East 17’s Stay Another Day in bid for Christmas No1 again as Boyz On Block team up with Tony Mortimer for new version

: “The rest of the East 17 boys don’t know we’ve done it. They’ll be as surprised as the readers are.”

The band also roped in former local church gospel choir The Tabs from Lewisham, South East London, and recreated the famous East 17 – who also include Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell - all-white outfits that helped the song spend five weeks at No1 in 1994.

Dane said: “We deliberately didn’t want to get all dressed up. We didn’t want to do the fake snow. We wanted to make it as casual as we could.

“I think the way it’s been recorded is different, you can tell that it’s a newer version. For me, I think Abz’s verse is pretty much how the verse should have been sung. He kills it.”

Tony added: “I love it. I think it’s a brilliant version.”

While the emotional ballad is often associated with lost love and relationships gone wrong, the real inspiration is much darker.

Tony, who won an Ivor Novello songwriting award for the track, wrote it about his brother Ollie’s suicide as well as the final 24 hours of a friend’s father’s life. 

He never intended it to be released as a Christmas song, with label bosses only adding bells to make the most of the festive market.

Tony says: “I didn’t think Stay would be a single let alone achieve what it did and still have people into it 26 years later. It’s very humbling.

"I’m a huge fan of all the boys individually and I was really excited to hear their version collectively.

"I was honoured I could play the piano on it and Abz’s lead vocal has just blown me away, I love it. I think it’s a brilliant version.”

The boys call Tony’s involvement a “Christmas present in itself” and even dedicated it to him for his 50th birthday.

It comes as Ladbaby, who has had the Christmas No1 for the last two years, has his eyes on a third.

The race to being on top on December 22 is on.

Pre-order Stay Another Day by Boyz on Block featuring Tony Mortimer by