- 5 weeks ago
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00:00With the world at their feet, six of Pop's hugest names suddenly vanished from the charts.
00:06As of today, five are no more.
00:09Some imploded in a haze of excess.
00:12Just up all night with women and drink.
00:14We would have ended up killing each other if we had stayed in their bed.
00:18And some were shown the door by their record labels.
00:21We're dropped.
00:22We were people to these people.
00:24We were a product.
00:25Now, after a decade away, for one night only, they're back.
00:30And so are the dance routines.
00:32We win.
00:339-1-1.
00:34The honey.
00:35Atomic kitten.
00:36Five.
00:37Liberty X.
00:39Three, nine, one.
00:42This is the story of unfinished business.
00:45One last shot at fame and an epic concert they'll never forget.
00:49This is the big reunion.
01:00you needè.
01:01You need big readers.
01:08We light the fire...
01:24Back when Justin Bieber was still in nappies, pop reigned the airwaves.
01:28Labour bigwigs threw millions at boy bands and girl bands
01:31and scored platinum hits from Derby to Doncaster.
01:35Now the big reunion is bringing back six of pop's biggest.
01:39The question is, can they still cut it?
01:45And on the bill, 9-1-1.
01:47This diminutive body-shaking boy trio scored an insane 10 million singles sales.
01:53We wanted to be on TV and be known. We got lucky, really.
01:57Ten top ten UK hits.
02:01And went stratospheric in Asia.
02:07Pure attitude, pure scouse, pure scally.
02:11And that was Atomic Kitten!
02:17Liverpudlian trio Atomic Kitten exploded onto the scene with a string of hits.
02:23Including Hole Again.
02:27Number one for an entire month in the UK, it went on to hit the top spot in 18 other countries.
02:35And the Kittens littered the charts, racking up two triple platinum albums,
02:39shifting 5.3 million records to a global fan base.
02:43The Honeys burst into lads' mags and onto bedroom walls.
02:57This sexy trio changed line-ups like they changed bikinis,
03:01but racked up five top ten hits and were nominated for several MOBO awards.
03:05Never let you down, never mess around.
03:09In 1999, FHM called them the sexiest band on earth.
03:13Never before have I felt so...
03:15Five almost-gonna-be's from reality TV show pop stars got together to form Liberty X.
03:25Eight top tens propelling them into the pop Premier League with the number one smash, Just A Little.
03:37Selling half a million copies around the globe, netting them a shiny Brit award.
03:41Liberty X, Just A Little.
03:46Hi, we're bewitched.
03:47Denim-clad, bewitched, burst out of Ireland and into the charts.
03:56Their breakthrough album went platinum on both sides of the Atlantic.
04:06And the Celt quartet outspiced the Spice Girls, debuting with four UK number ones.
04:17Five, what you waiting for, if you want a three, three, two, two, one, let's do it.
04:24Brainchild of Simon Cowell, five conquered the charts.
04:27You've got the feeling, let's start the dreaming, all going down to me.
04:32With their unique cocktail of hip-hop rock and bad boy pop.
04:35Five guys enjoying themselves, doing what they've always wanted to do.
04:40Get on up, when you're...
04:42In their phenomenal five years at Pops Peak, they achieved three number ones.
04:46Slam dunked their funk in arenas across the world.
04:54Oh my God!
04:56And sold a whopping 20 million records worldwide.
04:59Come on!
05:09Together, these six bands sold over 50 million records.
05:14And in a few weeks, they'll regroup.
05:17Hey, don't care, really!
05:20Rehearse.
05:22I actually feel a little bit stupid doing it at 33.
05:26It's so much shit!
05:28What do you know?
05:30To pull off the gig of their lives at London's legendary Hammersmith Apollo.
05:34I'm nervous because, for me, it's been 11 years since I've performed with the kittens.
05:42I wouldn't say I'm scared about that.
05:44I'd say I'm petrified about it.
05:45Even though we're, like, 40, we're going to all get in shape, get the flips back out, I'll be spinning on my head.
05:56I mean, I haven't sung for six years.
06:01The idea of doing it all again is terrifying to me.
06:04I just know what my band is and how good we are.
06:09That is a good fucking show.
06:14I know what I want.
06:16I know what I don't want.
06:17And, uh, certainly won't be bullied.
06:20My biggest anxiety about doing this, there's only one.
06:23And it's Sinead, I think.
06:25It's just how I'm going to feel about being in her person again.
06:28It's hard to hear that, like.
06:30It's hard to hear that.
06:30It's either going to go two ways.
06:35I'm either going to be able to handle it this time.
06:37Or probably go proper tits up and you won't see me for about four or five years.
06:45Coming up, Liberty X and Five reveal the dodgy underbelly of the all-singing, all-dancing, all-boozing pop star lifestyle.
06:52Boom!
06:53It was Beatles pandemonium.
06:55Secrets are exposed.
06:57I was just taking them because I was addicted to them.
06:59I didn't know how serious that was, no.
07:02And pop's bad boys are derailed by excess.
07:05Offstage, we were a train wreck.
07:08He hated me.
07:09I need a bit f***ing quiet to speak!
07:12We were delinquents.
07:13Ah!
07:17Six of the most iconic pop bands of a generation are reuniting to step back on stage for the first time in a decade.
07:27For Liberty X and Five, the early days were a dream come true.
07:34I want it now, baby!
07:35Back in 97, a high-trousered, up-and-coming record exec called Simon was on the lookout for the next Take That.
07:45Hopefuls were invited to audition for a new boy band with attitude, edge and a certain X factor.
