EXCLUSIVE: Five dominated the charts in the late Nineties before splitting, and while the group previously united, they're back as a five-piece, and Jason Brown has opened up about the decision22:02, 11 Jun 2026Five singer Jason Brown has revealed the true motive behind the Nineties boyband's full reunion. After splitting in 2001, the band briefly reunited as a five-piece in 2006 before going their separate ways once more.‌Fast forward to 2012, the band, along with the likes of Atomic Kitten, 911, Liberty X and B*Witched, joined forces once more for ITV's The Big Reunion, without Jason. Brown declined to take part due to privacy concerns. He hadn't spoken to his bandmates for several years.‌However, things quickly changed last year when it emerged that he would once again be getting back on stage with his bandmates, Abz Love, Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville and Sean Conlon. Speaking to the Mirror at Download Festival, Brown said of his decision to return: "Life, it all just worked out.‌"Some of us haven't spoken for many years, just because of how life went and just because like a few petty things going on as happens, we've shared a lot of close quarters with each other for a lot years. Some stuff came out of that."We didn't see each other, decided it had been far too long." Jason, known as J, said that he had only met one of Sean's children and hadn't met any of his bandmates' children. "We all got chatting again, and out of talking, realising that the friendship was all still exactly the same as it had been, stuff just started unfolding," he said.‌He added: "We started getting offers for things, we turned it down saying we don't really want to do anything. Then we got offered an arena tour and we said 'Ok' to that – that turned from 12 dates to 25 arenas and it's kept snowballing. And now we're at Download."But while the band are busy with festivals, Scott admits that they don't want to lock in too many plans. "Management, I'm sure are making some plans in the background," he said.‌He added: "We're kind of really enjoying this organicness of being offered a gig, having a look at it and going 'Yeah we'd like to play that'."Sean admitted that the group are "embracing the moment" and couldn't believe it had been a year since they joined mega star Robbie Williams on stage at his Wembley show to perform their 1999 hit, Keep On Movin'.However, Ritchie had some strong advice to people heading to Download or other festivals this year. "Poo before you arrive," the hitmaker laughed. Meanwhile, Jay added: "Try and pitch your tent with a bit of shade."‌Although the band are playing Download, which is typically known for its rock and metal music, Ritchie said: "Well, it wasn't something that I personally had on my kind of cards, so I didn't expect it, yeah, but here we are."Jason joked: "I wouldn't have thought we'd ever be invited to play at Download, but here we are and we're doing it. We're going to have it."Speaking of the diverse crowd, Ritchie said: "We do like to go out and give it everything we've got, we've got great musicians backing us up, I think the crowd are going to enjoy it."Article continues belowLike this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.