S Club star feared they'd end up a 'spinster' after substance issues and family loss

S Club star Jon Lee feared he'd 'end up as a spinster' after he endured numerous substance abuse issues and a tragic family loss. The pop singer, 43, found himself single for six years and in that time, he lost his father to MND, and left the UK to deal with the personal struggles that had resulted in addiction.

Now, Jon, who found fame as part of the Reach hitmakers in the late 1990s alongside Hannah Spearritt, Rachel Stevens, Tina Barrett, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O'Meara and the late Paul Cattermole, has admitted that he signed up for E4's Celebs Go Dating out of fear for where he may end up had he been left to sort out his romantic life himself.

During an appearance on the Bank Holiday edition of Lorraine, he told stand-in host Ranvir Singh: "I think the last 10 years I've been through massive personal challenges, and that's why I've been single for so long.

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"I had some issues with substance abuse and also I lost my dad, which knocked me for six. I left the country and got myself back together and came back stronger."

"Coming through what I've been through I came out feeling a lot stronger, the most confident I've been in my life. And I live in Cornwall now so for me to meet someone it's difficult, it was a case of ending up an old spinster just rattling round or absolve myself of all responsibility [by going on Celebs Go Dating]."

Fans of the show recently watched Jon open up to agents in Ibiza, and the star opened up about how his dad had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease at the same time he found out his boyfriend had been unfaithful the entire time they were together.

"I had an emotional slap from this relationship, and then that happened. And I hadn't quite recovered myself from that, and then that happened as well and everything fell apart."

Opening up further, Jon expressed how close he was to his father, as he was seen tearing up in front of the agents. "Within the first year, he'd completely lost the ability to move, he couldn't speak, he had to be fed through a tube in his stomach. He couldn't talk to me. To go out like that, I literally lost the plot. I thought, 'What the f**k is the point?' It broke my heart.

Explaining on how he dealt with the pain, Jon continued: "I went out, I was taking loads of drugs. I went completely off the rails. That got to a point where I had to make a decision. I had to sort myself out or it wasn't going to end well."

Jon then recalled packing a bag, and never going back to his home. "I wrote to my mum, I sent her my front door key. I wrote her a note saying I don't know where I'm going, I don't know what I'm doing, but I need to sort myself out."

The former popstar then left the country for four years, telling the agents how he didn't even speak to his mum for two of them. "She didn't know where I was. She said every time the phone rang she thought it was going to be the police saying, 'We found Jon and he's dead.' That's my biggest regret, that I caused her." he said as he broke down in tears.

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