Five member Scott Robinson has likened being in the boyband at the height of their 90s and 00s fame to “being kidnapped”.
The group - which comprised of Robinson, 45, Jason “J” Brown, 48, Abz Love, 45, Ritchie Neville, 45, and Sean Conlon, 43 - first formed in 1998 and went on to become one of the UK’s biggest boybands selling more than 20 million records before calling it a day in 2001.
Although they have reunited in various forms over the years, they delighted fans last week when they announced that they were reuniting with their full line-up for the first time in 25 years for a new tour.
Just teenagers at the time, they have opened up in the past including in the recent BBC 2 Louis Theroux docuseries Boybands Forever, about the immense toll that fame coupled with a punishing work schedule took on their physical, mental and emotional health.
“Being in the band back in the day was quite literally like being kidnapped,” Robinson told The Standard bluntly. “Putting a bag over your head, chucked in the back of a van. You don’t know where you’re going and then, you got let out and it’s taken you 20 years to find your home again and we’re here.”
Neville agreed: “We’ve had 20 years to try and process it all. We’re older, we’re wiser, it’s not our first rodeo. Also, like at the peak part of it you know, I can only speak for myself but I know it’s the same for a lot of the other guys, if not more, we’ve been scratching our heads going ‘what was that?’ It’s like you just went all mad for five years and I ran away, I didn’t want to be Ritchie from 5ive anymore but I couldn’t escape it. So this is about making it a really positive experience and making it a beautiful shining memory.”
The 12-date Keep On Movin’ 2025 Tour will kick off in Brighton on Halloween, before taking in dates in Bournemouth, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Aberdeen and Glasgow, as well as London’s The O2 Arena on November 11.
They are particularly excited about playing the iconic venue in the captial, with Neville explaining: “We never played the O2 as a band before because it didn’t exist, so that will be a special moment because the O2 is a mega venue.”
While they insist that their signature backflips are unlikely to feature, Robinson jokes he may bust out a cartwheel on stage, much to the obvious horror of their manager.
“I reckon your cartwheel would be rubbish,” laughed Neville.
Although new music is not on the agenda right now, they say fans can expect their live shows to be packed full of “energy” along with their impressive back catalogue of hits.
Brown explained: “I have seen people in the past do that when they’ve been away for a while they’ve introduced some new stuff and at first that’s not what your fans want, they want to hear the hits that they know and love.”
They then made a cheeky dig at band Oasis who are also reuniting this year, and sparked outrage when member Liam Gallagher claimed they intended to only play for “59 minutes 59 secs” despite eye-watering ticket prices.
“Our shows will definitely be over an hour. All Oasis fans, give your tickets away because it will be better value,” quipped Love.
Tickets for Five’s Keep On Movin’ 2025 tour go on sale Friday March 7 with fans able to sign up for special access to presale tickets on Wednesday via their website itsfiveofficial.com