07:5115-year-old Leeds lad Sean was one of the first to arrive.
07:55I was queuing up on the steps, and I saw Abs, he was sort of going in, and I thought it was Peter Andre.
08:03My instant reaction was I didn't like him, because he was very cocky, he was a Turkish kid speaking with his Jamaican accent, and I was a Yorkshire kid, and I'm thinking, I'm not having that.
08:13I was wearing some kind of shiny silver thing with orange stitching, and I think it was the reflection off of these silver things that I was wearing that actually got me in the band.
08:22I think the singing was crap, and everything else was rubbish.
08:26My first impression of Abs was, what is wrong with this guy in T-Total?
08:30Never touched a drink, a drug, a fag.
08:34That soon changed.
08:35Also vying for a place in the band was an immaculately quaffered 17-year-old brummie, Richie.
08:41Richie, he got on my nerves as well, you know, with his hairdo.
08:46I'm from Hackney, I'm a Hackney boy. I thought Richie was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
08:50And he was sort of all pretty, and, you know, I was like, I'm not doing with him.
08:54You know, that's how it goes.
08:57Scott was just loud, Essex boy, cheeky, like, geezer, geezer.
09:01I had cropped hair, cropped hair, gelled down.
09:04An all-in-one grey Capitrax suit, I looked like an absolute fucking idiot.
09:09And they picked me.
09:10I burnt the Capitrax suit, spiked the hair, a pop star was born.
09:16Simon needed five boys to make up his supergroup, and he was close to finding the winning combination.
09:22At the time, he wasn't famous, we didn't know who he was.
09:24We were like, he's this guy, you know, like, he seems important.
09:28And he kind of sectioned us off, and we kind of got together as a fave,
09:31and he kind of chose us, and we stood out, and then, bang, there's your deal.
09:34We're going to sign you to RCA Records, to a six-album deal.
09:37You guys are going to be the next big thing, and you're either in or you're out.
09:42What'll it be, boys?
09:44We were like, in.
09:46So what they had with me was the cheeky chappy, with Rich was the pretty boy,
09:50Jay was the hard man, and then Sean was the quiet one, and Abs was the wild guy.
09:56Simon Coward said, you know, we was going to be massive, and we were going to move into a house together,
09:59and it was all bigged up from word go.
10:03It was exciting times for our five wannabes.
10:06Installed by their label in a free lads pad, they went wild, and not on the dusting.
10:14We are all mentally unbalanced.
10:18But as some of the boys were bonding, tensions were brewing between the eldest band member, Jay,
10:22and the baby of the bunch, Sean.
10:25His words to me were that he hated me.
10:30From the very first moment, he heard me sing.
10:35That's where it began.
10:37It was like that, from the beginning.
10:3911 years after Five got down for the last time, and with the big reunion beckoning,
10:48at the 11th hour, fun-loving Jay drops a bombshell.
10:52He no longer wants to be part of Five.
10:54Jay was a really, really big part of the band.
10:56I feel sad that he's not there, and it's not, you know, the absolute original line-up.
11:02Maybe it will kind of be a little bit smoother.
11:06Now the challenge facing Five is to find a replacement,
11:10and avoid changing their name to Four.
11:20Back in 2001, ITV's Pop Stars was about to change the face of Pop,
11:25and Saturday Nights, forever.
11:2712 million viewers were transfixed as a new group was born before their very eyes.
11:31But for Five runners-up, Pop dreams were shattered.
11:37I'm afraid you haven't been chosen for the band.
11:42And I'm sorry.
11:44When it's shown on national TV that you don't get the job,
11:47and then everybody knows you didn't,
11:49it was very humiliating and gut-wrenching.
11:52Dust yourself off.
11:54Start all over again.
11:55I don't know why.
11:59I don't think I've got the energy to do it again.
12:02It is really disappointing, like, you put your heart and soul into a process,
12:06and it had gone on for months, you know,
12:08and you get further and further and further down.
12:10Can you face each other?
12:11Can you congratulate yourselves on being the final team?
12:14You get closer and closer to the prize,
12:16and then just at the very last bit,
12:19they say,
12:20we haven't chosen you.
12:22That is hard.
12:24I mean, all of us wanted to be picked,
12:26but I did think I had as good a chance as anybody.
12:29You haven't made the final five.
12:31Right.
12:32We're not going to ask you to be in the band.
12:35At the time, I was gutted.
12:41What do I do in my life?
12:42Crushed by public defeat,
12:46the now infamous five were reluctantly brought back together for press interviews.
12:52The programme makers asked us to come down to London.
12:56The five rejects to come down.
12:58I remember singing live on some Irish radio station,
13:02and after we came off air,
13:05we were like,
13:06God, we actually sound all right together.
13:08And I think something sparked in our heads,
13:10and we kind of looked around and thought,
13:12well, maybe we should be a group.
13:14Let's tell Lorraine, live on GMTV tomorrow,
13:16that we're going to be a band.
13:17That's what we did.
13:19Because we've taken a big, big knock,
13:21and we're going to bounce back from it.
13:22And last night we sang on radio,
13:24and we're going to continue to sing together,
13:25and if we get the chance to release a song,
13:27we're going to just enjoy it.
13:29We came off the set,
13:31and our phones just started ringing.
13:34Everything just went a bit mad from there, really.
13:36The all-new Liberty X soon signed to balloon-flying billionaire
13:44Sir Richard Branson's V2 label.
13:47He's one of the most famous people in the world,
13:50and he's put his faith in you,
13:52and he wants to sign you to his label,
13:54and, you know, it was amazing.
13:58But the tabloids were quick to trash the fledgling band.
