Formed by the same team that managed the Spice Girls 1997, more than 3,000 hopefuls responded to a newspaper advert seeking to put together the hot new boyband that would become Five.
Even comedian Russell Brand auditioned for a part with a ‘disastrous’ performance of More Than Words by Extreme.
But it was Ritchie Neville, Sean Conlon, Scott Robinson, Jason 'J' Brown and Abz Love who were chosen for the final line-up, and after signing a six-album deal with Simon Cowell and BMG/RCA they went on to sell 10million records worldwide.
With hits including Slam Dunk (Da Funk), When The Lights Go Out, Got The Feeling’, Everybody Get Up and We Will Rock You - which marked its 20th anniversary in 2020 - the band was rarely out of the top 10.
But by January 2001 the wheels were starting to come off. Huge cracks had formed under the pressure of fame, triggering mental breakdowns, drug addiction and a suicide attempt.
Sean, now 39, was the first to quit in January 2001 after suffering a breakdown. According to Ritchie, 41, their management kept his departure a secret, and when a cardboard cut out of the star was used in the video for Let’s Dance, the group believed he was simply off with glandular fever.
Sean later explained he’d lost sight of himself and needed to get out for the sake of his mental health.
He told ITV’s Big Reunion in 2013: "I remember looking in the mirror and thinking to myself, 'Who is that?' I didn’t know myself and I just had the strongest feeling that no matter what happens no matter how much money they throw at me I’ve got to find Sean, otherwise I make thousands of pounds but I’d be spending it all on therapy."
By the end, Ritchie admitted they’d become ‘delinquents’ who were ‘bordering on being arseholes’. And he knew the end had come when he saw Scott, 41, looking ‘inconsolable’.
"We were in this hotel and Scott just broke down, he was crying his eyes out. J and I walked out to him and put our arms around him and he said, 'I just can't do it anymore,’” he recalled in the same show.
"I remember looking at Jay and he just looked at me and just went, 'It's done isn't it?' And I went, 'I think it is.’”
J also suffered a mental breakdown during filming for the video for Don't Wanna Let You Go. Chronic insomnia had left him feeling ‘on the edge’ and having previously suffered from depression, one night he took an overdose in an attempt to end his life.
"I tried to finish myself off. When I came round, the feeling was panic, and I realised the level of desperation I'd fallen into to contemplate that," said the star, who declined to rejoin his bandmates for the reunion.
Meanwhile, Abz - who was born Richard Breen but changed his name so as not to be confused with Ritchie - lost his way after their split, spiralling into drug addiction and psychosis.
"I didn't want the band to split at all. I was lost, they were my lifeline. I didn't have any friends or family at the time. I started hanging around the wrong people, paying people to be my friend," the 41 year old told Loose Women in 2018.
"I met the devil and it looked like me. I don’t know what it was, I was so far off. I remember my heart palpitations felt like they were punching through my chest into the mattress.
"It happened twice, and the voice said 'One more time, one more time and we’re gonna take you.' It wasn’t exactly like that but I knew then I had to sort it."
Determined to move away from drugs, Abs relocated to Wales and bought a farm. In 2015 he tried to flog his BRIT Award on eBay to raise cash for soil and gardening tools.
Ritchie moved to Australia in 2004 and worked as a sommelier before opening the Guerrilla Bar and Restaurant in Sydney.
In 2013 he started dating Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton and they welcomed daughter Ella Rose in September 2014 before splitting in March 2016 - just five months after announcing their engagement.
"There is no one reason for the failure of our relationship. Unfortunately it is just the way things turned out and it's no one's fault,” the former couple said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, Scott Robinson initially retired for life as a house-husband. Yesterday, he revealed on Instagram that he has been diagnosed with covid but reassured fans that he doesn’t ‘feel that bad’.
He has four children, is married to wife Kerry and joined Essex Radio as part of the drive time team earlier this year.
Sean lives a quiet life and was last known to have one daughter with his wife who prefers to stay anonymous and little is known about J, who has declined to join any reunions, explaining that he has finally found peace through meditation.
"I'm happier now than I've ever been," he said in 2013. "Life is f***ing brilliant."