From Worldpop:

Steps fans are still reeling from the announcement that the band have split up. Worldpop’s message boards have been besieged by inconsolable fans who feel the band didn’t announce the split in the right way and should have copied Five’s lead by announcing the split live on TV.

One fan wrote: “I just cannot believe this is happening. I knew this day would come but not like this not without being prepared for it. They were my life and now I don’t have a life any more!”

Another fan wrote: “I think Steps should have gone on a programme and told their fans because they are just being cowards doing it this way and not telling the fans properly who have supported them through the years. They have just taken our money and run really.”

Another fan wrote: “I couldn’t believe it. It was the worst time for Steps to tell the nation about it. I mean I only went to see them on the 21 December and five days later they split up!”

A report in today’s Sun newspaper suggests that the band split because they were sick of detractors who refused to take them seriously. A friend of the band told the paper. “They were sick of being seen as naff.”

The Worldpop vote on the Steps split is closer than you’d think. So far 56% of Worldpop users think the band chose the wrong time to split but 44% say the band have split at the right time.