‘As of today I am once again a member of @itsfiveofficial. Thank you to all the fans who support us, I love you all.’
As tweets go, that one from Abz Love – a cheeky nod to one he posted in 2014 announcing his decision to leave ‘90s boyband 5ive – was iconic. After 24 years and well documented turbulent times – including a fallout in 2013 when Sean Conlon, Scott Robinson and Ritchie Neville accused Jason ‘J’ Brown of being a bully – all five members are getting down, baby, and reuniting for a 21-date tour, and fans are in a tailspin.
Sitting down with Abz, 45, Sean, 43, Ritchie, 45, Scott 45, and J, 48, a few things are immediately clear. Firstly, they have all grown a lot and done a lot of work on themselves, some as a result of parenthood (Ritchie has a daughter with ex-partner Natasha Hamilton and Scott has two sons and two daughters with wife Kerry Oaker) or, in J’s case, getting into Eastern philosophies and meditation.
But, most apparent of all is they’re in a really good place with each other, enjoying each other’s company and reflecting on the past with a fresh perspective and greater appreciation.
In short, there’s no beef, just love, and an overriding sense of excitement about a tour they plan to make one to remember – which is good because their memories can be a little fuzzy…
How did it feel to be back at the BRITs, 25 years after winning Best Pop Act?
Scott: It felt amazing, because when we were there the first time, we were working really hard, and you can't take it in. This time we got to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy it.
Ritchie: I found it quite heartwarming that it had been 25 years and we got mad respect from current artists and journalists.
Have you been overwhelmed by the response to your reunion?
Abz: Yeah, it’s been beautiful. I keep saying it, you don't really realise how asleep you were back then, whereas now to turn up, rock out with these guys, get that love, the response was incredible.
What was the drive to get back together?
R: Just to be friends again and reconnect. It was mad, I’d be like, ‘How come we had this crazy experience and did so much together, and then sort of dispersed?’ That doesn't mean we never spoke, but the five of us had never been in the same room since we broke up, which is insane.
J: Well, since Scott’s wedding, which was the day after we split.
Scott: It was a lot of emotion, because we’d broken up quite suddenly. It’s easy for the media to say, ‘They all hated each other’, but the boys were at my wedding the next day, and then we went our separate ways.
Sean: We're still very confused.
R: I tell you what was really at your wedding, Sean. Abz’ moustache!
Scott: Oh, mate! Let’s just say it now, I love you…
But…
Scott: But you ruined all my wedding pictures!
[They all laugh.]
A: In defence of my moustache…
Scott: You can’t defend that!
A: I do apologise, I know I ruined your wedding pictures…
J: He turned up looking like a gang banger from LA.
A: [Smiles] I looked like a proper muchacho, man.
Scott: Mate, you can rock anything, I’ve always said that, but you cannot rock that moustache.
A: Some girl I was seeing was like, ‘It looks really good on you’. I was like, ‘Does it?’
So, meeting up was purely about friendship, not a reunion?
Sean: Yeah. It was unresolved. For me, personally, not speaking to J, not speaking to Abz, it was in my chest. I was like, ‘Where are they?’ I was worried about them, but you don't know how to reconnect, and you don't know if they even want to.
Who made the first move?
Scott: So, J and Sean had been separately emailing…
J: Myself and Abz had been in contact a lot, anyway.
Sean: We had individual relationships, but not a collective.
No group chat?
R: No, but there is now.
Scott: I hadn’t spoken to Abz for 10 years, and that's silly because he was my brother, and I wanted to. I kept on hovering over his name on my phone, the same with J.
R: I’ve done that as well.
Scott: It made me sad, so then one day, I just went, ‘F**k it!’ And he answered almost immediately and was like, ‘It's so nice to hear your voice, man.’
Full credit to you, Scott…
A: I said to him, ‘That’s brave.’ I wouldn’t have done it.
It takes a lot to be vulnerable like that…
A: Absolutely.
S: But I needed it – I wanted him in my life. And then I was like, ‘No, enough's enough.’ So, I booked an Airbnb, and I just sent a message out and said, ‘Let's meet in a room, no pressure, let's just do this as friends.’
R: We’re not even discussing a tour, we’re just meeting up.
