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Few boybands bigger than Five back in the nineties.

However at the height of their popularity, they unexpectedly split up in 2001, as the stress and pressures of fame and an hectic workload affected on all of them.

Currently, decades later - and to the delight of their original fans - Scott, Ritchie, J, Sean and Abz are back.

"It was too much too quickly. Way too fast," Abz explains, while another member compares it as "like being strapped to a rollercoaster"

"I think I was just in coping mechanism for five years, because I can't remember much of it," Sean continues, who was only 15 when the group was formed.

Practicing After 25 Years

They have invited a reporter into the practice space ahead of their forthcoming tour, 25 years after they were previously on the tour circuit together.

And it's clear they're much more at ease this time around, with J expressing they feel "spectacularly fortunate" to have a another opportunity.

The band sold over 20 million records in the late 1990s and early 2000's, with tracks such as their signature songs and Everybody Get Up.

However reuniting after over two decades doesn't come without challenge. Although some bands have successfully completed major concerts rapidly, different acts haven't been as fortunate.

Scott says all five of them didn't sleep the night before their comeback was announced.

"I called my wife, his partner, in the middle of the night and wondered: 'What if no one cares? Perhaps we think it's going to be massive and everyone goes, so what?'"

'Could we still perform together?'

But luckily, the band's fans remained loyal, and the group's concert series of the United Kingdom, Irish venues, Australian cities and New Zealand is nearly sold out.

"We were aware we'd been successful but I'm not sure we realised the extent our younger selves had done. And how much we'd affected some peoples lives and the extent they'd loved us," Ritchie explains.

One concern the group were unsure about was the idea of singing and dancing together again.

Another member explains: "We announced a tour without even being certain [we could do it]. We had faith but we needed to get into practice sessions to actually discover, but we can confirm it's still there!"

Looking Back on Youthful Success

The band are now all in their forties but had just left school when they formed. It was obviously an intense time.

Ritchie remembers: "We started very young and we thought we'd hit the jackpot and all our dreams were coming true. In many ways, they did, but partially it became a difficult experience mentally, [there were] a lot of aspects we weren't expecting.

"We would awaken on a traveling vehicle and wonder, not which nation are we in, but what continent are we in?"

J concurs: "We have loads of memory gaps in our memories, and we've discussed this and determined that it was all so fast, and we were in flight or fight mode for the whole thing. It was similar to you were being chased by something."

Reconnecting After Years Apart

So after all that time apart, the inquiry of who initiated contact about the prospect of getting back together arises.

One member explains that not even being in the same space with his ex- bandmates for over 20 years had been playing on his mind.

"I phoned my former bandmate and I hadn't spoken with him for a decade, and one of the initial comments he said to me was 'It's so nice to hear your voice'. So we simply reunited - it wasn't about a tour, it was about reconnecting as companions again.

"Nobody beyond this circle knows what we went through," he continues.

Support from Fellow Artists

Though an individual who understands particularly well about what Five went through is a fellow musician, who was a member of another successful group before finding success as a individual performer.

The band performed Keep On Movin' with him at one of his shows in the capital this summer.

A member admits he had "performer insecurity" and worried the audience wouldn't recognize who they were, "however it was successful."

Sean adds that Robbie "understood all we've been through", mentioning the entire group sat for two hours chatting.

Regarding the psychological challenges Five went through, a member says their peer told them it was similar to "carrying a heavy load of rocks and you need empty it gradually."

A Different Experience Now

According to one member, the entire situation of being returned in the band is "the antithesis of what it was before."

"The people we've have around us, the way we're being handled. how we're being looked after, which is the most important thing. We were last time but staff were somewhat learning on the job."

Reflecting and Moving Forward

The band has made peace and come back together now but would Five go back in time and do it all again?

Abz states he would "however in another way", while Ritchie jokes: "With this head, I'd enjoy to do it, because I'd be monitoring the finances a lot more!"

The band's documentary is available from Tuesday 28 October. The group start their concert series on the following day in Wales.