Frankie Bridge

Early life

Bridge was born in Upminster, Essex, to Kevin and Viv Sandford, and has an older sister, Victoria. After school hours, she attended a private dance school. After leaving school, Bridge went to a stage school in Romford and studied musical arts. She also expressed an interest in going to the BRIT School.

Bridge also previously worked in a bar in her local town during the week and had a Saturday job as a sales assistant at an AllSaints concession in House of Fraser, Lakeside Shopping Centre, Essex.

2001–05: S Club 8

S Club Juniors were formed in 2001 through a reality television show, known as S Club Search. The auditions aired on CBBC. S Club Juniors' appearances were considered a success and consequently 19 Entertainment, the management company that had created S Club 7 and auditioned S Club Juniors, decided they should perform as a support act at all of the venues on the tour.

The band released their first single "One Step Closer" where it charted at number two in the UK, selling roughly 52,000 copies in its first week. "Automatic High" was released as the second single from the band's first studio album, and also debuted at number two. Bridge was the only member of the band to get a solo in every chorus of the song. A third single was released from the album, "New Direction" and again charted at number two in the UK. The Juniors released their debut album Together on 21 October; it reached number five in its first week of sale and sold 40,000 copies. A fourth single, "Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride", was released on 9 December 2002.

In early 2003, the Juniors began working on their second studio album, Sundown. Following a name change to S Club 8, the first single released, "Fool No More", charted at number 4 in the UK. The second single released, the album title track, also reached number 4. A third and final single was released, "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry", which charted at number 11.

The group went on to I Dream for 19 Entertainment. Unlike the S Club 7 shows which focused upon the band's fictional exploits, I Dream saw S Club 8 as members of a larger ensemble cast. I Dream revolved around the summer school Avalon Heights, run by Professor Toone (played by Christopher Lloyd), where the characters tried to improve on their talents in the performing arts. The show prominently featured songs and dances, with normally two songs per episode. S Club 8 split up in early 2005.

2007–14: The Saturdays

Since 2007, Bridge has been a member of girl group The Saturdays. The group has achieved thirteen Top 10 hits, and four Top 10 albums. The girl group released their debut single "If This Is Love" in July 2008, and it peaked at number eight in the UK. The group released a second single "Up" which charted at number five in the UK and later the song was given a Silver Disc in the United Kingdom. In late October 2008, the group released their first studio album Chasing Lights. It charted at number nine in the UK, and went platinum according to the BPI. The band released a third single from the album, "Issues", which also went silver. The Saturdays released a cover of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode. The song debuted at number two in the UK, behind Flo Rida's "Right Round". The fifth and final single from the album was "Work", which was the first single by the group to fail to reach the top 20. The group later went on a tour titled The Work Tour.

In October 2009, the group released a second studio album, Wordshaker, which charted at number nine and was given a silver certification by the BPI. The first single, "Forever Is Over", charted at number two in the UK. The Saturdays appeared in advertisements for several products including a brand of deodorant, tampons, mobile phones, an operating system, and hair removal products. But in early 2010, the girls released a second and final single from their second album, "Ego", which charted at number nine. Although the song became the second lowest single to chart by the group, it became one of their highest selling singles, after getting a certification of silver by the BPI.

In summer 2010, the Saturdays released their first mini album (their third album overall) Headlines!, which charted at number 3 in the UK and number 10 in Ireland. The band released their eighth single, "Missing You", which charted at number three in the UK and number six in Ireland. Rochelle Wiseman confirmed that the second single from the album would be "Higher" It was later confirmed, by the band's official website that Flo Rida had recorded vocals for "Higher". On Your Radar was the girls' third studio album, reaching a disappointing number 23 in the UK and spending only three weeks in the UK Top 75, but featured the top-ten hits, "All Fired Up" and "Notorious" as well as single, "My Heart Takes Over". In December 2011, the group went on their first headlining arena tour, All Fired Up Tour!.

The band released their first single taken from their fourth studio album "30 Days" in May 2012, which peaked at number seven. Later in the year, they temporarily moved from London to Los Angeles in hope to break America. Helping increase their single sales in America, E! Network broadcast Chasing The Saturdays, a reality TV show following the girls during their three-month stay in America. The show premiered in January 2013, and was cancelled after one series. The band released "What About Us" (featuring rapper Sean Paul) in March 2013, which became their first number one single and was the biggest selling single of the year (at that point). Later on in the year, "Gentleman" and "Disco Love" were released; with both of them charting in the top 15. Their album Living for the Weekend became the band's fourth top ten album. The final single taken from the album was a fan favourite. The radio mix of "Not Giving Up" was released in April 2014 and was their seventeenth top 40 single.

The band went on hiatus in 2014, and released a greatest hits album Finest Selection: The Greatest Hits the same year. The only single released from the album, "What Are You Waiting For?" charted at number thirty-seven, making it their lowest-charting single to date.

Solo career

Bridge is a guest vocalist on Kids in Glass Houses' second album Dirt, appearing on the track "Undercover Lover".

Television appearances

In November 2008, along with The Saturdays, Bridge appeared in the Channel 4 Hollyoaks spin-off Hollyoaks Later. They performed the song "Issues" in the 10-minute BBC drama Myths in January 2009, in the episode 'A Syren's Call'.

On 22 September 2004, I Dream, a children's musical television comedy programme aimed at and about teenagers, was broadcast. Set at a performing arts college near Barcelona, Spain, the programme focused on thirteen teens, including Bridge, invited to enroll at Avalon Heightsover the summer. Christopher Lloyd also starred in the show. The programme was created by Simon Fuller who is responsible for the Idol series. In late 2008, Bridge appeared in late-night teen soap Hollyoaks Later, where she was credited as herself. The Saturdays were given their own reality TV series The Saturdays: 24/7, which followed the band during their day-to-day life promoting their new album [at the time] Headlines!. The programme was sponsored by watchmakers Sekonda. The programme also featured exclusive performances by Bridge and her bandmates.

