STRICTLY star Faye Tozer has waltzed into this weekend’s final but behind the sequins and the smiles she hides memories of some dark times in her personal life.
The Steps singer has bravely overcome her struggle with out-of-control boozing and depression when the band split up and she thought her showbiz life was over.
Close friends feared for the singer – whose nickname is “Smiler” – when things got so difficult for her personally that she couldn’t face a day without a drink.
When Steps split acrimoniously in 2001 and band mates Ian ‘H’ Watkins and Claire Richards formed a duo, Faye struggled with the prospect of the fame she had dreamed of since being young, slipping away.
Opening up about the difficult time, she said: “I got really depressed, drank too much and went into my shell.”
Faye was the ‘girl next door’ in Steps, often overshadowed by the pushier Claire and Lisa Scott-Lee who made up the band with ‘H’ and Lee Latchford-Evans.
A source close to Faye tells Sun Online: “Claire and Lisa had always dominated interviews and Faye was the one who everyone liked but felt more in the shadow.
“She was worried that the end of the band meant it was all over for her. She took it really badly worrying what to do next. She thought the dream was over.”
Faye became depressed and started boozing to get over the band break-up and it eventually led to the end of her first marriage.
The source added: “Her friends were frantic with worry. She wouldn’t leave the house and drinking was the only thing that got her through the day.
“She’d worked so hard to make it and she worried it was all over.”
Partying at 12 with older boys
Born in Northampton in 1975, she grew up close to Mum, Dorothy, Dad, Angus and older sister Clare.
While Clare was the more academic of the sisters, Faye was the opposite and the two once came to fisticuffs.
Faye said: “When I was 15, we actually had a physical fight. I punched her in the mouth and she went mad.
“We are complete opposites and she thought I was a show off and an attention seeker, while I thought she was a boring swot!”
Faye started partying early at 12 after getting in with a mature crowd. She liked dressing up and looked older than she was.
Another source said: “Faye got a taste for drinking when she started going to clubs and raves. She loved to dress up and hang out with older boys and acted older than she was.
“Then later when she moved to London to follow her dream of being famous, drinking helped with her confidence and it became normal and part of her social life.”
Close to her family, as a teenager she found leaving home to move to the capital a tough decision to make but knew she had to.
Happy 
Golden 
50 years and still going strong! You are an inspiration and we love you so much!She said: “I didn’t want to move to London and leave my family, I found it an enormous wrench leaving home, I spent days crying as I thought about whether I should leave or not.
“In the end I decided I wouldn’t get what I wanted by working in a cafe, I needed to follow my dreams and I did, but it was a terrible decision to make.”
Driven from a young age, Faye had first tried to make it big in music as a member of covers trio Déjà vu after she attended Anne Gale School of Dance in Luton, where she achieved advanced qualifications in several styles, including ballet, tap and modern.
She then performed with a dance troupe and worked as a professional singer at the Hilton Hotel Park Lane in London until she got her big break.
More recently, Faye has taken up pole dancing, showing snaps of her bruises and impressive poses to her 130,000 Instagram followers.
Jealousy and power battles
Faye shot to fame in 1997 as part of Steps with line dancing hit 5,6,7,8 but the five split up in 2001, when Faye was 25.
There had been lots of infighting between the five and what had started out as fun had stopped being that way.
Jealousy and power battles had developed in the Steps camp when the groups discovered H had been having an unknown relationship with manager Tim Byrne for two years – with Claire in on the secret.
On the Sky documentary Steps Reunion in 2011, Claire claims that her relationship with her female bandmates broke down when she overheard complaining about her role as “lead” singer.
“From that moment it was not good,” she says.
They scored two No1 singles, three chart-topping albums and sold more than 20million records worldwide.
But at the height of their fame, success had created a divide between the friends.
When they were asked to support Britney Spears on her North America tour, the band – except for H – travelled by tour bus as he flew on Britney’s private jet.
H told The Guardian: “No one wants to sleep on a bus and I do suffer with insomnia. And Britney was so knackered she’d just sleep a lot. I was mainly chatting with her mum.”