S: We turn up that day, which is a year and a half ago by the way, and me, Sean and Ritchie are already in the house, and we've been there about 10 minutes, and J and Abz turn up, and it was honestly a magical, magical moment that I’ll hold dear forever. We just hugged, we spoke, we had a few drinks, we spoke about some things. We got things off our chest, in a non-confrontational way.
R: Very mature.
Being older and wiser, can you see things differently now?
R: Absolutely.
J: All of it. This is what all of our discussions are about.
R: I look at these four and I know I have myself, we've massively grown as people. You can accept your personal failings, you can also accept the failings of others and mistakes of others.
Sean: We forgive ourselves and each other. We've all made mistakes.
So, what can we expect from the tour?
R: Everything will be big and exactly what you'd expect. We're holding nothing back…
J: It’s definitely not going to be pedestrian in any shape or form.
What did fans’ banners say back then and what do you hope for now?
A: I remember back then my name was Breen, and it was, ‘Abz Breen sex machine.’ So I’m hoping for a few more of them!
Scott: What rhymes with Love?
A: Higher above… Like a dove. Listen, I’m not expecting that, but I’m sure there will be a few signs and posters. I feel sorry for J – I feel like he’s going to get the full [puts on voice], ‘Where have you been I’ve been waiting to show you this!’ Regardless, I'm sure it will only be nice things.
OK, fan service: who’s single and who’s taken?
Scott: We can go around the table. I’m married.
A: I’m single.
J: I’m very, very single.
Sean: It was J who said VERY single. I’m ‘just single’.
J: I’ve been very single for three and a half years now and when I say single, I mean single. So, I’m back in the room.
Scott and Sean in unison: Single and ready to mingle!
J: I am.
R: I’m not married, but I’m in a relationship.
Nineties boybands have been in the spotlight thanks to the Boyzone documentary. Do you think it’s important pop stars are talking about their experiences?
Sean: I think it's good for some of the current artists, because in our day we had nobody to learn from because no pop stars had really spoken about the things they went through, or shown their vulnerabilities – we were growing up in quite a macho, laddy time. So, you felt inner conflict, because you felt guilty for maybe not appreciating what you've got.
J: Absolutely.
Scott: You'd have your mate going, ‘What can you be upset about? I have to get up at 5am every morning and work on a building site.’
Sean: It's not like the music industry was full of evil people trying to destroy us. This ‘90s era was a new phenomenon, and a lot of people in record labels and managers were young. So, they were figuring it out as they went along. And, unfortunately, we did go through hard times, and we were overworked, but we did get a lot of success, because of that. So, they just had to pull it back a bit, and the industry's been evolving.
Scott: These documentaries, like the Boyzone one, which I watched, we lived very similar lives to what they went through. But them being brave enough to talk about it only helps the industry grow and grow and grow.
What’s your favourite memory from back in the day?
A: We did this festival years ago called Rock In Rio, which was massive.
R: Over 200,000 people.
Sean: It’s the biggest gig we’ve ever played.
A: It was a massive performance, and we got helicoptered in – we felt like the boys.
J: Oh yeah, we did. Amazing.
R: My favourite memory was rehearsing at [Queen drummer] Roger Taylor's house. I sang the opening line to Hey Joe, Brian [May, Queen guitarist] started playing and Roger picked up his sticks, and we just jammed.
Scott: What an amazing moment.
J: I remember the first time I walked into a proper studio and knowing we were in there with really good producers. That was amazing.
Sean: Just doing the music, that was my favourite memory at the time.
Scott: For me it'd be Party In The Park, in London. I remember standing with Brian May and we sung Tie Your Mama Down with him.
Sean: What?
J: I don’t remember that.
A: I don’t either.
Scott: Ritch, back me up.
R: No, we definitely did.
Sean: I don’t even know the song! [Rich and Scott start singing it.]
J: I have never sung that song in my life.
Scott: We were lead vocals and you were singing the chorus.
We need video evidence…
Sean: I need to eat more oily fish.
J: Alright, mate, let’s move on and talk about some stuff that did happen!
Scott: I remember thinking I’d had an out-of-body experience. Not only are we collaborating with them for We Will Rock You but we’ve just sung Tie Your Mama Down with Brian May.
In your head?
[They all erupt laughing and Scott playfully pushes our dictaphone away.]
J: We’ve got an honorary member.
Sean: You can stay.
Scott: I was there and I sung it! I’m going to find that video.