14:01We were named the Flopstars.
14:04I, you know, I'd be lying if I said I felt anything other than miserable
14:08when, you know, you wake up and you see an article in a newspaper,
14:13and there's a photograph of you there with, you know,
14:15the caption, Flopstar, or reject.
14:18I guess we were almost sort of like a joke.
14:21You know, they didn't make it, but what are they doing?
14:24Losers, wankers, twats.
14:26Fuck off!
14:26Do you...
14:27It was an angry time.
14:37Five bad boys with the power to rock you
14:39Blowing your mind so you gotta get into
14:42Five!
14:43Simon Cowell's Spice Boys 5 soon became Pop's hottest property.
14:48I'm just sort of living a normal life,
14:50and then it was like, bang, famous.
14:52Do you want a record deal?
14:53Yes, please.
14:54Thanks very much.
14:57The success we had was so fast and so overnight.
15:03Amazing for a 17-year-old boy, which all I was.
15:06We were lapping it up, like, this is crazy.
15:08Look at these girls running alongside our tour button,
15:12banging on the windows, and it was like...
15:14It was Beatles pandemonium.
15:16It was like strapping yourself to a rocket,
15:18literally lighting the fuse,
15:20going, boom!
15:22Performing in front of hundreds of thousands
15:25and people singing that shit back to you,
15:27and it's a buzz.
15:28You can get high off that.
15:29That shit gets addicted.
15:31Do you want to get on, babe?
15:33Do you want to get down?
15:34On stage, we were the best out there.
15:38Ah!
15:39If you're getting down with us,
15:42I want to die with us,
15:44come and get it on with us.
15:46Off stage, we were a train wreck.
15:49With reports of sex, drugs and boozing,
15:52the Feisty Five Boys earned themselves a reputation
15:54as the bad boys of pop.
15:56I know there were times when one of them
15:58would be pissed off with another one
15:59and he'd kick him at rehearsals
16:02and there'd be fights going off.
16:04We were difficult.
16:06Like, we were just difficult.
16:08Bordering on being arseholes, actually.
16:11Shut up, then!
16:12I need a bit of f***ing quiet to speak!
16:14Why don't you shut your f***ing mouth?
16:16Shut up!
16:18Everyone was chill out.
16:20We were delinquents.
16:24Interviewers be like,
16:26I've got to interview five today
16:28and scared almost.
16:29Almost sounded scared,
16:30like they were worried what would happen.
16:32But, like Simon Cowell says,
16:34he wanted a band with edge.
16:37And that's what he got.
16:44And newspaper editors nationwide
16:46were rubbing their hands together with glee.
16:49They say there's no press like bad press.
16:51I mean, it didn't matter.
16:52Me and Ed's burnt a hotel room down in Ireland.
16:55It was only good.
16:57You know, it was bad at the time.
16:58You know, we had smoke and inhalation
16:59and I thought I might die at one point.
17:03But in the paper,
17:04it was a great story.
17:06Five burned down hotel in Dublin.
17:09Get in there.
17:10And on a return trip to Dublin,
17:12they hit the bars,
17:13hit the headlines,
17:14but for once, not each other.
17:16So I think we hit the pubs at like 10am
17:19and we caned it, quite honestly.
17:23And then this guy started saying,
17:25oh, you know, you English,
17:27coming in here thinking like
17:29you own the place sort of thing.
17:30Next thing I know,
17:31it's just kicked off
17:33in a major, major way.
17:35Richie and Jay spent a night in the cells
17:37for public disorder offences.
17:39And then the phone call,
17:41Simon Cowell wants to speak to you like,
17:44hello?
17:44And he's like,
17:46you can't buy publicity like this.
17:48You're on the front page of every newspaper.
17:51You're on the nine o'clock news.
17:53Like, this is worth millions of pounds.
17:55Well done.
17:56And we were like,
17:56oh, sweet.
17:57Five might have been a fiasco backstage,
18:07but the public didn't care.
18:09The boys had the girls,
18:10the money and a string of hit records.
18:13Then in 2000,
18:14one of the highest honours in music,
18:17opening the Brits.
18:19Welcome to the Brits 2000!
18:21Big Brits!
18:27Opening the Brits,
18:29my gosh,
18:31with Queen!
18:43What an honour,
18:44you know,
18:44taking We Will Rock You to number one
18:46when Queen took it to number two.
18:48I know there was a lot of Queen fans
18:49that didn't like it
18:51because we'd done something
18:52that was sacred,
18:53but you know what,
18:55at the end of the day,
18:55we rock and roll that, man,
18:57and that was a number one for us.
19:02That one was more pumping,
19:04and Queen fans won't agree.
19:06But number one and number two,
19:08you do the math.
19:22With a year under their belts,
19:24Liberty X was still waiting for a number one,
19:26Thinking It Over was top five,
19:28but their second single,
19:29Doing It,
19:30didn't do it very well at all,
19:32limping into the top 20.
19:33There was a chance
19:34we could have been dropped after that
19:36because the number 14
19:37isn't considered a hit at all.
19:41It was at that point
19:42that we found just a little.
19:44The producers played me this track,
19:46and I was like,
19:47and I was like,
19:47oh my God,
19:50give me it now.
19:51The first word is sexy.
19:52I mean,
19:52any song with the first word sexy,
19:54you've just got to have.
19:58And the song just blew up.
20:03It was like the song of that summer.
20:05Gables are our first number one.
20:07From then on,
20:08we were just riding the crest of a wave, really.
20:11The video was based on the movie Entrapment.
