JLS have spoken about their children’s sweet reactions to seeing them perform live as they get back on the road touring after eight years.
The boy band – Aston Merrygold, Oritse Williams, Marvin Humes and JB Gill – split in 2013 after four albums together.
The Brit Award winners are currently travelling the UK for their Beat Again tour, however, this time around they are accompanied by an entourage of young fans as between them they share several children.
Gill, who has a son Ace and daughter Chiara with his wife Chloe Tangney, told Hello! magazine: “This is a very different tour to our previous ones – our dressing room has been turned into a creche!”
Humes has three children, Alaia-Mai, eight, Valentina, four, and one-year-old Blake, with his wife and The Saturdays singer Rochelle.
He explained that the two young girls came to see their show in Birmingham and his wife told him Valentina was “speechless” during the performance and kept her eyes wide open as she wanted to “take it all in”.
“She knows I’m in a band but she’s never seen a gig before,” he added.
Merrygold and his fiancee Sarah Richards also have two sons, three-year-old Grayson and Macaulay Shay, who was born in June 2020.
He revealed: “When Grayson heard the songs, he said: ‘Woah, this is amazing.’
“He’s always like: ‘Alexa, play Everybody in Love’.”
Williams also discussed what it was like having his girlfriend, singer Kazz Kumar, on tour with them, adding: “I wanted her to experience what my life was like before and how it is now.
“We’ve got these small bunks on the tour bus, and I told Kazz she’s gotta snuggle in with me.”
Reflecting on their relationship, he said: “I’ve never met somebody who I feel is just like a female version of me. When she starts a sentence, I finish it.”
Williams has a son who was born in August 2014 from a previous relationship.
Discussing the band’s new era, Gill said: “This is the new and improved version (of JLS).
“People will recognise the album for being us, but there’s some new flavours on there.”
What a first week on our Beat Again Tour! 4 shows back to back, kicking off in Glasgow, Newcastle and Birmingham and we loved every minute of it! Having our partners and family there this weekend was incredibly special so we’re feeling very grateful today on our day off… pic.twitter.com/OKQUdBQHh3
— JLS (@JLSOfficial) October 24, 2021
Their comeback tour had to be rescheduled until October and November this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Humes said: “We were wondering if the fans were going to scream as much this time, but I can safely say, it’s like we never left.”
The boy band recently performed their comeback single Eternal Love at the National Television Awards in September.
JLS first found fame in 2008 when they were contestants on The X Factor.
They came in second place, losing to Alexandra Burke, but they went on to release four albums – JLS, Outta This World, Jukebox and Evolution – before splitting in 2013.
Their new album JLS 2.0 will be released on December 3 and tickets for the JLS Beat Again tour are available now.
Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.