Commenting on rumours about tension in The Saturdays, Bridge said, "You always see in the papers, that me and girls are always arguing, we really don't and there is no bitching at all." In the first episode of The Saturdays: 24/7 the band were shown gigging around the UK, without King, after she was taken ill after being bitten by a horse-fly and Bridge had to learn new lines of their song "If This Is Love" after she stated she didn't know all the song's lines.

On 8 November 2010, Bridge took part in the paranormal television programme Ghosthunting with..., where she appeared with her bandmates. On the programme, the band investigated purported paranormal activity accompanied by host Yvette Fielding, who took them to visit three locations within the Welsh mountains: the clock tower, the manor and the kitchen block. In each of these areas, there have been countless reports of strange phenomena including the sounds of chatter coming from empty rooms, cooking smells coming from an empty kitchen, and reported ghostly sightings. During the time in the first location, Bridge said that she could smell someone cooking, although no one was in the kitchen. She also experienced a ghost throwing marbles at her, when there was no one there. When she was about to leave the haunted location the spirit of the little girl apparently threw marbles at them.

In 2010, Bridge appeared in ITV reality series The Door where she had to pass through a series of doors and take on a number of tough challenges. The last star standing claims a cash prize for their chosen charity. Bridge was the first celebrity to be eliminated from the show after she could not put her hand in a bowl of spiders to get the key to the door to pass through to the next level. Bridge commented, "It's funny because I know when I watch it that I'll look like I hate every second of it but I absolutely loved it. I wanted it to keep going."

Bridge was in talks to become a judge on The X Factor after Cheryl Cole left the panel following the 2011 series. She was later judged not to have a "high enough profile". Bridge also declined to appear on rival BBC talent show The Voice UK due to her "busy schedule".

On 13 August 2014, Bridge announced on BBC Breakfast that she would be competing in the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing that will began in September 2014. Her dance partner was Kevin Clifton. Bridge and Clifton placed runner-up in the final, alongside Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff.

Merchandise and sponsorship deals

Bridge contributed to the book The Saturdays: Our Story, an autobiography of The Saturdays that was released on 25 October 2010. The book was written by a ghostwriter and published by the Transworld imprint Bantam Press. Bridge and her band also began a book signing on at WHSmith in Bluewater. The book gives an insight into Bridge's life, where she explains her success with The Saturdays as well as her ex-band S Club 8. She talks about her love life, her friendships within the band and personal insight into her life before finding fame. Bridge also gives fashion and beauty tips throughout the book and gossip accompanied by photos from her own collection.

As a member of The Saturdays, Bridge became the new face of hair removal product, Veet. In the photoshoot to promote Veet's new collection, the band models a range of micro mini-skirts and body con dresses to show off their hair-free legs. They also later became the new faces of Impulse women's deodorant. The band recorded a television ad dubbed The Impulse Diaries. The TV content, which involves a sponsorship package on Channel 4, will show the girls in various settings including a hotel room, a tour bus and backstage before a gig. This first aired on 23 October. The Saturdays also became the face of Nintendo 3DS game, Nintendogs + Cats, for which the band recorded a number of TV adverts to promote.

Musical style

Bridge gained a record deal in 2002 with S Club Juniors and the band released their debut single, "One Step Closer", in which she sings the solo parts in every chorus and backing vocals in the end of the song. All of the band's songs were pop-based music. After the band split up, she remained signed to Polydor Records and uploaded a R&B song titled "Bored" onto MySpace. She later uploaded another track titled "Swallow" which was a pop rock song. She later became a member of The Saturdays and recorded a song titled "If This Is Love," featuring elements of synthpop and new wave. Bridge's style has also been described by music critics as "obligatory fluffy summery pop," "pure uplifting pop," "an 80's throwback" and "an electro-soul number." In 2010, she went on to release another solo song with Kids in Glass Houses called "Undercover Love", which was released from their 2010 album Dirt.

The Sun reported that Bridge "flirts her way through the song" with her vocals. She later released a new song with The Saturdays, "Missing You" and then "Higher" where the band have made use of auto-tuning on their vocals. The production of "Higher" was described as "hectic" "yet very catchy." Bridge was criticised by press after the release of "Missing You" after she used Auto-Tune on some of her vocals. Many artists have expressed views in collaborating with Bridge including Bruno Mars and Flo Rida, who stated that he would like to work with her as a solo act.

Personal life

In FHM's 100 Sexiest Women poll, Bridge was ranked 17 in 2009, fourth in 2010 and dropped to 22 in 2011. Zoo's readers declared her to have the "best bum".

Bridge has a tattoo of a star on her wrist and another on her back under her neck which says "Sunshine 'n' Showers", inspired by her grandmother, who used to call her "Sunshine and showers". She also has a dove on her ankle, the same as her older sister Victoria, which they got to honour each other.

Bridge reportedly dated band mate Calvin Goldspink during her time in S Club 8, though neither denied nor confirmed it at the time.

Sandford started dating footballer Wayne Bridge several months later and the pair got married in July 2014. They have two sons together, Parker (born 18 October 2013) and Carter (born 15 August 2015).

With The Saturdays

1. The Work Tour (2009)
2. The Headlines Tour (2011)
3. All Fired Up! Tour (2011)
4. Greatest Hits Live! (or "Finest Selection Tour") (2014)

As solo supporting act

1. The Dirt Tour (with Kids in Glass Houses; selected dates in 2010)
2. Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour 2016