The group, who were signed to Polydor Records, originally consisted of Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Noel Sullivan.

Hear'Say achieved instant fame, breaking chart records with their debut single "Pure and Simple" and the album Popstars.

Hear'Say announced their split in October 2002, twenty months after their formation, citing "abuse from the public" as the main reason for their demise.

Over the course of six weeks in late 2000, thousands of hopeful singers attended open television auditions for ITV's Popstars talent show.

The contestants were judged by Nigel Lythgoe, Paul Adam (director of A&R at Polydor Records, who had rights to the finished group), and Nicki Chapman, who had worked with the Spice Girls.

The five chosen singers – Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Noel Sullivan – formed Hear'Say.

[3] In March 2001, Hear'Say released their first single, "Pure and Simple", a cover of a little-known album track by Girl Thing.

[8] This followed on from a mini-series named Meet the Popstars which was intended to allow the public to get to know the group and their music away from the talent show format.

Despite the second album's lack of success, it did achieve Gold status by the BPI but over a decade after its release[10] and plans were made for an arena tour but these were later cancelled.

[1] Tabloids began reporting that Kym Marsh, who had gained attention due to her relationship with former EastEnders actor Jack Ryder, had left the band following feuds with bandmate Myleene Klass.

"[11] However, in January 2002, Kym Marsh announced that she was leaving Hear'Say, later revealing she often fought with Klass and Noel Sullivan.

[14] Johnny Shentall, husband of Steps singer Lisa Scott-Lee, won the auditions, joining the group on 5 February 2002.