Sibling duo Same Difference had been set to give pop another shot with a comeback on The X Factor: All-Stars.
The series, which was set to air in 2019, was reported to feature “big names” from the talent show’s 15+ year history, with 2006 winner Leona Lewis and 2008 champ Alexandra Burke among those rumoured to appear.
Ultimately, the show was postponed and, while a reported 2020 series never materialised amid the pandemic, 2007 runners-up Same Difference tell Retro Pop they had signed up to compete on the show.
“Sarah and I got approached to do [The X Factor: All-Stars] and Sarah was very stressed about it at first,” explains singer Sean Smith.
After Same Difference called time on the group in 2014, Sean pushed forward with a solo career, while Sarah now runs her performing arts school, SD Studios, in Portsmouth.
“I was obviously like, ‘Please sis, come on! I really want to!’,” Sean says. “But for her, it’s not quite the same. There’s the children, worries about her business – if it doesn’t go so well, how will that affect it?
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“Because there were some big names being touted that we’d be up against as well. So it wouldn’t be easy to win!
“But then, I think we came to the conclusion that it was good for everybody,” he smiles, joking: “I mean, we didn’t win the first time, so what chance do we have the second?!”
Since appearing on series four of The X Factor, Same Difference have released two albums – Pop in 2008 and its 2011 follow-up, The Rest is History – along with their 2020 comeback track and Covid-19 relief fundraiser, One Life, One Love (feat. Students from SD Studios).
The single, which is available digitally, also received a limited CD single release, with the physical format selling out online within “seconds,” according to Sarah.
“We couldn’t have been more happy – it got received so well,” adds Sean. “The support it got; the likes of Radio 2 played it because they could see what we were trying to do.”
While there are no plans at present for Sarah and Sean to hit the studio to record new tracks, the success of comebacks from ’90s acts like Steps – 10+ years after their initial chart run – has given renewed hope for a future comeback.
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“We’ve got such good memories of it all. I think it’s about the timing,” admits Sean. “There will be some people who embrace it but, unless it’s as big as it was the first time around, it’s always going to be a sad end to something that was special at the time.
“But you never know, it might come back around,” he adds, hinting that, when the time comes for a Big Reunion-style show of acts from the ’00s, they’d consider taking part.
“If there’s a cooling period and people and then you get another chance to tour, then you’ve got something to actually ride on.
“I think we’d be stupid not to because it’d be amazing for Sarah’s business, and I’m always in this industry anyway,” he adds.
“I think we’ll still be the same old people, probably, because you are who you are. You can’t get away from that.”
