The pop band, who have reunited after their bitter split 10 years ago, have all agreed that they want to carry on.

They think the best way forward following their recent comeback UK tour is to make an album of festive-themed favourites.

Claire Richards, 34, revealed: “We’ve talked about this and to bridge the gap and keep things ticking over, a Christmas album?

“You know, pop Christmas songs, like Mariah Carey. Also songs that were big at Christmas, like Stay Another Day by East 17.”

Faye Tozer, 36, added: “We know that we do want to go forward.

“We need to find the right team and make the record.”

Fighting back tears, Ian told The People how he and partner Craig Ryder’s joy was shattered in an instant.

H and his partner Craig

Grieving Ian described the news that their baby’s heart had stopped beating as “the worst moment of my life”.

He said: “One week we were showing off our new nappy bags, the next week it was over. I can still remember listening to the baby’s heartbeat in a recording from the 12-week scan and thinking ‘that’s our little one’.

“We had a due date – October 8 – and Craig had bought some Babygros. We had decided which room would be the nursery.

“We were thinking of names, and we even planned our first Christmas as a family. We were both ready to be dads.”

But a month later a second scan revealed their baby had died in the womb.

Helpless

He said: “Finding out our surrogate had miscarried was like being hit in the face. It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me.

“I just feel really empty and helpless. Right now, nobody can do anything for us. The only person who can help me is Craig.”

Ian, 36, one-fifth of 90s band Steps back together after a 10-year break, and actor Craig, 35, have been partners for five years and decided in 2008 to adopt a child.

Speaking from their home in North Wales, Ian said: “We discussed children early in our relationship and it was something we both ­really wanted. I’ve always felt that longing, that need. We thought surrogacy wasn’t ­possible at first, so we began the adoption process but it wasn’t right for us.”

Craig added: “The amount of time we put into the process was massive, and we still didn’t feel we were any closer to having a child. It was like hitting a brick wall. After 18 months we decided enough was enough and started looking at other options.”

In January last year they started to look into surrogacy and eventually found an experienced American woman who had already carried two other children for couples.

But the process was far from easy. Ian ­remembered: “We were delighted that we could use surrogacy but it is a minefield.

“You have to have all the pieces in the jigsaw – medical tests, finding an egg donor and a surrogate – before you can have a baby.

“We didn’t realise how complicated it would be. But we were prepared to do almost anything to have the family we wanted.

“Our surrogate, who will now always be part of our family, was the second we had lined up and we were on our third egg donor. So when we found out she was pregnant, we were elated. I took the call and I ran upstairs to find Craig, shouting: ‘She’s pregnant, she’s pregnant!’

Smiling, Craig said: “We were walking on air for the next few days. You can’t explain that feeling. It was real excitement.

“We didn’t tell many people at first. But after the three-month scan we thought we could relax a little bit more and enjoy this.”

Ian was rehearsing with Lisa Scott-Lee, 36, Claire Richards, 34, Faye Tozer, 36, and Lee Latchford-Evans, 37, for Steps’ comeback tour when he showed them scan pictures.

He said: “They were delighted for us. We also told a few close friends, and my mum, Gaynor, who can’t wait to be a grandma. This would have been her first grandchild.

“I came off stage one night, and had an urgent message from America.

“I rang back and was told that our baby’s heart had stopped beating. I felt utter ­disbelief. I was away from home in Birmingham, in my tour bubble.

“Craig offered to drive over but I told him not to.

“I couldn’t really speak to anyone about it. I ­texted the rest of Steps, and they came and gave me hugs. But it was ­really hard.

“The next day I had breakfast with Faye’s ­little boy and he said ‘I love you uncle H’ – and I started crying into my eggs benedict.

“A few hours later I had to go on the stage and be full of the joys, entertaining people who had paid to see us. I just went on autopilot. The worst moment was having to sing a song called When I Said Goodbye. The happy songs are hard enough to sing.

“But singing that was horrendous. The girls were holding my hands all the way through and I was fighting back tears.

Nursery

“It was awful. The girls said they didn’t know how I did it. But it never occurred to me not to sing…”

As he tailed off, Craig added: “I think you went on autopilot until the end of the tour really, and it’s only now that you’re home that it’s properly hit you.”

Quietly, Ian agreed: “It’s when you’re walking around, looking at the nursery and all the presents. It hurts then. I have cried a lot.”

Craig patted Ian’s knee and he smiled back weakly before adding: “It’s so hard to tell people, ‘This isn’t happening any more.’”

Ian said: “It seems like everyone we know is either pregnant or trying for a baby.

