Three youngsters are the envy of their school friends after being chosen to interview pop group Steps.

They were given a day off lessons at Bewbush Community Middle School, Crawley, to interview the group for Radio 4 children's programme Go For It.

The programme's producer invited the school to pick three pupils to take part in the programme.

All their names went into a hat and the lucky winners were Theo Black, Chelsie Dearlove and Leonie Thomas.

The three spent Friday at BBC Broadcasting House, London, where they gave the group a 90-minute grilling.

Afterwards the band said they had never been asked some of the questions before and it had been a tough interview.

Leonie, ten, said: "I wanted to know if they ever got any hate mail, which they didn't seem to like being asked. They said they probably did but they weren't told about it."

The children told Steps one of their teachers knew all their dance moves and asked if she could change places for a day with one of the group who could come and teach at Bewbush. The offer was not accepted.

Theo, 11, asked if they ever had any problems doing quick changes between songs. He was told Fay had once split her trousers.

Theo said: "I don't think Steps' music is that good but they are really nice people."

Chelsie, ten, asked what type of music Steps preferred and was told R'n'B. She also asked if H had been hyperactive at school and was told he was.

Chelsie said: "I asked them if a person wanted to be a pop star should they stay on at school and they told me yes, they had all been to college. It was great having the chance to see them and all my friends are jealous."

As they left, the girls got a peck on the cheek from H.

Head teacher Richard Winn said: "It was a fabulous experience for the children and good for the school.

"The three were not at all overawed by the group. They were sparky in terms of the questions they asked and handled the interview sensibly and with maturity."

The interview can be heard on Sunday at 7.15pm.