20:15We were diamond thieves in a vault
20:17in catsuits that happened to be made of rubber.
20:23It feels really weird.
20:26It doesn't,
20:26I don't feel hot or anything like that,
20:28but it just feels like a second skin.
20:31We asked for something quite sexy and different
20:34and a bit more costumey,
20:35and I'm definitely paying the price now
20:37because I can't breathe.
20:39If you can't wear a rubber catsuit
20:41and prance around with a crystal cane
20:42when you're in a pop band,
20:44when can you do it?
20:47With canes and catsuits a go-go,
20:50they scooped up a Brit for best single.
20:52I do remember just jumping out of my seat.
20:56You know,
20:56I should have maybe tried to play it a bit cooler.
21:02We'd worked so hard to get to that point
21:04and come from losing the Pop Stars programme
21:07and being called Flop Stars and Rejects.
21:10And when we finally won that Brit,
21:11we really felt like we'd arrived
21:13and we deserved to be there.
21:15Finally,
21:16they had the vindication they craved.
21:21But behind the scenes,
21:22Michelle was battling issues.
21:25It's a very sad time
21:27when I look at me in the video
21:29because I was ever so large,
21:31two and a half stone more than I was
21:33when I started in the band.
21:34Me and Jess,
21:35we were both really naturally skinny
21:37and we used to eat terribly
21:39and we never seemed to put any weight on.
21:42And Michelle would always be concerned
21:43about what she ate
21:44and try to eat the right thing
21:46and always be on some fad diet,
21:48but never seemed to be happy with how she looked.
21:51At the time,
21:52I was addicted to slimming pills.
21:53I had been on them for about two or three years.
21:56Took them every single day.
21:57I just took them
21:58because I was scared of putting on weight.
22:01I was scared of ballooning.
22:03I know that she felt like she was in a battle
22:07with her weight a lot of the time,
22:08but I didn't know how serious that was, no.
22:12I was in this vicious circle
22:14of taking more diet pills,
22:16trying to lose weight,
22:17but nothing was losing weight
22:18because I was so immune to the diet pills
22:20it wasn't doing their job anymore.
22:21I was just taking them
22:23because I was addicted to them.
22:24I didn't look healthy.
22:26I wasn't obviously healthy.
22:29Coming up,
22:30our two pop giants' dramatic fall from grace.
22:34Certain members of the group
22:35just wanted it to end.
22:37It was embarrassing.
22:40I am not going to be in this fucking band anymore.
22:42He just broke down.
22:44He just broke down.
22:45He was just crying his eyes out.
22:46He was inconsolable.
22:47I just had the strongest, strongest feeling.
22:49I've got to find Sean.
22:58Liberty X's ascent from flop stars
23:01to chart-mauling pop conquerors
23:03had taken everyone by surprise,
23:05and one member was hurling herself headfirst
23:07into the booze-fuelled lifestyle
23:09of a tabloid darling.
23:11To be honest,
23:12every pop band needs somebody
23:13who will go out and get column inches.
23:16I loved being a pop star.
23:18I mean, some people take it for granted,
23:21and I really didn't.
23:22I really enjoyed every minute of it.
23:24I enjoyed going to parties.
23:26I was young.
23:27She went clubbing,
23:28and, you know,
23:29she had a love life,
23:31and she did everything that, you know,
23:32every self-respecting pop star should do.
23:35And I think we actually benefited hugely
23:38from the attention that she got.
23:39But behind the scenes,
23:45the Geordie party girl
23:46was secretly wrestling an addiction.
23:49One night, Michelle suddenly collapsed
23:51with a suspected heart attack.
23:53My heart stopped beating.
23:55I got took to hospital.
23:56They put me on an overnight monitor
23:59and told me that I had an obscene amount
24:00of caffeine in my bloodstream
24:02and amphetamines.
24:04I hadn't done drugs,
24:06and they didn't believe me.
24:07And I'm thinking,
24:08what the hell is it?
24:10My God, it's the diet pills.
24:12I thought,
24:13I can't have this come out.
24:14And then I had to stop taking the pills
24:16because of my heart problem.
24:18So then I was worried,
24:20am I going to get even fatter?
24:21What's going to happen?
24:22Am I going to get found out
24:24that I've been taking these pills?
24:25Am I going to get written about
24:26because I've put on more weight?
24:28Are the band going to chuck me out
24:29because I'm really fat?
24:30You know,
24:31all these things run through your mind
24:33at the same time.
24:34It was a really low point for me.
24:39Ready?
24:41Let's do it.
24:41And Michelle wasn't the only one in the band
24:43battling the darker side of pop.
24:46The boys were hitting the bottle
24:47and not just the little.
24:49I just liked a drink
24:50and I just thought,
24:51it just got me up for it.
24:52You have this high from performing
24:54and your choice is to try and,
24:56you know,
24:56to allow yourself to kind of crash
24:58straight away afterwards
24:59or to do anything you can
25:00to suspend that high.
25:01I'm not ashamed to say
25:02that, you know,
25:03there were times like
25:04CDK at 7 in the morning
25:05and I'd be on like
25:06triple vodka Red Bulls.
25:07In goals today
25:08is Kevin the Snowman!
25:11Take your hats off.
25:13Right, take your hats off.
25:14Oh, isn't he?
25:15Doesn't he look lovely?
25:16The time all went into one
25:18so it didn't really matter
25:18when I drunk.
25:22He's down!
25:24Kevin the Snowman!
25:24I'm pretty laid back
25:27so when I'm tired
25:27it's hard for me to hide it
25:30so I sort of just need
25:31a bit of something
25:32to take the edge off
25:34and get me, you know,
25:36get me ready to perform
25:37and do all these silly things
25:40you do on, like,
25:41you know,
25:41Saturday morning TV.
