How legendary UK boyband turned down Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time branding song ‘weak’

WHEN boybands ruled the charts successful the precocious Nineties and aboriginal Noughties, determination was not overmuch attraction paid to their intelligence wellness oregon the popular industry’s work of attraction to them.

Now immoderate of the biggest heartthrobs from that epoch person travel unneurotic for a caller docuseries to uncover what they truly went done down the scenes.

5ive had a drawstring of hits, including Keep On Movin’ and Everybody Get Up, but gave up caring, with Ritchie and J getting arrested for a barroom combat successful Dublin which they hoped would choler their bosses.

But Ritchie recalls: “The telephone rings and it’s Simon Cowell. Oh s**t. Thinking he’s going to beryllium similar ‘What the hell?’.

“His nonstop words were, ‘Well f***ing done, you can’t f***ing bargain publicity similar that. This is amazing’.”

And the boys almost sabotaged their ain occurrence by rejecting tracks that went connected to beryllium hits for different artists — including Britney Spears.

Manager Chris says: “We brought the boys into the workplace and said, ‘You’re going to perceive to this song, it’s called Baby One More Time’.

“And the boys went, ‘It’s f***ing w**k’. This couldn’t get immoderate worse.

“We besides got offered Bye Bye Bye which past became a monolithic deed for NSYNC arsenic well. The boys turned that 1 down.”

But the gait of beingness successful the accelerated lane took a peculiar toll connected Scott Robinson, who was distant from his now-wife Kerry for agelong stretches.

On reaching a breaking constituent successful 2001, helium remembers: “I pinned 1 of the large cheeses astatine the grounds statement up against his table with my foot, crushing him into the wall, and said, ‘I volition f***ing permission this band, you effort and f***ing halt me’, with Simon Cowell trying to combat maine disconnected him.”

Simon, 65, admits: “We astir ended up successful a fist fight. I was that adjacent to punching him successful the face.”

Scott adds: “I’d mislaid my mind. They had to telephone information and transportation maine retired of the gathering kicking and screaming similar a f***ing chaotic dog.”

Reflecting connected erstwhile they divided aboriginal successful 2001, Ritchie says: “The large calling for maine personally was, the prison condemnation and nightmare volition beryllium over. I tin conscionable beryllium Rich from Birmingham again.

“You were 100 per cent a commodity and a product.  That’s however you felt, astir similar a integrative doll.”

The archetypal 2 episodes of Boybands Forever are connected BBC Two connected Saturday astatine 9.15pm and 10.15pm.