Five, often stylised as 5ive, announced their reunion this week with all five members of the band returning for a huge tour while a new snap of the group hints at past troubles
New promotional pictures of Five were released as they announced a reunion tour this week.
In recent days, the band teased reunion news on their official TikTok page. A video in which lyrics to their 1999 number one single Keep On Movin’ scrolled across a huge electronic billboard was uploaded. A caption on the upload simply read: “27.02.25 Loading… itsfiveofficial.com”.
On February 24, Abz Love confirmed his return to the group as he joined Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson. At the time, it wasn’t confirmed whether Jason ‘J’ Brown would be part of their tour but, in new promotional snaps, all five of the original band members posed together as they prepare for their upcoming tour.
However, in one promotional snap, Jason – who was accused of bullying – is seen posing on the opposite end of Sean, who previously opened up about his mental health struggles. “It’s true, the five of us are reuniting for a tour across the UK!! This has been a long time coming and it really does feel right for all of us now,” the band confirmed.
Sean and Jason posed side-by-side in a separate snap for the promo. The group formed in 1997, consisting of members Ritchie, Abz, Jason, Scott and Sean. The group, who rose to fame in the 90s, went on to sell more than 20 million records before they first split in September 2001. They have since reunited in various forms over the years. In 2006, the group reunited without Sean. Then in 2012, Sean returned to the fold, but J took a step back.
There was a rift a year later after Sean, Ritchie and Scott performed as a trio in 2013 and accused J of being a bully on The Big Reunion. Following the accusations, J hit back at the comments, denying them. “I was loud and a bit aggressive at times, and I was physically bigger than them so I can see how that could have been taken a certain way,” he said. “But never in my mind was I so-called bullying people.”
On the second series of The Big Reunion, Jason also said he didn’t rejoin the band as “stuff’s been said that’s actually not true and it has had a deep impact on me”.
Sean, who was pictured on the far right side of the promo snap, was the first member of the group to leave in 2001 after suffering a mental breakdown from stress and depression. According to Ritchie, their management kept his departure a secret, and when a cardboard cut out of the star was used in the video for Let’s Dance, the group believed he was simply off with glandular fever.
Sean later explained he’d lost sight of himself and needed to get out for the sake of his mental health. He said in 2013: “I remember looking in the mirror and thinking to myself, ‘Who is that?’ I didn’t know myself and I just had the strongest feeling that no matter what happens no matter how much money they throw at me I’ve got to find Sean, otherwise I make thousands of pounds but I’d be spending it all on therapy.”
Towards the end, Ritchie admitted they had become ‘delinquents’ who were ‘bordering on being a**eholes’. And he knew the end had come when he saw Scott looking ‘inconsolable’. “We were in this hotel and Scott just broke down, he was crying his eyes out. J and I walked out to him and put our arms around him and he said, ‘I just can’t do it anymore’,” he recalled in the same show.
“I remember looking at Jay and he just looked at me and just went, ‘It’s done isn’t it?’ And I went, ‘I think it is’.” J also suffered a mental breakdown during filming for the video for Don’t Wanna Let You Go. Chronic insomnia had left him feeling ‘on the edge’ and having previously suffered from depression, one night he took an overdose in an attempt to end his life.
*If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
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