If you cast your mind back to Christmas in 1994, you might remember the hit single ‘Stay Another Day’ making it to the number one in the charts. The track was released by the boyband East 17 – who have since undergone multiple lineup changes.
One of the original members was John Hendy, who made up the band’s first formation in 1991. In June 2018, he departed the band and lives a much more ordinary life.
According to , John is now ‘much happier’ working as a roofer and doesn’t even own a house. He told MailOnline: “I haven’t even got a house and people think you’re millionaires and that, and I’m thinking, I don’t even got an house out of it. We should have all come out with a house, at least.”
He added: “When I turn up to a party and my rich friends are coming in their Porsche’s and Range Rovers and I’m pulling up in my roofing van and I’m like “oh mate, it makes me feel sick coming to your parties.”
John also acknowledges that he ‘lived the dream’ in East 17 but insists that he is much happier now working in the construction world.
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John Hendy (left) with the rest of East 17 (Image: Getty)
Fans hoping for a future reunion will sadly be disappointed, as John’s former bandmate Tony Mortimer confirmed that the group are no longer friends.
Tony told The Sun, “We were very young, and people forget how young we were. It was a great time, but it’s a huge change.”
“As you get older you have to be on the same page and we’re just not on the same page,” he told the . “I’ve tried getting the band together so many times, spent so much energy doing it, but it’s never come about.”
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The song, Stay Another Day, was inspired by a deeper meaning (Image: Getty)
The hit single Stay Another Day was inspired by Tony’s brother Ollie, who took his own life. In 2016, he revealed: “I had the melody and the chords and I was looking for a story to go on top of it.”
“It was based on my brother’s suicide and losing someone,” he added. “What would you do if you had one more day with a loved one?”
Mortimer also said that using his brother’s story was a ‘risk,’ but he wanted the song to mean a lot to people and wished the lines meant something to everyone.
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