now 48, also has a daughter named Lilyella, who was born in 1998. She shares her with Stuart Zender, Jamiroquai’s former bass player, whom she was married to until 2006. She’s kept her relationship status under the radar since their public break-up, and is believe to be currently single.
Natalie Appleton
Canadian-born Natalie Appleton, now 50, joined the group alongside her sister Nicole. After All Saints’ heyday, she and her younger sis wrote and recorded their own album.
They formed the duo Appleton and signed a contract with Polydor Records. In September 2002, the sisters released their first single Fantasy, which reached number two in the UK. The siblings subsequently released several singles from their debut album Everything’s Eventual.
Their autobiography, Together, was published the same year. It coincided with the documentary Appleton on Appleton which gave an inside look into the life of the sisters.
In November 2004, Natalie Appleton became infamous for her appearance on the fourth series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Her fear of almost everything – including trees! – led to the public voting her for numerous bushtucker trials. She eventually left after the public voted for her to do what would have been a record fifth bushtucker trial. She walked out in the early hours of the morning just days after the departure of former East 17 frontman Brian Harvey.
More recently, Natalie competed on the fourth series of The Masked Singer as Fawn and finished in third place.
Nicole has a daughter Rachel, born in 1992, from her first marriage to Carl Robinson. She went on to have a son Ace, born in 2002, from her marriage to The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett. They are still married and currently live in Hampstead together.
She previously had highly publicised relationships with television presenter Jamie Theakston and actor Jonny Lee Miller during the late 1990s.
Where are All Saints now? Nicole Appleton
Like her sister, Nicole made headlines for her high-profile romances during the height of fame. Perhaps most notably, Robbie Williams, who she was briefly engaged to. In an autobiography she co-authored with her sister Natalie, Nicola later revealed that she aborted her and Robbie’s baby after pressure from her record company.
However, Nicole’s life-changing love affair was with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, with whom she went on to marry and have a son called Gene. They divorced in 2014, after six years of marriage due to his infidelity. Sadly, Nicole discovered that Liam was expecting a child with New York Times journalist Liza Ghorbani.
After her divorce, Nicole went on to meet and marry Stephen Haines. She gave birth to their baby daughter in 2020.
As well as her ongoing career with All Saints, Nicole appeared as a guest mentor on X Factor UK in 2013, and later guest starred as a judge on The X Factor New Zealand. Between 2019 and 2023, she has popped up on the celebrity version of Gogglebox alongside her fellow All Saints bandmate Melanie Blatt, and her son Gene.
Now 48, Nicole is known for her close relationship with This Morning star Holly Willoughby.
Where are All Saints now? Shaznay Lewis
Shaznay Lewis co-wrote most of the group’s songs, including the number one singles Bootie Call, Pure Shores, and the international hit single Never Ever. She won the Ivor Novello Award for best songwriting.
The singer-songwriter also launched a solo career. Her first single Never Felt Like This Before came out in July 2004, and reached number eight in the UK. She subsequently released her debut solo album Open. Shaznay has written for other artists, too, such as Stooshe, and Little Mix.
Shaznay was even asked to perform on the 2004 single Band Aid 20: Do They Know It’s Christmas? A brief acting career included playing team captain Mel in the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.
Nowadays, Shaznay reunites with her All Saints bandmates for one-off gigs, including the Isle of Wight festival. She has largely kept away from reality TV.
On August 21 2004, she married dancer Christian ‘Storm’ Horsfall. In February 2006, they had their first child together, a son named Tyler-Xaine. In November 2009, Lewis and her husband had their second child, a daughter named Tigerlily. The couple are still together, and Shaznay often shares cute selfies with Christian on Instagram.
Where is Simone Rainford now?
Greenwich-born Simone Rainford was a British female R&B singer and one of the original members of All Saints. In 1993, she started the band with Shaznay Lewis and Melanie Blatt, and was the lead singer of the first single Silver Shadow.
She decided to leave in 1995 amid reports she did not get along very well with the other girls. She moved to South Africa during the early 2000s.
Tragically, Simone died on May 25 2013, of kidney cancer. She was just 38. At the time, former band member Melanie Blatt tweeted: “RIP Simone Rainford. One of the original member of All Saints. Sending love to her family.”
Read more: Nicole Appleton gives birth to baby girl after secret pregnancy
Melanie Blatt takes part in Celebrity Race Across the World which starts on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 9pm on BBC One.
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