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By Kathryn Knight

Last updated at 2:16 AM on 9th July 2011

Last year Claire Richards had what she calls 'a bit of a wobble'. Singing along to a DVD of some of the tunes she recorded while a member of Steps, the cheesy five-piece outfit whose guilty-pleasure pop dominated radio play for much of the late 90s, she found she couldn't hit the high notes any more. 'I thought my voice had gone, that I couldn't sing any more.

'It used to be so effortless, and then suddenly I couldn't do it. I saw a specialist who did a load of tests, including sticking a camera up my nose, and he said there was nothing wrong. Now I think it was psychological, a lack of confidence.'

That must be the case, because in the last few weeks the 33-year-old has been hitting higher notes than ever in Popstar To Operastar, competing with the likes of former Bucks Fizzer Cheryl Baker, X Factor winner Joe McElderry and Midge Ure to turn their voices into operatic warbles

Comfortable: Claire feels she is now the 'right size'

It seems a bit of a leap for her, coming from a band known more for its line dancing than its libretto, but Claire says the real terror lies in performing at all, given she's barely held a microphone in the past ten years.

'Getting back on stage and getting my confidence back has been lovely. The first week I was sick with nerves but the sense of relief after I'd performed was wonderful. It's given me a sense of purpose. In the past I had self-doubt, but recently I've felt I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing. Of course, I've just been pretending to be an opera singer, but now I actually feel more comfortable singing this way than pop.'

After the break-up of Steps on Boxing Day 2001, and a brief attempt at a duo with fellow band member Ian 'H' Watkins, Claire disappeared from public view – until a series of eye-popping pictures were published three years ago. To put it bluntly, she'd ballooned in weight. At her heaviest she was more than 16 stone, a reaction, she says, to having her weight controlled while in Steps.

Contrast: A much larger Claire in 2007

'It was my way of rebelling against being told I was fat. I realise now, of course, that I wasn't at all. I was ten stone on the day of my audition, but the record company thought I was too big. I was asked to lose weight, and I became obsessed with it. I went down to eight stone and lived on one meal a day.'

It didn't help that she felt like 'the fat one' beside Lisa Scott-Lee and Faye Tozer, the two girls who, with H and Lee Latchford-Evans, made up the rest of Steps. 'The other girls were different shapes and there was no way I'd ever look like them, but I didn't get it. It's the same in every band with more than one girl. It's competitive and messes you up.'

Claire's reaction once she left was to 'just let go'. As her 20s rolled on, she piled on the pounds until she was a size 20. Motivated by getting engaged to husband Reece Hill – and no doubt by the unflattering photographs – Claire lost weight and released a DVD in late 2008 detailing how she did it.

'I know some people thought I put on the weight on purpose to get myself in the news, but it was such hard work to get it off that no one would go through that deliberately,' she says. 'I hope I never have to do it again – although I think there is always going to be a fat girl fighting to get out of me.'

A few weeks ago Claire decided to strip for a nude magazine photoshoot. It was a pre-emptive strike against what she felt was inevitable criticism of her weight, which had crept up again in recent months.

'I wanted to get in there first and say, "OK, here I am." And I don't think I'm fat. I'm bigger, I'm a size 14-16, but I feel I'm settling into my right size. Part of doing the shoot was to say, "I'm happy with myself."'

The photos went global, and she appeared on Entertainment Tonight in the US. 'It shows how obsessed we are with image. When you're in the public eye the focus is on how you look. But when you've had kids, your priorities change. It's not as important to me any more.'

Her marriage and the birth of her children – four-year-old Charlie and Daisy, 18 months – have brought her contentment. Reece is her second husband: Claire was married to dancer Mark Webb for 18 months nine years ago, an attempt to create some normality for herself after the 'weird, unreal bubble' of being in a charttopping band.

All smiles: Claire (centre) in Steps in 2000

Claire was 19 when Steps was formed in 1997, 23 when she and H left, and it was a quick slide from there into anonymity. It was hard to adjust, she says. 'Every day from the moment Steps was formed until the day we finished was mapped out for us. And when it stopped I didn't know what to do with myself. I sat on the sofa thinking, "I've got nothing to do today." At first it's great, then it's really not.'

Not that she always enjoyed herself in Steps. 'Of course there were some great moments. I just wish I'd made more of it, but because I was quite young I was homesick all the time, so I didn't go out and embrace things. On trips around the world I just stayed in hotel rooms and read books. I remember going to America for three months to tour with Britney Spears and being miserable for most of it. All I could think about was going home. We were offstage by 8pm every night, then we'd get into our tour bus while Britney would come off stage and be transported by private jet. We didn't spend that much time with her. She was only 17 and seemed like a sweet girl, then.

Moving forward: Looking trim in her fitness DVD in late 2008

'I can certainly count on the fingers of one hand the people I'm still in touch with from my Steps days, who are real true friends I will have forever.' Do they include her bandmates? 'We are in touch now, although we weren't for a while,' Claire admits.

'At the end of the day H and I left, so the other three weren't particularly happy about it. But all I could think was that I was unhappy and wanted to leave. I wouldn't say we've 100 per cent cleared up our issues but all three of us girls have got kids and everyone is in a settled relationship. So we email and text and talk on Skype too.'

The million dollar question is whether Steps will ever reunite. 'Everyone asks that,' Claire says. 'We do get offers all the time, which we consider, although up until now it's never really been right for everybody. Maybe it's just my age, but I can't really see myself up on stage in one of those bright costumes doing what we did. But never say never.

'To be honest, though, it's taken me this long to get to a place where I'm happy with what I'm doing and trying to build a career of my own. To drop all that to go back seems a bit silly.' And she doesn't need the money, she says. 'When you've got to split things five ways you never make a fortune but I'm comfortable.'

For now, her focus is on what happens after Popstar To Operastar. She has received some rave reviews. 'For me it's a bit of a personal challenge. I don't want to say it's been healing doing the show, as that sounds corny, but every one's been very positive and helpful and it makes a nice change after the backstabbing pop world.' Although, since her rivals have all been pop stars, she probably shouldn't count her chickens on that front yet.

Popstar To Operastar, ITV1, tomorrow, 8pm.