- Five have reunited for the first time since 2001, despite past mental health struggles.
- Ritchie Neville and Sean Conlon described the group’s initial fame as ‘traumatising’ and challenging.
- The band will tour in autumn, with Abz Love expressing pride in their comeback.
Five were left “traumatised” by pop stardom. The 1990s group – which consists of Abz Love, Jason “J” Brown, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson and Sean Conlon – have got back together as a quintet for the first time since their split in 2001, but have admitted the first time around, being in the group took a mental toll on all of them.
Ritchie told the Independent: “We should have had six months off. It’s taken us 25 years – I’m not even joking – literally 25 years to be able to even get my head around it.”
Sean added: “It’s almost like we’ve been traumatised.” Ritchie insisted: “No, we are traumatised!”
But Ritchie admitted once it was all over, he felt “completely lost” and turned to alcohol in a bid to cope. “Jesus, straight after the band, for three years I was sat in a living room, frozen, drinking too much, completely lost.