25:462001 and five
25:47were the reigning kings
25:48of the charts
25:49taking their high-octane brand
25:51of ballsy boy pop
25:52to packed houses.
25:53They were on the verge
25:54of cracking pop's
25:55toughest nut, America.
25:57They're screaming inside,
25:58they're screaming outside.
26:00Ladies and gentlemen,
26:00all you from Europe,
26:01say hello to five.
26:02Hello, America!
26:05It was amazing
26:07to have the level
26:07of success that five had.
26:10There was nothing
26:11I couldn't have
26:13or didn't want.
26:14Everything was free.
26:16And with success
26:17came excess.
26:19Abs was spiralling
26:19out of control,
26:21indulging in a barrage
26:22of drink and drugs.
26:24It was party central.
26:26We was partying
26:26for three, four days straight.
26:28I'd like to eat glass
26:30when I was out and about,
26:31like you do.
26:32Horse tranquilizers.
26:34Like, I've got
26:34a Xanax addiction, man.
26:35I'd like...
26:36This Xanax was like,
26:37what is this little
26:38fucking pill, man?
26:39It makes me feel this...
26:40This nice, wobbly...
26:42Floor's wobbling
26:43and everything's wobbling
26:43and going out like that.
26:45That's kind of where
26:45it got a bit too far
26:46because it took over me,
26:48you know what I'm saying?
26:48And then we just rock and roll it
26:50until it hurts.
26:52And it hurt.
26:55The band was on the fast track
26:56to self-destruction
26:57and Jay was at the epicentre.
27:00Jay was a massively
27:02overpowering human being.
27:03There were times in that band
27:04where I did hate him.
27:06There were times in that band
27:07where I thought he was really cool.
27:08He did have a very gentle side as well.
27:11But he's a Gemini.
27:13So he's like two people.
27:14One of them was like
27:16salt of the earth.
27:17The other was a complete cock.
27:20Mental bullying, you know,
27:21trying to put you down
27:23and make you feel worthless.
27:24He's done a lot of that.
27:25Some people could see Jay
27:26as being quite an overpowering person
27:28and a bit bossy to an extent,
27:31but not me.
27:34But with such a dominant figure
27:35within the band,
27:3719-year-old Sean
27:38was slowly becoming
27:38withdrawn from the group.
27:41In my opinion,
27:42Jay sort of overpowered Sean
27:44as a younger lad
27:45and I felt like I lost Sean
27:46for a long time.
27:47There's little comments here,
27:49little comments there.
27:50Like an 85-year-old man
27:51who's going to hurt his back
27:52and everything running like that,
27:53ladies,
27:53it's like this hour run.
27:56I mean, look at it.
27:57It's like watching
27:58the OAP Olympics or something.
28:00I was actually
28:01very, very confident
28:02and very outgoing
28:03in the beginning of the band.
28:05I had no fear whatsoever,
28:07but I became
28:08the unconfident one.
28:09I became the insecure one.
28:11I let the external environment
28:13destroy me.
28:26Four years after Liberty X's
28:28first single hit the top ten,
28:30sales were plummeting.
28:31So they released the ballad,
28:33as one does,
28:33but it was a risky decision
28:35as it marked a new direction
28:36for the band known
28:37for ambitious dance moves.
28:40I didn't think
28:42we should release it.
28:43It was a departure
28:43from what we'd been doing before.
28:45I thought Liberty X fans
28:47wouldn't really get it.
28:48Turn over cameras, please,
28:49and run playback.
28:50We've been walking
28:51up a train track
28:52since four o'clock this morning.
28:54It's going to be
28:55one hell of a video.
28:57Sadly for us,
28:59it just didn't do well,
29:01and that sort of
29:01was the beginning
29:02of the end
29:03of our relationship
29:04with B2, I think.
29:05We were the most expensive
29:06band on their books.
29:07Think of us as a bank.
29:09If you're not really
29:10offering return on investment,
29:11what's going to happen?
29:12And it's a bit like
29:14an old dog, I guess,
29:15that you've got to keep
29:16taking to the vets.
29:18It starts costing you
29:18loads of money.
29:20You're not getting anything back.
29:21You can't even take it
29:21for a walk anymore,
29:22so you've just got to
29:23put him down.
29:24That was us.
29:32Dropped like a sack of spuds
29:33by Richard Branson's V2,
29:35they were picked up
29:35by a small independent label
29:37who were keen to cash in fast
29:38and hastily released
29:40a woefully weak single
29:41called X.
29:46Previous videos were shot
29:47in exotic Caribbean destinations.
29:53But the spot marked by X
29:55was a clapped-out studio
29:56in Acton, West London.
30:01We'd gone from having
30:03video budgets of 200 grand,
30:05like crazy, crazy money,
30:08to being signed to a label
30:10that basically had no money
30:11at all.
30:13So we had no budget
30:15for videos.
30:18The video was one
30:19of the worst ever made.
30:21This is just a whole new level
30:23of shite.
30:24It was embarrassing.
30:27And there was worse to come.
30:29With little radio play,
30:30X only just scraped
30:32into the top 50.
30:33A disaster.
30:34It was a flop.
30:35It tanked that badly
30:37that a lot of people
30:38didn't even know
30:39we released it.
30:41It was the final nail
30:43in the coffin
30:43for their recording career.
30:46Six years after Liberty X
30:47first met on Popstars,
30:49the band called it quits.
30:512nd of September 2007,
30:54Bowwood House, Khan.
