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Few boybands bigger than Five back in the nineties.

But at the peak of their fame, they dramatically disbanded in 2001, as the pressure and demands of celebrity and an hectic schedule had an impact on all of them.

Today, decades later - and to the delight of Millennials - Scott, Ritchie, J, Sean and Abz are back.

"The experience was overwhelming too quickly. Way too fast," one member reveals, while another member describes it as "like being strapped to a express train"

"I believe I was just in survival mode for five years, because I don't recall much of it," another bandmate adds, who was just 15 when the group was created.

Rehearsing Following Two Decades

The band welcomed me into the practice space ahead of their forthcoming tour, two and a half decades after they were last on the tour circuit together.

It's evident they're much more relaxed this time around, with J saying they feel "incredibly blessed" to have a another opportunity.

The band sold more than 20 million albums in the late nineties and early 2000's, with singles such as Keep on Movin' and their popular anthems.

However getting back together after over two decades doesn't come without risk. While some bands have successfully completed major concerts rapidly, others haven't been as lucky.

One member says all five of them couldn't sleep the night before their comeback was made public.

"I called my wife, Kerry, in the middle of the night and wondered: 'Suppose no one cares? Perhaps we think it's going to be this big thing and everyone responds, so what?'"

Were we still able to perform together?'

But luckily, the group's supporters remained loyal, and the band's arena tour of the United Kingdom, Irish venues, Australian cities and New Zealand is nearly completely booked.

"We knew we'd been successful but I'm not sure we understood the extent our earlier versions had achieved. And the degree to which we'd affected some peoples lives and the extent they'd loved us," a member explains.

Another thing the group were unsure about was the prospect of singing and dancing together again.

Sean clarifies: "We announced a concert series without even knowing [we could do it]. We had faith but we had to get into rehearsals to actually find out, but we can confirm it's still there!"

Looking Back on Early Fame

The band are now all in their forties but had just left education when they started. It was clearly an overwhelming time.

Ritchie remembers: "We got into it very early and we believed we'd hit the jackpot and all our dreams were coming true. In many ways, they were, but in some ways it became a nightmare mentally, [there were] a lot of things we weren't expecting.

"We'd wake up on a tour bus and think, not what country are we in, but what continent are we in?"

Another member agrees: "There are loads of memory gaps in our memories, and we've discussed this and determined that it was all so fast, and we were in survival mode for the entire period. It was similar to you were being pursued by an unseen force."

Rebuilding After Years Apart

Therefore after all that separation, the question of who initiated contact about the prospect of reuniting arises.

Scott reveals that not even being in the same space with his ex- bandmates for over 20 years had been weighing on him.

"I phoned my former bandmate and I hadn't communicated with him for 10 years, and one of the initial comments he expressed to me was 'How wonderful to hear your voice'. So we simply reunited - it wasn't about a tour, it was about being friends again.

"No one beyond this bubble understands what we experienced," he adds.

Support from Fellow Artists

Though one person who understands more than most about what Five experienced is Robbie Williams, who was a member of Take That before finding success as a individual performer.

The band performed Keep On Movin' with him at a concert in the capital this summer.

A member says he had "performer insecurity" and feared the audience wouldn't recognize who they were, "but it went off."

Sean adds that the fellow artist "understood everything we've experienced", mentioning the six of them conversed for an extended period talking.

On the emotional trauma Five went through, a member recalls Robbie told them it was similar to "bearing a heavy load of rocks and you need empty it day by day."

Changed Experience Now

According to one member, the entire situation of being back in the group is "the opposite of what it was previously."

"Our team we've got supporting us, how we're being handled. how we're being cared for, which is the crucial thing. We were previously but staff were kind of learning on the job."

Reflecting and Progressing

They've made peace and come back together now but if Five go back in time and experience everything again?

Abz says he would "but differently", while another member jokes: "With my current mindset, I'd love to do it, because I'd be checking the finances a lot more!"

The band's documentary is released from Tuesday 28 October. Five start their concert series on the following day in Cardiff.