5ive’s J gives his side of the story after boyband bullying bust-up
FORMER 5ive star Jason ‘J’ Brown has hit back at accusations made by his former bandmates – and revealed he once attempted suicide.
J had refused to take part in the ITV2 series The Big Reunion, which saw the rest of 5ive united to perform alongside other Nineties bands including
Atomic Kitten and Blue.
But now J told his side of the story in The Big Reunion: On Tour, which aired on ITV2.
He said: “Stuff’s been said that’s actually not true and it has had a deep impact on me.”
He described watching the show, open-mouthed, as his former bandmates accused him of bullying.
J said: “I thought, ‘I actually can’t believe what I’m hearing and who I’m hearing it from’. 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.
“But never in my mind was I so-called bullying people.”
J, now 44 and living in north London, also revealed he went through major depression before his career took off with the boyband.
He said: “When I was 19 or 20, leading up to when I got into 5ive, I was actually in a really desperate way, psychologically.
“I’d been depressed and I took about a box and a half of painkillers and tried to finish myself off.
“I came around and the feeling I had was of panic because of what I’d done, because I realised the level of desperation I’d obviously fallen into, to
even contemplate going through with that. But I didn’t want to exist any more.”
And he insisted there is no way he is returning to 5ive.
He said: “Being in that band just wouldn’t work for me. I actually couldn’t do that now. I’d be lying to myself and lying to other people if I tried to put
myself on stage.”
The Big Reunion: On Tour starts on September 5 at 9pm on ITV2.