Credit: ITVAhead of this year's Big Reunion Boy Band tour, Female First got the opportunity to chat to A1's Ben Adams about his decision to join the second series of The Big Reunion, what fans can expect from the tour and new material that the group may decide to put out in the future.
What led to the decision to go on tour with the Big Reunion boy bands?
We had been touring as A1 in the rest of the world since 2009, playing arenas and stadiums all over Asia, Scandinavia and Europe, and had signed with Universal Records for 2 studio albums which we released in all the territories we toured in. It's great being successful in any country but it never feels quite as good as having success on your home turf so your family and friends can see what you're up to. The Big Reunion seemed like a good opportunity to re-introduce ourselves back into the UK market.
If you could pick one of the girl bands from The Big Reunion to join the tour who would you choose and why?
It would have to be Eternal. They are super talented and have become great friends – I'm quite sad they wont be joining us for this Big Reunion tour, but there are plenty other Big Reunion gigs and we are doing several summer concerts with them so that'll be good!
How do you get on with the other bands on the tour?
We hate them... no, we are all old friends and have done many tours with most of the bands before so it should be one big party. Looking forward to catching up with all of them.
What's your wildest or craziest moment from your career so far you haven't shared with anybody yet?
I think it would be having dinner with a football team in Monaco. I had no idea who they were until I walked out of the restaurant with the chap I had been speaking to the whole dinner, at which point the paparazzi went crazy. It was only when I got home and looked at my Playstation Fifa Soccer game I realized it was Ronaldinho and the football team was Brazil. Felt pretty silly!
How did you find the experience of filming The Big Reunion?
It was fun reminiscing on everything but it brought up a lot of tricky subjects that we had never really spoken about - the hardest being the tragedy in Indonesia. Still brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.
At that point in the series you revisited an emotionally devastating moment, do you think the show helped you lift some of that emotional baggage?
As I said in the previous question, it was very hard - that kind of thing I don’t think you can ever get over. It was therapeutic to be allowed to speak about it, but it was very upsetting having to go over it in detail and re-live the situation in my head.
Do you ever wish Paul was with you on this journey, and how different do you think the Big Reunion experience would have been with him onboard?
I think it would have been nice for the fans, but going by his tweets and reactions to things since, I think he is in a very different place to the three of us and it would have probably been good TV, but very destructive for us as a band. We are strong as a 3 and have had great success without him. He was the cause of our split the first time around and I have no doubt he would have caused the same this time too.
Should fans expect supergroup collaborations on the tour or following?
I'm sure there will be a few opportunities of the sort, even if it's just for fun, gatecrashing each other's performances. I know Scott from FIVE is a huge fan of some of A1's ballads so no doubt he will make an appearance on stage with us for those.
If you could take a member from one of the other bands on this tour for A1, who would you choose?
I would probably choose Kenzie because he can hit that 'Take On Me' high note every time without blinking an eyelid, so we could alternate the choruses and give my voice a break.
Will A1 be working on new material going forward?
We have 2 unreleased studio albums which we have yet to be released in the UK so we may do that, or a combination of the 2.
We are always writing new material so we could come with something completely fresh but there is a lot of good stuff on the existing albums, it seems a shame no one here has heard them!
We are all working on our own projects at the same time so its a super busy time for us - at the moment im in the thick of writing a musical called 'Eugenius' (www.eugeniusthemusical.com) with Suzanne Shaw and that's shaping up amazingly! Exciting times ahead!
The Big Reunion Boyband Tour will play 15 Arena's across UK & Ireland this October and November. Tickets on sale now at www.livenation.co.uk