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Like the Spice Girls before them, REAformed are taking Girl Power to the next level and have their own army of fans called REAformers
ITV / PA
Hopeful contestants on ITV's Britain's Got Talent
Girl group REAformed sailed into the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent thanks to one push of Alesha Dixon’s Golden Buzzer. And as the three musical dynamos burst into the room for an interview before their live show tonight, it’s easy to see why the buzz about them is growing.
Renetta Eagle, 19, Ebony Cantwell, 16, and Alexis Economou, 21, know people will try to compare them to every other girl band from Miss-Teeq and Destiny’s Child to All Saints, Sugababes, Girls Aloud and Little Mix.
And, after chatting to three sassy, savvy and focused young women, I can’t help thinking of the biggest of them all. The Spice Girls. This new trio are taking Girl Power to a new level and it’s already winning them an army of fans (REAformers) who could help them win the BGT crown.
Renetta says: “One of our main ambitions is to be positive role models. To inspire other young women out there who may be going through tough times and wondering what the future holds.
“We’ve all had our struggles growing up and yet we’re living our dreams.”
Renetta and Ebony come from Oxfordshire and Alexis from Pimlico, South London. All three have been competing in talent contests since they were kids, and they met through Alexis’ cousin.
Remarkably they had been together as a group for only three months and had performed on stage together just once before they wowed the BGT judges with their version of Kiki Dee’s I’ve Got the Music In Me . Now their audition clip has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube and social network support is growing by the day.
But their lives have not always been easy and Alexis has had more than her share of woes. She has revealed how she was bullied at school, beaten up by one violent drug-addict boyfriend and was arrested herself for smuggling cannabis to another while he was in jail.
Alexis, who lives with her mum Soulla and sister Katrina, 18, says: “Like many girls out there. I was bullied, and I was also in a violent relationship. I was 16. He was about three years older but he had a drug problem – not that it’s an excuse.
“He only did it once because I wasn’t going to stay around. I’ve learned that in violent relationships men try and make you think it’s your fault and it’s not. So I’d say to anyone that it happens to, just get out straight away.”
Earlier this month Alexis told how she was caught smuggling drugs into prison in 2012 for her then boyfriend Kayode Oshin. As a smitten teenager she foolishly agreed to sneak him some cannabis –hidden in her bra.
But she was caught handing it over and got a three-and-a-half month suspended sentence of her own along with 150 hours of community service.
She dumped Oshin straight away and turned her life around. She later found out he had been found guilty of attempted murder and jailed for 22 years.
Alexis says: “I was in a really bad place at the time and I wasn’t being myself. What I did was a really, really stupid thing, but I learned from the experience.
“No matter what you go through in life or how down you feel at the time you can get to the place you want to be. You can keep climbing the ladder.
“Being strong gets you places. Use your experiences to move on. If you heal, you don’t hate. That’s what I’ve learned.”
The girls might have a combined age of just 56, but their common sense could prove the secret of enduring success. Well, along with their other secret weapon – their “Mummagers”.
They say their mothers, who act as unofficial managers, are their greatest supporters.
Renetta, from Headington, Oxford, said: “I’m an only child and live with my mum and my great-aunt. We’re all from single-parent families and that has definitely been a bonding thing for us, and for our mums too. We are three girls with three incredibly strong mums. They are inspirational women.”
Ebony, who lives at home in Grove, Oxon, with mum Kerry and brother Duquane, 14, says: “I’ve got a really tight, close-knit family. My grandparents live 10 seconds across the road and my aunt is 20 seconds down the road.
“I’m still young and compared to a lot of people I’ve been really lucky. But not having a dad around has obviously had an effect.
“When I was 10 I thought ‘I really don’t want you around any more, or to be involved with you. He was quite a lying person, telling me he’d come and see me then he’d never call. It was sad.
“But it’s all learning. It teaches you to be stronger and more independent.”
Since auditioning for BGT in February the girls have had to fit rehearsals around their school and working lives. Judge Simon Cowell told them their vocals needed a lot of work and they have taken his words to heart and been “working our butts off”.
Ebony, who is studying for 13 GCSEs says: “It’s quite stressful as I’m in the middle of my exams at the moment. I’ve got 22 papers to take -and I’m trying to fit in rehearsals too.
“It’s hectic but I’m pushing hard because I want both things – I want to get my exams and win BGT!”
The girls are all single but they joke of a romance on the horizon for one member of the group. Alexis confides: “We’re trying to fix Ebony up with Charlie from Bars and Melody – she’s got a crush on him.”
“Nooooooo!!! Don’t say that,” screeches Ebony, blushing and looking flustered (but secretly a bit pleased).
So could there be a future for her and Charlie, a fellow BGT contestant who is even younger than her at 15?
“He’s too young anyway. I’m 16 now,” she adds, laughing and looking across at her mum. “Yes,” says Kerry, “and your mum says you’re not allowed a boyfriend yet!”
While Ebony juggles her studies, Renetta, who left school last year, now works part-time in a clothes shop in Oxford.
“It’s not the greatest fun to be honest,” she says, “but you need money to follow your dream – you have to work.”
Alexis, who is now singing full-time, says they have met many young wannabes who don’t share their work ethic. She tells me: “A lot of people are drawn to ‘fame’ because they want the lifestyle they see. But that’s an illusion. It’s overrated.
“We are in this because we want to sing and perform and we’re passion- ate about that. If fame comes as a result, that’s great. But it’s not a given. You have to work.”
Renetta adds: “After Simon said our vocals needed a lot of work we’ve been rehearsing every second we can get.
“We can’t give anything away about what we’re singing tonight, but it’s a current song by an amazing artist... and be prepared to dance!”
The girls also give me a sneak preview of their new improved harmonies, singing an a cappella version of the old Creedence Clearwater Revival and Tina Turner hit Proud Mary.
Alexis’ mum, Soulla, listens to the girls, and is clearly bursting with pride. She later tells me: “They didn’t show this bit but Simon told them he really liked them. He said, ‘I think there’s a market out there for you, there’s no one like you at the moment –you’re not the typical girl pop group’. He’s given them great feedback.”
So what makes REAformed different from all those other girl groups?
Ebony says: “It’s hard to explain. We look different to other girl groups and we have a different sound. We want to be more urban and soulful and very harmony based.”
Alexis adds: “Our age range means we will appeal to young fans plus teenagers and adults too.”
But what if their journey ends in disappointment tonight?
Alexis says with a smile: “We will still be REAformed – just us three – but it will give us the drive to get out there and keep gigging. You have to keep climbing that ladder.”
Britain’s Got Talent is on ITV Wednesday at 7.30pm
