Claire Richards fancied Ronan Keating and Kevin Richardson during early pop days

Claire Richards fancied boy band stars Ronan Keating and Kevin Richardson when she first emerged on the pop scene.

Before finding fame with Steps, Claire was in a short-lived pop trio called TSD in the mid-90s, and the group went on tour with the likes of Boyzone, Ant & Dec and the Backstreet Boys.

Claire revealed on the Table Manners podcast that she "really fancied" Kevin from the Backstreet Boys and Boyzone star Ronan during those touring days.

"I fancied Ronan but he was going out with Vernie (Bennett) from (R&B group) Eternal at the time," she noted.

When asked by hosts Jessie and Lennie Ware if anything romantic ever happened, the 46-year-old replied, "Nothing, 'cause I was so rubbish. I had never even had a boyfriend up until that point. I was such a loser."

While she had crushes on Kevin and Ronan, the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant was "in love" with Mysterious Girl singer Peter Andre, who she would see backstage during magazine tours.

"My biggest crush back then, I was in love with Peter Andre. I used to hang around corridors just hoping he'd notice me and he never did," she shared. "He used to do press-ups everywhere, bare-chested... Before he went on stage, he'd do press-ups in the corridor."

When asked if Peter knew about her crush, Claire replied, "I've never actually had a face-to-face conversation with him but I have mentioned it many times. I don't know why 'cause it makes me look a bit sad."