S Club bought back the Brit Award Paul Cattermole sold on eBay for £66,100 after falling on hard times to give to his family in a thoughtful gesture to mark his legacy.
Paul, who won the award with the band for Best Newcomer in 2002, sold the award for the jaw-dropping price back in 2018 after a bad injury while performing at The Rocky Horror Picture Show left him out of work.
Taking to Instagram, Paul’s brother Colin revealed he watched the band perform at The 02 and was completely bowled over when he was handed the very award Paul sold – seven months after the singer tragically died aged 46 from natural causes.
Proudly posing with his late sibling’s gong, Colin wrote: ‘This experience was not only surreal and emotional for me but also for my other brother, my wife, and Paul’s closest friends who shared the evening with us.
‘After the show backstage, we had a heartfelt reunion with the band.
‘It is a profound honour’: S Club bought back the Brit Award Paul Cattermole sold on eBay for £66,100 after falling on hard times to give to his family in a thoughtful gesture
Emotional: Taking to Instagram, Paul’s brother Colin revealed he watched the band perform at The 02 and was completely bowled over when he was handed the very award Paul sold
Accolade: Paul, who won the award with the band for Best Newcomer in 2002, sold the award for the jaw-dropping price back in 2018
‘To our astonishment, they had managed to retrieve my brother’s Brit Award and presented it to us as a touching gesture’, Paul’s brother wrote
‘To our astonishment, they had managed to retrieve my brother’s Brit Award and presented it to us as a touching gesture.
‘Holding the award is a profound honour, symbolizing my brother’s exceptional work ethic and dedication to his craft.
‘These moments underscore the enduring impact of music and art in paying tribute to the memory of our loved ones and celebrating their legacy. Peace and love.’
Lead singer Jo O’Meara liked Colin’s post and commented with a love heart.
Before his tragic death, Paul spoke about the reason why he decided to sell the accolade.
He told NME a bad injury during his stint The Rocky Horror Picture Show left him out of work.
Paul said: ‘There an un-choreographed bit of dancing and someone fell on me. I was out of the show for about two months. My back has gone – it hasn’t been right since.’
‘Things just haven’t gone well (in terms of finding work) with that injury. Four days from it going up, it hadn’t really moved much from around £3,000. And then it went to £9,000. Within the space of an hour, it went up to £60,000.’
Touching: Lead singer Jo O’Meara liked Colin’s post and commented with a love heart
‘Very good condition’: Paul listed the gong on the auctioning site for £650 – and it sold for a lot more
Sorely missed: Last month, S Club admitted they still struggle to speak about their late bandmate Paul as they embarked on their 25th-anniversary tour (pictured in 1999)
Good Times tour: Paul’s brother went to watch S Club perform at The 02 in London last weekend (pictured)
Last month, S Club admitted they still struggle to speak about their late bandmate Paul as they embarked on their 25th-anniversary tour.
Paul died suddenly of natural causes on April 6 this year – just two months after he and the band announced they were due to go on the reunion tour.
Appearing on Lorraine pop stars Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara and Rachel Stevens, were joined backstage by Lucy Cave as they discussed which songs were their favourite to perform.
Jo said: ‘Reach is definitely the best song to perform and then of course, These Are The Days.’
The song, These Are The Days, is their first single in 20 years and pays tribute to their late bandmate Paul.
Jo continued: ‘Some days we can talk about Paul and we are laughing and joking and other days some one mentions him and we are just like “no no.”
Rachel added: ‘We appreciate each other more now.’