Homes Under the Hammer star Martel Maxwell has shocked her fans after revealing she had auditioned to be part of a major band. Martel, who has been on the hit BBC show since 2017, could have been famous in a very different role.
She stunned fans after sharing a photo of her auditioning to join band Hear’Say in 2001. Martel wrote alongside snaps looking back at some of the highlights of her career: “As someone who’s lost almost every photo along the way, thank you @scottishsuninsta for this look back at my career – and the Hear’Say audition and tyre pose – for my first tv gig, presenting a car show for @wearestv – remember that @swjardine ? Was it On The Road? Quite the gig. #career #memorylane #sirseanconnery #journalist #showbizreporter #allthefun.”
One fan wrote: “Fab photos – I didn’t know you auditioned for Hear’Say …. apart from Myleen Klass where are they now?” Pop band Hear’Say was formed on the ITV reality show Popstars in February 2001.
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Judges Nigel Lythgoe, Paul Adam, and Nicki Chapman chose the five members – Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Noel Sullivan – from thousands of hopeful singers, including Martel. The band’s debut single ‘Pure and Simple’ was a huge success, selling over one million copies in its first year and was the fastest-selling debut single in the UK at the time.
Kym Marsh left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Johnny Shentall. The band officially split up on October 1, 2002.
Before her TV career, Martel was a showbiz reported for The Sun before going freelance. Her earliest broadcast job was in 2010 as an occasional reporter on The One Show, and she was then a regular entertainment contributor on ITV show Lorraine.