30:56They're set at the legendary
30:57Wiltshire Crime Stoppers
30:58charity event
30:59would be their last.
31:01I think we're really fortunate
31:03to have a gig this good
31:04as our final gig.
31:07Certain members of the group
31:09had pretty much had enough
31:10and just wanted it to end.
31:13Because we'd sort of come
31:13to a point where
31:14it just wasn't really working anymore.
31:20There was no massive,
31:21big break-up.
31:22We didn't announce it
31:23to the world
31:24in a dramatic form.
31:26There was no press conference
31:27or children crying
31:28through helplines.
31:29It was just quite simply.
31:31We just weren't there anymore.
31:39It was a bit of an anti-climax
31:41and I remember thinking
31:42that's not the way to go out,
31:43to be honest.
31:44That's not the way to go out.
31:46Half the time,
31:46people weren't really even watching.
31:50It was almost just like
31:52letting off a balloon.
31:53It was a bit surreal, really.
31:59And we just said,
32:00see you later.
32:02Come on, let's say thanks very much.
32:03Cheers, guys!
32:04Cheers!
32:05I hope you can help me.
32:18Five years after they were first signed,
32:21five were burning out fast.
32:22The dizzy highs
32:23of their pop star lifestyle
32:25were making way
32:25for some catastrophic lows.
32:27Life in five was mental.
32:29I mean,
32:29it was five years
32:30of very hard work.
32:32You know,
32:33you see the inside
32:33of a hotel room,
32:35an airport,
32:35a radio studio,
32:36a gig.
32:37It's hard.
32:38When crack starts showing,
32:40you either cement them up
32:41or they become a problem.
32:43And I guess it just,
32:45the five thing
32:45just kind of fell apart.
32:47I was such a young kid
32:48that I was completely overwhelmed.
32:50I was like a rabbit trapped
32:51in headlights.
32:52I remember
32:53looking in the mirror
32:55and thinking to myself,
32:59who is that?
33:02Because I didn't know myself.
33:03I don't know.
33:04I just had the strongest,
33:06strongest feeling
33:06that no matter what happens,
33:09no matter how much money
33:10they throw at me,
33:10no matter what's going on,
33:12I've got to find Sean.
33:16Otherwise,
33:17I might make thousands of pounds,
33:20but I'll be spending it all on therapy.
33:24Sean had a breakdown.
33:25A string of UK gigs were cancelled,
33:27so management released a statement
33:29admitting Sean was
33:30ill with glandular fever.
33:32So we didn't like
33:34lying to the public
33:34and saying he had glandular fever,
33:36but we had to protect him,
33:37we had to protect ourselves.
33:39The management
33:40thought it was a good idea.
33:41That's what we'd done.
33:43With Sean off sick,
33:44it was full steam ahead
33:45for the rest of the band,
33:46who promoted their new single,
33:48denying tensions within the group.
33:50I remember doing
33:51the top of the box
33:51when you nearly had the fight
33:52and everyone was just going,
33:54they won't be here
33:54six months' time,
33:55they won't have killed each other.
33:56No, right now,
33:57things in the five camp
33:58are spiffing.
34:00They are so, so, so good.
34:02I'm just, I'm just personally
34:03having the best, best time.
34:05This is like, at the moment,
34:06this is going down
34:07as some of the best
34:07sort of days of my life so far.
34:09They were scheduled
34:10to shoot a video
34:11for Let's Dance
34:12and Sean made
34:13a surprise special appearance.
34:15Yeah, it's not nice for him.
34:16He was a cardboard cutout
34:16in our last video
34:17and people sort of
34:18make a joke of it.
34:20It was the best time
34:21I ever had with Sean
34:22was when he was a cardboard cutout.
34:23It was awesome.
34:25So witty.
34:27He would love to have been
34:28a part of that video
34:29because his voice was on the track
34:30and he wrote on the track
34:32and I'm assuming
34:33that Sean doesn't think
34:34that's very funny.
34:35I needed some sort
34:36of father figure.
34:38I needed somebody
34:39to just put an arm around me
34:40and just sort of say,
34:42it's going to be all right.
34:44We're looking after you.
34:46But it wasn't,
34:47it wasn't,
34:48it wasn't quite like that.
34:50With Sean gone
34:51and tension building,
34:53the group was about to implode.
34:54I didn't want to be me anymore.
34:56I was,
34:57I was on the edge.
34:58We were in this hotel.
34:59He just broke down.
35:01He just broke down.
35:02He was just crying his eyes out.
35:03It was inconsolable
35:04and I remember
35:06Jay and I walked out to him,
35:08sort of sat either side of him
35:10and just put our arms around him.
35:11We were like,
35:11come on,
35:12what's up?
35:12And he was just like,
35:13I just can't do it anymore.
35:17I remember looking at Jay
35:18and he just looked at me
35:19and he just went,
35:21it's done, isn't it?
35:22And I was like,
35:23I think it is.
35:24The guys were talking
35:25about splitting up.
35:26I tell him like,
35:27no, I don't want to.
35:28This shit is my dream.
35:29I'm loving this.
35:30Let's carry on.
35:30Let's do this.
35:31I don't want to go.
35:32No, let's do one more
35:33world tour and another album
35:34and we'd have gone stratosphere.
35:37Despite desperate pleas
35:39from his bandmates,
35:40it was the point of no return.
35:42I got called into the record company
35:44and sat with Simon Cowell
35:45and Richard Griffiths,
35:47the chairman of RCA.
35:48I said I want out
35:49and they told me no.
35:51I had completely flipped.
