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Blazin' Squad: Where Are They Now? 'Love Island', Grammy Nominations And More

Who's been nominated for a Grammy? Who toured the whole UK? Who's fitting windows?
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Entertainment Editor

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Jon Furniss via Getty Images

Among the new contestant headed to ‘Love Island’ is one potential lothario who might look familiar to anyone who was following the charts back in the early 2000s.

Yes, Marcel Somerville is looking for love, and while he’s introduced himself as a 31-year-old “music professional”, you’ll probably remember him best as one-tenth of the part-pop group part-rap collective, Blazin’ Squad.

Although they’re oft-overlooked when reflecting on noughties chart music now, Blazin’ Squad had plenty of success during their heyday, reaching the UK top 10 on an impressive seven occasions during a relatively short period.

They burst onto the scene with ‘Crossroads’ in 2002, with hits like ‘We Just Be Dreamin’, ‘Love On The Line’ and ‘Flip Reverse’ (the latter of which is definitely worth a spin a decade on, even if the lyrics are fairly questionable).

This Blazin’ Squad reminder, courtesy of ‘Love Island’, has led us to ponder what the rest of the nine members of the group are up to in 2017, and it’s not unfair to say that there have been varying levels of success in recent years for the rest of the boys.

Among the 10 former Squad members’ careers since their heyday are Grammy nominations, arena tours, reality TV appearances and a few total job u-turns to slightly less glamorous professions than they were previously used to.

Here’s what each of them have been up to since they went their separate ways...

Blazin Squad: Where Are They Now?
James "Kenzie" MacKenzie(01 of20)
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(credit:Jo Hale via Getty Images)
(02 of20)
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Probably the former Blazin' Squad star with the largest profile, Kenzie stepped into the spotlight when he appeared in 'Celebrity Big Brother' back in 2005.

Since then, he's racked up a number of other reality TV appearances, most notably in 2014, when he joined supergroup 5th Story in the second series of 'The Big Reunion'.

And yes, he's now totally hench. (credit:ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)
Ollie 'Freek' Georgiou(03 of20)
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(credit:Peter Still via Getty Images)
(04 of20)
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Ollie now works in music management, mostly with singer/songwriter Miller Blue, though he does make occasional appearances as a member of Blazin' Squad. (credit:Twitter/olliegeorgiou)
Lee "Krazy" Bailey(05 of20)
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(credit:Huw John/REX/Shutterstock)
(06 of20)
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After his solo project (the imaginatively titled Lee Bailey Project) didn't manage to quite live up to the success of Blazin' Squad back in the day, he still regularly appears with a handful of his former bandmates at group appearances. (credit:Twitter/BlazinSquad)
Marcel "Plat'num" Sommerville(07 of20)
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(credit:Jo Hale via Getty Images)
(08 of20)
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Like Kenzie, Marcel made a string of media appearances post-Blazin' Squad, including 'The Games' and 'The Weakest Link', and he's about to win himself a legion of new fans on 'Love Island'.

Prior to joining the show, he said: "Girls love me... I’ve always got girls around me. I’ve always got a girl on the scene. I’m not a player but I do like to be single.

“I stay single because I don’t want to break hearts but I do end up breaking them by mistake sometimes. It’s quite hard.” (credit:ITV)
Chris "Melo-D" McKeckney(09 of20)
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(credit:Jo Hale via Getty Images)
(10 of20)
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Chris is one of the few Blazin' Squad members to have stuck with the group through its various incarnations, and as you can see from this photo, he looks to be enjoying himself.

He also earns money as a window fitter. (credit:Twitter/Meloteamgt)
Stuart "Reepa" Baker(11 of20)
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(credit:Tom O'Donnell via Getty Images)
(12 of20)
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Stuart now works as a media manager at the BBC, and as you can see, he has a professional new look to go with his career change. (credit:Twitter/Stubaker1)
James "Flava" Murray(13 of20)
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(credit:ANDREW MCCAFFERTY/REX/Shutterstock)
(14 of20)
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Undeniably one of the group's most successful members, he and Strider went on to form the songwriting and production duo Mojam, who signed with Naughty Boy's Sony offshoot in 2014. (credit:Twitter/MojamMusic)
Sam "Spike-E" Foulkes(15 of20)
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(credit:ANDREW MCCAFFERTY/REX/Shutterstock)
(16 of20)
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Spike-E now works in the import/export industry, as well as his occasional appearances with the rest of the current Blazin' Squad line-up. (credit:Twitter/BlazinSquad)
Tom "Tommy B" Beasley(17 of20)
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(credit:Rowen Lawrence via Getty Images)
(18 of20)
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According to his Twitter profile, Tommy is still making money as a DJ, but he's also a keen cyclist.

As you can see, he also enjoys the occasional ice cream. (credit:Twitter/Thomas Beasley)
Mus "Strider" Omer(19 of20)
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(credit:C Brandon via Getty Images)
(20 of20)
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Along with Flava, he's produced music for huge names including Emeli Sandé, Leona Lewis, Tinie Tempah, Professor Green and Sam Smith.

Here the duo are at the Grammys, after Sam's 'In The Lonely Hour' was nominated for Album Of The Year. (credit:Twitter/MojamMusic)

Catch Marcel and his fellow ‘Love Island’ stars in action when the new series kicks off on Monday 5 June at 9pm on ITV2.

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