“But I’m so glad we didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl.

“We have suffered so much pain because we knew we were expecting, we saw images.

“But not knowing the baby’s sex made it that bit easier.

“The way I try to look at it now is that there’s another little star in the sky. It just wasn’t meant to be for us this time.”

Craig said: “At the moment, there are times in every day where it hits you – a crushing feeling of heaviness. But a lot of our friends have told us that the same thing has happened to them and now they have four children. We’ll have a family one day.

“I know it will happen for us at some point, but it’s just so sad it can’t be now.”

The pair revealed they are ­planning to use a surrogate to conceive a second time. Ian – who is appearing in Sky Living series Steps: On The Road Again, said: “We have found an amazing lady with an agency in the US who will be working with us.”

Craig said: “Everything is ready, and we will go over to the States again. For now, we just need to take in what’s happened and deal with it.

“But we will go through the process again when we’re ready.

“I know H will be a brilliant dad and I can’t wait to have children with him.

“When you see him with a child, he’s just so good with them. Within a minute he’s crawling around the room and galloping on their hobby horse.”

Laughing Ian said: “I think I’ll be the bad cop though, and you’ll be the good cop. But we will find a happy medium.

“We’re both very positive people, and we believe that one day we will have a family. But this time we will go into the process with open eyes.

“I appreciate a lot more what we have together, and what having this child means.

“When we do finally get there we’ll know how lucky we are.”

On May 7th 1997 the 2nd and final lineup for a brand new boot-scootin’ pop group was created. They would go on to become one of the most successful UK pop acts of all time!

Everyone at Ultimate Steps, wishes Claire, Faye, Lee, Lisa & H a happy anniversary!

To celebrate we have launched our brand new timeline – check it out now

Jessica Druett, 25, York

Last year sprang few greater musical surprises than Steps’ comeback: just when the group seemed destined to be a garishly coloured footnote in 1990s pop-culture history, the newly reformed band stormed back into the limelight with a reality TV show and a greatest-hits album that got to number one. But perhaps it’s always been easy to underestimate these avowedly uncool popsters, whose passionate fanbase includes restaurant duty manager Jessica Druett. Druett got into the band in 1998 when given their debut album for Christmas. Soon enough, singles and DVDs were collected, dance routines were learnt, and posters were plastered across bedroom walls. When the group split in 2002, she says, “It felt like part of my childhood had gone.”

The one thing Druett didn’t get to do first time around was see them live; now, though, she’s determinedly making up for lost time by going to six dates on their new tour. When we speak, she is working hard on a scrapbook to present to them at the Manchester concert, comprised of photos and thank-you messages from members of the Ultimate Steps fan website. These fans have become just as important to Druett as the band themselves; over the past decade, she has developed online and offline friendships with fellow devotees from Birmingham to Scotland. Not that the world of Steps fandom is wholly sweetness and light, with debates kicking off on subjects such as the sound quality of the band’s new live CDs. “But when we were teenagers, we definitely used to argue a lot more,” she says. “I think all of us have grown up.”

As Druett sees it, the band’s continuing appeal lies in their “nostalgic, old-school vibe” and an unabashed sense of fun. Then, of course, there’s the dancing. “In Newcastle, I turned around [to the audience] and got a great photo of everyone doing [the routine] for ‘One for Sorrow’. There’s something really cool about seeing all these people doing the same moves.” As for her favourite member, she says it’s Claire [far right in the picture], without a doubt. “A lot of the messages in the fanbook are for her, and I think that’s because she’s such an amazing role model. She’s been up and down with everything, and has such an amazing voice. She [shows] you don’t have to be skinny to do what you want in life.”

Steps headline Hit Factory Live in Hyde Park on 11 July

”

There are some things we just couldn’t do without.

And in the world of Steps: On The Road Again there are a few websites and bloggers that we just had to give a special mention to – well, they love Steps nearly as much as us.

Here are our faves…

Official Steps - Check out the band’s website at www.stepsofficial.co.uk and follow them on Twitter at @Official_Steps.

Ultimate Steps - Visit their website at www.Ultimate-Steps.com and follow them on Twitter at@Ultimate_Steps.

Steps Army - Follow them on Twitter at @StepsArmy.

And of course, you can follow us @SkyLivingOnline for all the news on Steps: On The Road Again.

So get following now for all the Steps gossip.”

The 2 disc edition contains all the band’s hits as well as a complete disc of karaoke versions of the songs.

You can purchase the album at all major retailers or online

Enjoy

Simply head over to the Sky website and get a sky go monthly pass for £15, this will give you access to Sky Living!