Jo O'Meara
Jo O'Meara |
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Joanne Valda O'Meara (born 29 April, 1979) is an English singer and actress. Formerly a key singer with the group S Club 7, she launched a solo career after the group's split in 2003. As a participant in Celebrity Big Brother 2007, O'Meara, along with fellow contestants Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd were accused of bullying and making allegedly racist and elitist comments about Shilpa Shetty.[1].
Biography
O'Meara was born in Rush Green[2] in east London to parents Dave and Barbara. She grew up in Collier Row, a suburban housing estate in the north of Romford in the London Borough of Havering. She was educated at Clockhouse Junior School and Bower Park School.[2]
S Club 7
In her teenage years, Jo O'Meara would sing in Wild Jack Henry's country music pub in Ilford. It was there that someone from 19 Entertainment spotted her on stage. She was also in a group called 2-4 family. However, it was two years later before she got a call from them asking her to audition for a new pop group called S Club 7. [citation needed] O'Meara earned a spot in the band. She was a prominent member of the English group, singing most of the group's lead vocals, as well as acting with the group in TV series such as Miami 7, LA 7, Hollywood 7 and Viva S Club, as well as S Club's own movie, "Seeing Double".
During the filming of the movie, Jo had an accident on set during one of the stunts which hurt her back, limiting S Club's dance routines and leaving her out of the group for a brief period. Jo's voice remained, however, her vocals were re-recorded by Rachel Stevens for use during live television performances. Jo eventually returned to continue performing with S Club and to promote the movie.
In June 2003, S Club announced during one of their concerts that they were to split, and performed together for the final time a few weeks later at the G-A-Y nightclub in the West End of London. [citation needed]
Solo Career
Many speculated as to when Jo would make her comeback, having been the most prominent vocalist in S Club 7, but it was Rachel Stevens who was the first member of the band to release solo material. Jo surprised many fans by taking a long hiatus from pop music, and it was speculated that she was healing her back injury.
In July 2005, Jo announced that she had signed a new solo recording deal with Sanctuary Records, the label behind acts such as Morrissey, KISS and Megadeth. Prior to her first release she toured around various roadshows in the UK alongside acts including Lemar, Girls Aloud and her former bandmate Rachel Stevens.[citation needed]
Her debut single, "What Hurts the Most", was released on 26 September, 2005, followed a week later by her album, Relentless. This however received disappointing charts results in both the UK and European Charts. It reached #47 in the UK and #152 in the Republic of Ireland.
In 2006 she took part in the BBC gameshow Just the Two of Us. Her singing partner was Chris Fountain, an actor in Hollyoaks, a British Soap opera. The pair came third in the competition, failing to attract enough votes to make the final after their performance of "Never Had a Dream Come True".
In March 2006, "What Hurts The Most" was recorded and released by country group Rascal Flatts. It reached #1 on the US Billboard Country Chart, and peaked on the Hot 100 at #6.
Celebrity Big Brother 2007
O'Meara was the fourth person to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house on 3 January 2007. According to the Daily Mirror, Jo entered the show to pay off her £34,000 debt.[3]. She received a positive reaction from the crowd and admitted live that she had no idea what she was doing on the show. When betting opened, she was favourite to win.[4] O'Meara has been criticised for comments made about fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty[5] and for imitating her accent.[6] During the show, Jo stated that she believed that all Indians are thin because they undercook their food,[7] resulting in a public outcry in India and contributing to the Carphone Warehouse decision to withdraw as the sponsor of the show.[8] A large number of complaints were received by broadcasting regulator Ofcom about the allegedly racist behaviour of Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and O'Meara towards Shetty.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Jo became the fourth housemate to be evicted from the show, leaving the house on Friday January 26 in a surprise double eviction, along with fellow contestant Cleo Rocos.
In her eviction interview with Davina McCall Jo failed to apologise for her comments and behaviour towards Shilpa Shetty, claiming she had done nothing wrong, a stance which she would continue to take in subsequent interviews. Her former housemate disagreed. Jade said: "She's done everything wrong. She's made big mistakes." And Jo's sister Julie admitted: "Jo should be very disappointed with herself."[9] Unlike fellow housemate Jade she chose not to donate her fee for appearing on the show and for an interview with the Sunday Mirror to charity.[10]
In an interview with GMTV which aired on Tuesday January 30, 2006 a visibly distressed O'Meara apologised for her behaviour, but denied that she had been a bully or a racist while in the house. She blamed poor editing by the show's producers and misquotation in interviews by national newspapers following the Celebrity Big Brother final, for contributing to her already-ruined image. She revealed she has not returned home due to death threats and concerns over her safety. She also claimed that her reason for entering the house was to help save her home, which had been threatened with repossession.[11]
Discography
Albums
- "Relentless", 3 October 2005, #47 UK, #159 Ireland.
Singles
- "What Hurts the Most", September 26, 2005, #13 UK, #78 Ireland.
References
- ^ "Shetty speaks of Brother 'racism'". BBC News. 2007-01-08.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|acessdate=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Essex girls battle it out in Celebrity Big Brother". Essex Chronicle. Essex Chronicle Series Ltd. 2007-01-11. p. 27.
Jo, 27, was born in Rush Green and grew up in Collier Row. She attended Clockhouse Junior School and Bower Park School in Havering North Road.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Daily Mirror, 6 January 2007
- ^ "Celebrity Big Brother UK Betting". Gambling911. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
- ^ "Big Brother row reaches Commons". BBC News. 2007-01-16. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
- ^ "Anger over Big Brother 'racism'". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
- ^ Haines, Leister (2007-01-17). "Carphone Warehouse reviews Big Brother sponsorship deal". The Register. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
- ^ Taylor, Joel (2007-01-17). "Big Brother backlash". Metro. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ Lynsey, Haywood (2007-01-27). "Celeb BB Jo: No apologies". The Sun. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
- ^ Hodgson, Grant (2007-01-28). "Exclusive BB: Jo I'm Not Sorry and I'd Do it Again". Sunday Mirror. Trinity Mirror.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "GMTV Interview with Jo O'Meara, 30th January 2007".