5ive star Ritchie Neville has claimed he was exploited by Simon Cowell when he was only making £100 a week when the band sold more than 20 million records.
During 5ive's heyday, Ritchie and his bandmates - Scott Robinson, Sean Conlon, J Brown and Abz Love - achieved numerous hit singles, including Everybody Get Up. Simon Cowell signed the group in 1997 for a six-album deal - but despite his support, they were being paid a small weekly amount.
Ritchie said he and his bandmates were only given "two days off in two years" and he said he even had his passport confiscated when he contracted chickenpox while on tour. The band were performing shows in Australia and New Zealand, when Ritchie was advised by a doctor to take two weeks off and fly home to his parents to rest.
But a label rep showed no empathy, instead telling him: "Doctors over-exaggerate, don’t they?" He said: "In the end, they wouldn’t give me my passport to fly home.
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Getty Images)"Scott [Robinson] had to go in and nick my passport and just hand it to me and bundle me in a taxi at four in the morning." The Guardian reports: "At the time, I didn’t think that much of it. Now, that’s an encroachment of power, isn’t it really? It’s almost imprisonment."
The Mirror has reached out to Simon Cowell's reps for comment.
Ritchie recalls his memories on Louis Theroux's new three-part documentary, Boybands Forever, in which the journalist and filmmaker delves into the 90s phenomenon. Including chats with members of Westlife, Take That and 911, it sees the stars of the bands look back on how they were treated during the time, by music execs and fans.
Elsewhere on Boybands Forever, which is available on BBC iPlayer, Brian McFadden reflects on the ups and downs of fame. In the documentary, the Westlife star gives a scathing insight into his seemingly close friendship with Louis, 72.
He admits: "I hated Louis. Louis would walk into a room and go, 'Hey everyone', and then he'd look at me and go, "Brian..." (Blowing his cheeks out). Basically saying that I'm fat. He was just horrendous. But very few things that he touched didn't turn to gold."
Discussing Westlife's meteoric rise to fame, Brian explained how he and Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan became well-known practically overnight. He revealed: "I was working in McDonald's as a security guard and six months later Swear It Again went to No1." Speaking on the three-part series, Brian explains: "It was made very clear to us by the powers that be that our personal lives 100 percent came second to Westlife. We had times where we had relatives die and we couldn't go to the funeral because there was a gig or an interview that day."
The Mirror has previously contacted Louis' reps for comment.
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