35:52I pushed my foot
35:53on Richard Griffiths' desk
35:55so he couldn't move.
35:56I said,
35:57I don't think you're listening to me.
35:59I am not going to be
36:00in this fucking band anymore.
36:01I don't know what the details were,
36:03why Scott had to do
36:04what he did exactly.
36:09Because to be honest with you,
36:10I kind of just felt a little bit like
36:12you're taking something away from me.
36:16We quit on our peak.
36:18I mean,
36:19we was number one at the time
36:20and we jumped shit.
36:26When you've got two people
36:27like having a breakdown,
36:30it's time to call it a day.
36:32Nothing's worth that,
36:33you know?
36:38Just too much,
36:39too soon,
36:40too young.
36:40Coming up,
36:52with the big reunion looming,
36:54Five come to terms
36:55with life without Jay.
36:57I was willing to forgive.
36:59I wanted to move forward.
37:00And I was really angry.
37:02And I just don't want him
37:03to regret anything.
37:03In the desolate years
37:08after Liberty X and Five
37:10left pop to go about its business,
37:12the former pop stars
37:13forged new lives,
37:14some more reluctantly
37:15than others,
37:16away from the media glare.
37:17But now,
37:18with the big reunion looming,
37:20the stark reality
37:20of the huge challenge
37:22hits home.
37:22After Liberty X's split,
37:27Jessica was hit for six
37:28by England cricketer
37:29Kevin Peterson,
37:30marrying in 2007.
37:32She hasn't seen her husband
37:33for over two months,
37:34as he's been overseas
37:35on test match duty.
37:37There he is.
37:45Jessica's cherishing
37:46her new role as a mum,
37:47and she was the most wary
37:49about flinging herself back
37:50into pop for the big reunion.
37:52I don't do anything
37:55in the spotlight anymore,
37:56and I haven't done
37:56for a really, really long time.
37:59It took me a lot of time
38:01to decide whether or not
38:03to do it.
38:04I'm in a very safe place
38:06in my life.
38:07I'm in a really happy
38:08sort of little bubble.
38:09And to step outside of that
38:12is really scary.
38:13And I thought I owed it
38:14to the guys to make sure
38:15that, you know,
38:17I was sure.
38:19And I am,
38:20but I'm bloody petrified.
38:22Having recently given birth
38:30to twin boys,
38:31there's extra pressure
38:32on Kelly to snap back
38:33into the iconic rubber cat suit.
38:36What's in there?
38:37Shall we have a look?
38:38Half of me sort of thinks
38:40that I'm looking forward to it,
38:44and also it's something
38:44for me to aim for.
38:45It's something that will
38:46definitely get me fit again.
38:47Something to look forward to
38:50for me, you know,
38:52outside of being a mum
38:53and taking care of the boys.
38:54So that's nice.
38:55But then I don't know
38:56how I'm going to react
38:58to leave them.
39:00When Liberty X called it quits,
39:02Kevin continued singing
39:03on the club circuit.
39:04And recently he's started
39:11a family with wife
39:12and fellow dog walking fan,
39:14Laura.
39:15I guess my only reservation
39:16about this whole thing
39:17is being away from you two.
39:21I suppose that's going
39:22to be quite difficult,
39:23but...
39:23Yeah, but technology,
39:25you know,
39:25we've got Skype.
39:26Yeah, I guess so.
39:28We've got Skype sex,
39:29can't we?
39:29I don't think so, no.
39:34No.
39:36Tony swapped platinum records
39:37for the silver screen,
39:39becoming a filmmaker
39:39and settling down in London
39:41with his first love,
39:42Kellyanne.
39:43I'm actually kind of excited
39:45to be possibly able
39:46to rewrite the final chapter.
39:48I'm also nervous.
39:49Look, of course
39:50you're going to be nervous.
39:50There's parts of everything
39:53the first time round
39:53that made me feel sick
39:54to my stomach.
39:55And I worry about
39:56opening myself up to that again.
39:58Back then, I suppose
39:58I was concerned
39:59about me, me, me.
40:00But now it's also sus.
40:03After the band,
40:05Michelle became
40:05a reality TV star
40:06and a regular
40:07in Celebrity Mags.
40:09She started a family
40:09with her second husband
40:10but recently received
40:12devastating news,
40:13which has overshadowed
40:14the reunion.
40:16Diagnosed as a carrier
40:17of the ovarian
40:18and breast cancer gene,
40:20she's taken the brave decision
40:21to undergo major surgery.
40:24So tomorrow on Lorraine,
40:26I'm going to announce
40:26that I'm going to have
40:28a double mastectomy.
40:35As soon as possible.
40:37So we're looking at
40:38trying to get it done
40:39pre the band
40:41getting back together.
40:42I'm going to have
40:42scars everywhere
40:43but at the end of the day,
40:44it doesn't matter.
40:45I think that it's
40:47an absolute no-brainer
40:48if I'm 80% at risk
40:50of getting breast cancer
40:51in my lifetime,
40:52why would I not
40:53take that risk away?
40:55What a tough time you've had,
40:56love.
40:56Really, really difficult.
40:57What have you decided to do?
40:59Preventative surgery
41:00is the best option for me.
41:02So I'm going to go
41:03down the route
41:04of a double mastectomy
41:05and reconstruction
41:07using implants.
41:08It's been quite emotional
41:10and heavy hitting
41:11but I'm really, really glad
41:13that it's happened now
41:14and the press
41:15can stop speculating
41:16on things that I will
41:17or won't do.
41:19Despite her emotional upheaval,
41:21Michelle's determined
41:22she'll be well enough
41:23to perform alongside
41:24her former bandmates again.
