Abz Love, from the 90s boyband 5ive, has slammed his former bandmates for killing the group’s legacy and claimed they are ‘sticking pins’ into voodoo dolls of him.
The singer, 41, said his former bandmates ‘don’t love me’ as he compared them to his new supergroup, Boyz on Block, with Phats and Small’s Ben Ofoedu, Boyzone’s Shane Lynch and Another Level’s Dane Bowers.
Speaking on Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng’s Access All Areas FUBAR radio show on Thursday, he said: ‘My previous band, I think they’ve got voodoo dolls of me and they’re like proper sticking pins in everything I’m doing. I
‘I’m like, “ah, there’s someone stabbing my shoulder or something”.’
Ouch! Abz Love, from the 90s boyband 5ive, has slammed his former bandmates for killing the group’s legacy and claimed they are ‘sticking pins’ into voodoo dolls of him (L-R Abz, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, Sean Conlon and J Brown in 1997)
Abz was part of the boy band – also featuring Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, and J Brown – between 1997 and 2001, before a reformation in 2006 and later in 2012.
He added: ‘They don’t love me, man. But with these boys [Boyz on Block], I feel like it’s, you know, how it should have been.
‘If I want to wear a floral shirt, no one is going, “aye, we was all going to wear black. Why are you wearing that?” I can wear what I want and the respect is different.
‘I think because we’ve all been through it or, speaking personally, from my behalf, where I’ve had it and lost it again… it’s nice to have a little something and I appreciate it more this time around.’
Tell all: The singer, 41, said his former bandmates ‘don’t love me’ as he compared them to his new supergroup, Boyz on Block, on Thursday
Abz announced his departure from the successful pop group in 2014, but his former bandmates still tour under the 5ive banner.
The singer confessed he only maintains contact with J Brown, 41, from the band as he accused the other stars of ‘milking’ the fame.
He said: ‘The other three are out there like milking it, and I’m like, “fellas! Man, like it was legendary and you are just killing it lads”, do you know what I mean?
‘You ain’t got no energy when you are performing. I’m looking at you lot like, “man, this ain’t what the songs are about!”‘
Gone their separate ways: Abz confessed he only maintains contact with former bandmate James, 41, as he said: ‘The other three are out there like milking it, and I’m like, ‘Fellas!”
As he focuses all of his attention now on his new pop group, Boyz on Block, Abz is embracing the newfound freedom as he compared the two boybands.
He explained: ‘So now I’m with Boyz on Block, I can do all of that. Like, I’ve written them songs anyway so.
‘I’ve got what they [5ive] are doing but you are getting it with me plus you’ve got Boyzone, plus you’ve got a bit of Phats and Small, plus you’ve got a bit of Another Level man! So you might as well come and see us.’
Abz revealed the creation of the new band began during a chance encounter with Shane, 44, at Bournemouth Pride, where the former Boyzone singer confessed he always wanted to be in 5ive.
Abz recalled: ‘What I love was when I bumped into Shane, man, and we were catching up because you don’t really do that backstage like in the 90s. You were kind of like us against you. It’s so stupid!
‘Bumping into Shane after all these years and he was like, “I always wanted to be in your band! I didn’t want to be in Boyzone!”
‘And I was like, “man, that’s the biggest compliment you can get”. Do you know what I mean? Them boys did their thing, so salute to them!’
The pop star was joined on the show by bandmate Ben, 48, to promote their first single, a cover of the Christmas hit Stay Another Day, originally released by East 17.
New group: Abz has joined forces with (L-R) Another Level’s Dane Bowers, Phats and Small’s Ben Ofoedu and Boyzone’s Shane Lynch for new supergroup Boyz On Block