'We lost at Eurovision but won at romance'

Two members of Scooch - the UK's super-camp Eurovision entry in 2007 - have the contest to thank for their relationship

- LESLEY JONES, JOSIE COPSON

Scooch bandmates Russ Spencer and Caroline Barnes represented the UK with their camp cabin crew anthem Flying The Flag (For You) in 2007. Now, they tell new how they found romance as well as fame after their Eurovision performance in Helsinki.

Chatting about their lasting love, Caroline says, “We both had other partners during Eurovision, but I think we eventually just came to the realisation we were in love with each other. A year later we were a couple.”

“We’d had other boyfriends and girlfriends and probably got a lot of stuff out of our systems. I went through this ridiculous thing of planning to go away with a boyfriend and then we’d split up, so I’d call Russ and go, ‘Do you fancy coming on a holiday with me?’ So we started off as really good friends and it blossomed from there.”

Caroline and Russ, both 44 and now living together in Bournemouth, admit that teaming up in life as well as on stage was a risky decision.

“Initially, our Scooch bandmates David [Ducasse] and Natalie [Powers] were like, ‘Oh, my God. Wow, are you sure?’” recalls Russ. “It was a big deal because it was only a year or so after Eurovision and we were still a band and doing lots.”

“There’s always a concern that you don’t want it to be awkward,” Caroline agrees. “We didn’t want to mess it all up and make it horrendous, so we really talked about it first.”