Retracing their Steps
New album... as they chase £70,000 tour debt
STEPS have announced a major comeback after being left nearly £70,000 out of pocket.
Lee Latchford-Evans, Ian “H” Watkins, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee and Faye Tozer announced a series of money- spinning gigs yesterday, as well as a new album.
It comes as the band are owed £66,000 by Live in the UK Limited, which went into voluntary liquidation in August. The five members of
Steps are listed as being among its creditors.
Live in the UK Limited’s director is former TV presenter Liz Doogan Hobbs, who also runs Liz Hobbs Group, which is based in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Other creditors include Durham County Cricket Club and HMRC.
The owed money is thought to relate to a series of dates in 2018 called Summer of Steps.
Sources confirmed Live in the UK promoted a handful of the 15 shows.
The firm still works with stars including Tom Jones and Westlife.
The five bandmates yesterday released a joint statement, saying: “We will never forget the past with Steps, it’s what made us, but we’ve got to look to the future too. We were so thrilled that the last album was a success… it gave us a new lease of life.”
They added: “Performing live has always been our favourite part of being in Steps – we had the most fun of our career on the last tour and we’re already planning for the next one to be our biggest spectacle yet.”
Steps’ sixth album, What The Future Holds, is due out in November and their planned arena tour is due to kick off in Sheffield next year.
Steps launched in 1997 with their line-dancing classic 5,6,7,8.
They had 14 UK top-10 singles including Tragedy, Last Thing on My Mind and Better Best Forgotten, and three multi-platinum albums all within a three-year period.
Steps’ publicist declined to comment and Liz Doogan Hobbs did not respond to our request.