Jason "J" Brown

Brown was born at the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot, and as a child he lived in Germany, Canada and all over the north of England. He spent his teenage and young adult life in Warrington and Newton-le-Willows before joining Five. Five were internationally successful, selling more than 20 million records over a period of five years.

As the oldest member of Five, Brown took a leading role as a dominant figure within the band, and he performed several rap verses on their songs. After the group's dissolution in 2001, it was alleged by Sean Conlon that Brown's treatment of him partially contributed to him leaving the band prior to the release of their third album Kingsize.

After Five disbanded in late 2001, Brown kept a low profile, although he was involved in several protests in the London area, notably against UK involvement in the wars in the Middle East. In 2006 he joined up with three of his former bandmates, Robinson, Neville and Love (fifth member Conlon was committed to a Sony contract and decided not join them) for a planned relaunch of the band. However, not enough record company interest was generated, and Five's comeback was abandoned less than nine months later.

Soon after Five's relaunch plan was abandoned, Brown became a contestant on the seventh series of ITV's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He made it into the final along with Christopher Biggins and Janice Dickinson, and finished in third place. He also appeared as a part of Anthony McPartlin's team on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (February – March 2008). Soon after he appeared on Fiver's Generation Sex, he has recently become involved in writing/producing for other musicians.

After Brown's ex-bandmate Conlon appeared on The Voice UK on 24 March 2012 and failed to make it past the audition stage,[1] discussions were had between the former bandmates about the possibility of a second reunion. Five later announced that they would be reforming for the ITV2 series The Big Reunion, but at the last minute, Brown pulled out of the reunion and refused to be part of the show, claiming that he no longer wants to be in the public eye.[2]

The Big Reunion: On Tour, an additional mini-series featuring the bands as they embarked on their arena tour, began airing on ITV2 on 5 September 2013. Brown refused to appear in the first series of The Big Reunion and only popped up in the second for a right-to-reply interview, where, aside from speaking about his shock and confusion at the anger aimed towards him, he also revealed a suicide attempt.[3] He acknowledged his behaviour could have been seen as loud and overbearing, but he denied bullying Conlon. During a meeting with former bandmate Abz Love, Brown explained he has moved on and that he does not feel comfortable returning to Five.[4]

• J Brown on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!