Turning ‘cold and distant’ to the husband she met at 20
Faye had been a relationship with Danish Jaspar Irn, ten years her senior, when she hit the big time. She’d met the long-haired drummer in 1995 through friends when she was just 20 and proposed to him by writing ‘Will you marry me?’ in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.”
The couple married in 2002 at Hertfordshire’s Brocket Hall split five years later.
Jasper told The Sun on Sunday: “She became cold and distant to me and suddenly, after almost 10 wonderful years together, everything started falling apart.
“One day she told me, ‘I’ve had enough. I don’t want to see you any more’. I was shocked. I haven’t spoken to her since.”
Jasper compared Faye to Madonna because of her single-minded ambition and desire for fame.
An old friend of Faye’s said: “They were both at different stages in their lives. Jasper was older and had seen his music career come to an end when his deal with Island Records was terminated.
“He’d spent time refurbishing their mock Tudor house in Pinner [North West London] but she wasn’t ready to give it all up and started staying with friends.”
There was another change too. He said: “Faye became grumpy all the time. The end of the band left such a void in her life.
“I didn’t think Faye had a problem with alcohol because she was always a happy drunk. But she was traumatised. She was constantly down.”
A source said: “she wanted to be back at the top of her game. She’d got over her difficult times and her drinking and her focus was just on her career.”
New career and a new man
It was when Faye began to forge a new career in musical theatre that she got a taste for success again.
She made her debut in 2004 in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tell Me On A Sunday, going on to star in shows such as Love Shack alongside former S Club 7 star Jon Lee and former Hear’Say star Noel Sullivan.
She also appeared to rave reviews in Me and My Girl opposite one-time Dr Who actor Sylvester McCoy.
please!!! XxSoon, new man IT specialist Michael Smith was on the scene and in 2009 they married at Beamish Hall, County Durham and had their son, Benjamin Barrington Tozer-Smith, now nine.
Since then with her home life settled, she is back in the spotlight and enjoying every minute.
Steps reformed in 2017, releasing the album Tears on the Dancefloor which charted at number two.
They also went on massive a tour of UK stadiums and festivals this summer.
On Strictly she has shone with partner Giovanni Pernice and Faye has wowed judges with her professionalism and technical expertise.
Her Charleston, inspired by The Sound Of Music during musicals week, received a perfect score with every judge awarding her a ten.
When she leapt from the judge’s desk into Giovanni’s arms during a theatre and jazz routine to Fever by Peggy Lee, it was one of the season’s most memorable moments with Darcey Bussell saying “So much I loved about it.”
And while she’s avoided any dance-offs, like fellow contestant Ashley Roberts, her professional dance experience has meant some viewers think she hasn’t quite captured the public’s affections as much as dance newcomers like Stacey Dooley.
According to the bookmakers she’s third favourite to win at 9/1 after favourites Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton and Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell.
Harbouring dreams of stardom as a comic actress
But even if she doesn’t win – she hopes her experience on Strictly may lead to other opportunities and one of her biggest ambitions is to make people laugh.
A natural with her easy charm and comic timing – she is keen to be taken seriously as a comedy actress. She is a huge fan of actresses like Lisa Kudrow of Phoebe from Friends fame or Kristen Wiig from Bridesmaids.
A source close to the Faye says: “Faye has always harboured dreams of making it in comedy. She’s a great actress and craves having the chance to make it big on the screen.
“She’d had huge success with Steps but she’s the first to say they it was about having fun.”
It was starring in a nationwide production of Singin’ in the Rain in 2014 alongside former Dynasty star Maxwell Caulfield that really saw her talent for laughs shine.
Most read in Showbiz
Strictly may turn out to only be a stepping stone for the Steps star.
Whether or not her quick feet and winning smile leads to success at the weekend – there’s much more to come on and off the dancefloor.
Linkhttps://textbacklinkexchanges.com/how-strictlys-faye-tozer-overcame-dark-past-of-out-of-control-boozing-and-depression-following-steps-split-to-earn-smiler-reputation/
News Pictures How Strictly’s Faye Tozer overcame dark past of out-of-control boozing and depression following Steps split to earn ‘Smiler’ reputation
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