I lost years of my life to drink when I hit epic low after boyband split reveals 5ive’s Ritchie Neville

NINETES boy band member Ritchie Neville has opened up about his experience of hitting an 'epic low' after 5ive disbanded.

The pop group was signed by Simon Cowell in 1997.

Despite quickly shooting to fame, the band split up just four years later.

Ritchie has spoken about how that affected him in an exclusive interview with the Sun's TV Mag.

The singer admitted he turned to drink when his career in music seemed to be falling apart, saying: "After the band, you know, I hit an epic low.

"Because I didn't know what I wanted to do anymore. And my heart wasn't in making an album.

"The powers that be wanted me to sing ballads. I like a ballad, but that's not what I want to do.

"I just didn't know what I wanted to do. I was completely emotionally and spiritually lost.

"So I did drink way more than I should for a few years there. I drank to forget."

The former hitmaker added that he lost two or three years of his life to drinking before Kung Fu helped him out of the dark hole.

Despite going through such a difficult time after 5ive fell apart, Ritchie has been firm about having no regrets.

Before they split in 2001, the band won a Brit award, had three UK No1s and sold ten million records worldwide.

Ritchie looks back on those days in the limelight with pride, saying "it's amazing, when I look back".

He also has a fond memory of playing Hey, Joe with Queen " just because we were three guys that really like Jimi Hendrix and music", which he described as "a really, really cool moment".

Ritchie has also shared more about his time in 5ive in new BBC documentary Boybands Forever, which is a three-part look into what life was like for teen pop idols in the 90s and early 2000s.

Read the full interview with Ritchie in this week's TV Mag, available for free every Saturday, only in The Sun