HAPPILY EXPECTING THE 'FIRST S CLUB BABY' - JO O'MEARA PUTS THE PAST TROUBLED YEAR BEHIND HER AND TELLS HOW HER HAPPINESS IS 'A DREAM COME TRUE'

Warm and chatty, and with her hands resting on her eight-month pregnancy bump, Jo O'Meara seems like a different person to a year ago. "Expecting this little one has given me a new lease of life," she says, revealing exclusively to HELLO! that the baby is a boy. "It's kind of completed me in way."

The former S Club singer has made a remarkable turnaround since last year, which she describes as the "worst of my life". As a contestant on Channel Four's Celebrity Big Brother, Jo was embroiled in the widely documented racism furore, when she and two other housemates were portrayed as ganging up on Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Jo left the house to jeers from the crowd, and went into hiding after she recieved death threats. After the success and adoration of being in a hugely popular band - which garnered Brit awards, platinum-selling albums and a TV series watched by 90 million - the backlash was devastating.

While other contestants seemed to brush themselves down and return to the public eye, Jo retreated after suffering a nervous breakdown.

"I didn't leave my house for a long time, I was too scared" admits the 28-year old, who has always maintained she is not a racist and that her negative portrayal was the result of "selective editing". Distraught Jo also made a "cry for help" by taking a potentially fatal combination of pills and alcohol - luckily her best friend found her in time.

Jo says her recovery has been a slow process. "I don't really know how to explain a breakdown unless you've actually been through one," she says. "It was kind of a case of one step forward, two steps backwards.
"From October to Christmas I started feeling a lot more positive about stuff. Then, when the New Year came, I thought, 'Do you know what, I'm not going to go into 2008 like this.' Everything I've been through in the past year has made me realise I'm strong." This strength of character is also helping Jo contemplate life as a single mum - she tells HELLO! that she has recently seperated from her baby's father, whom she does not wish to name.

"Even though I'm classed as a single mum, I've got my family and friends and the father is going to be involved," she says.

Jo dated her ex-partner - who is not in the public eye - for around two years, and the have parted on amicable terms.

"I think we've made the right decision," she says. "If you stay in something that won't be happy, that's not good for the baby. He's going to be loved by both his parents, and he's not going to see us feuding or arguing."

The mum-to-be says her pregnancy was a surprise. "But I was really pleased about it straight away," she says, admitting she did five pregnancy tests just to make sure. "I feel really content" she adds.


Jo attributes part of her turnaround over the past 12 months to her long-standing passion for helping rescue horses. "That helped me a lot," she says. "It sounds mad, but it's very therapeutic."

She has rescued 14 horses in total, bringing them back to health before placing them with good homes. She's in no doubt that they've rescued her in return. "I've always found comfort in animals," she says. "They're non-judgemental and, when you gain their trust you gain it for life."

She uses her own money to rescue the animals, and often visits them in their new homes once they're well.

One of the horses she saved was called Bailey. "He was a bag of bones when I saw him and on his way to the abattoir. I brought him back to health and when the weight was going on and his coat was getting shiny that was amazing.

"It chokes me when I see hm now, because he's so happy," she says. "His new owner is a lovely little girl and they've got a really close bond. I've got a beautiful letter from her, thanking me for saving him."

Jo also makes regular visits to Mote End Farm and Livery Stables in north London, which has links with several animal charities, to see the horses and help muck out.

The Essex-born singer says that her family and friends have also been an enormous support in her recovery. Jo saw a psychologist on just a couple of occasions after Celebrity Big Brother and turned down the offer of treatment at the renowned Priory clinic.

"I'm not knocking the people who work there," she says. "But for the me, personally, I get more comfort from my home surroundings. I don't open up when talking to strangers so much. I just wanted a bit of time on my own to heal myself. I'm trying not to get stressed about anything, because I'm not just thinking about me anymore," she says. One positive development of her pregnancy is that Jo no longer has the "horrible" panic attacks she's suffered from for years. "You feel like someone's got you around the neck; you can't breathe and you feel hot and faint."

Luckily, Jo has had a healthy and happy pregnancy so far - though she has recently had the stress of moving house. She sold her last home after being faced with the prospect of repossession.

"I went on Celebrity Big Brother because I needed the money to save the house," she explains. "Then when I came out, I couldn't work." She still lives close to parents in Essex: "My new house is a lot smaller, but it's cosy. It's just right for the two of us."

Is she out of financial difficulty now? "I'm getting there," she says. "It's been a tough one."


With a new positive attitude, Jo has no regrets about her reality TV experience and says it had helped her to appreciate life. "It made me value things in different ways," she explains. "I appreciate work now. I found it hard, constantly having to get up early and I'd moan about it. But now I realise I'm lucky to have been given a voice to use."

Jo is still "very friendly" with her fellow S Club band mates, and saw Bradley McIntosh and Paul Cattermole just last week. "Bradley is so excited about my pregnancy," she laughs. "He calls him 'the first S Club baby'."

When Jo left Celebrity Big Brother house, her spokesman told the world that: "Jo does not envisage a future where she will sing again."

"That is really how I felt at the time," she says now. But, she reveals to HELLO!, she is planning to appear in some charity concerts, one of which is being organised by vocal coach Zoe Tyler (whose clients include Geri Halliwell). She's also hopeing to make a "really good comeback album".

"Music is in me whether I like it or not," she says. "I'm like a different person when I'm on stage, I feel that's where I'm meant to be."

Still, she won't be rushing into things. "I'm going to build myself up slowly and do it the right way. "I just feel everything is a new start for me. I've got a new baby coming, I've got a new home. I'm ready to pick myself up, start again at the bottom and work my way up."

Interview: Dawn Emery; Copyright: Hello Magazine.

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