41:26I can't wait
41:27for fun times
41:28to look forward to
41:29after all of this
41:31is finished.
41:31I can't wait
41:32to get back on stage.
41:35When five brutally
41:37split 11 years ago,
41:38the band splintered
41:39and the boys
41:40have barely spoken since.
41:48Ritchie fled England
41:49to start a new life
41:50across the other side
41:51of the globe.
41:53Now settled
41:5410,000 miles away
41:55in Sydney, Australia,
41:56Ritchie runs a bar
41:57and has a slightly
42:02new accent.
42:04This is seriously
42:06a long way
42:06from being in
42:07a band for sure.
42:11So obviously
42:12when you were in
42:13the boy band,
42:14you guys
42:15would have been
42:16really close.
42:17You would have had
42:17a certain dynamic
42:18going on.
42:19What do you think
42:19the dynamic's going to be
42:21going back?
42:22It's a good question
42:23with many answers
42:25and I don't know why.
42:26Give me one.
42:28Mixed.
42:28Like, mixed.
42:30Truly.
42:30Everything,
42:31all my feelings
42:32about this
42:32are mixed.
42:33Like, I'm really
42:34stoked on one side
42:35and I'm really
42:36nervous on the other side.
42:38Rapper and party boy
42:40Abs left his
42:41hell-raising days
42:41behind him
42:42and now lives
42:43the quiet life
42:44on a farm
42:44deep within
42:45the Lincolnshire
42:45walls
42:46with his girlfriend
42:47Vicky.
42:48Is it crazy
42:49to think of being
42:49back in the band
42:50and doing that
42:51whole thing again?
42:52My first thought
42:52was how
42:53are we going to do that?
42:55How are we going to
42:55get everybody together
42:56to even have
42:57the conversation?
42:59So I thought,
42:59now there's no chance,
43:00you know what I'm saying?
43:01And like a year ago,
43:02forget it.
43:03I'm happy everyone's
43:04in the right place
43:05to go forward.
43:06When Essex boy Scott
43:10spectacularly quit the band,
43:12the very next day
43:13he married his childhood
43:14sweetheart Kerry.
43:15Now he's a house husband
43:17and doting dad
43:18to boys Brennan
43:19and Cavan.
43:19Stop!
43:20No!
43:21I hate my life!
43:26Brennan,
43:27Cavan,
43:27dinner?
43:28OK,
43:28coming.
43:29So many highlights,
43:31obviously,
43:32but it was hard as well.
43:35I mean,
43:36you know.
43:36But you love performing.
43:38Yeah,
43:38that's the main thing.
43:39I mean,
43:39performing.
43:40How could it be so hard?
43:42Well,
43:42obviously,
43:43I don't know.
43:44No,
43:44but that's what people think.
43:45You probably see
43:46One Direction on the telly
43:47and you might think,
43:48oh,
43:48they're amazing,
43:49you know,
43:49which they are,
43:50but they're working very hard
43:52and them lads
43:52will be very,
43:53very tired.
43:54You're overworked,
43:54I'd say,
43:55but I mean,
43:55I wouldn't change it
43:56for the world,
43:56obviously.
43:59Continuing to reel
44:00from his emotional meltdown
44:01during his five days,
44:02Sean's working hard
44:03to establish himself
44:04as a songwriter
44:05and is slowly making steps
44:07to rebuild his life.
44:09Have you seen them together?
44:10Because you weren't even
44:11there at the end,
44:12were you?
44:12No.
44:12Just a cardboard cutout.
44:15Well,
44:16right or wrong?
44:17Right.
44:20You know,
44:20you can see there's problems,
44:21but it's not about the past,
44:23is it?
44:24It's about bringing the past
44:25into now dealing with it
44:27and going forward.
44:28That's what I hope
44:29we can do anyway.
44:29Does that not make you nervous,
44:30though?
44:31Yeah,
44:31I'm shit scared.
44:32But you know me,
44:33I'm twisted in the head.
44:35I do like a challenge.
44:37And Five's challenge
44:38has been made even harder
44:39with founder member Jay's
44:41shock decision
44:42not to return to the line-up,
44:44leaving the band
44:44a man down.
44:46I was annoyed with Jay
44:47and I was really angry
44:48because I've been
44:49personally myself
44:50been trying to get this band
44:51back together
44:51for years and years and years
44:53and so,
44:55someone's laid down.
44:57I'm a little bit sad
44:58about it.
44:59Five is five.
45:00You know what I'm saying
45:01with this guy?
45:02And I just don't want him
45:02to regret anything
45:03more than anything else
45:04because I think
45:06it could be amazing,
45:07potentially something beautiful.
45:10I was willing to forgive.
45:12I wanted to move forward.
45:13He's not here
45:14and that's it.
45:15coming up on The Big Reunion.
45:23How can four become five?
45:25I'm not going to put someone
45:26in for the sake of it.
45:27Give a complete unknown
45:28a chance
45:29to step up
45:30and have a go.
45:31We meet the other bands
45:33in the line-up.
45:33I was just like
45:34a walking hormone.
45:36Police turned up
45:37and was going to arrest us.
45:38They were saying
45:38you can get ten years
45:39for this.
45:40I had so much hatred
45:41for her.
45:43I just lost it
45:44and we're twins
45:45and I haven't got time
45:46to notice that my sister
45:48is really struggling.
45:49And after 11 years away
45:51from Atomic Kitten,
45:52Kerry's back.
45:53Ta-da!
45:53Well, I hope you enjoyed that
45:58and there's more
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