Robbie wouldn't have lasted 5min in E17

Quoted from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/

'TONY MORTIMER has revealed being in EAST 17 left him suffering from anorexia and agoraphobia.
And the man who penned all the band's hits reckons their 90s pop rivals TAKE THAT couldn't have coped with the same excess.
In an exclusive interview he told me: 'Robbie and the other Take That boys would not have lasted five minutes in East 17 - it was that full on we nearly didn't make it.'
The band - Tony, BRIAN HARVEY, TERRY COLDWELL and JOHN HENDY - reunite nearly a decade after they split to play an emotional comeback gig in London on May 30.
But Tony, the only band member still financially secure, admits they are lucky to be alive. He confessed: 'We killed off boy bands. But East 17 almost destroyed me.'
Three years of working seven days a week and not knowing where you are or what day it is takes its toll.
'At the end I was anorexic. I was over 6ft tall and weighed nine stone but I didn't think I looked skinny. East 17 almost ruined me, which is why I kept saying no to reuniting. I was so stressed out with being in the band I can't even remember the time I met PRINCESS DIANA. Toward the end I hid away after gigs and when the band split up I became really agoraphobic.
If you walk out of the house everyday and hundreds of people mob you it has a mental effect. The day after we split I had nothing to get out of bed for and when I did I got hassle. So I stayed indoors up until only two and a half years ago. I put myself through therapy, got self-coaching CDs and saw a psychiatrist. I still get long times where I don't leave the house. But I'm a stronger person now. It will be hard to go back to who I once was - but I think I'll be fine.'
All the boys have been poring over old East 17 songbooks to re-learn the words to their hits.
But Brian is worried operations to save his life after a freak accident involving his own car last year may have affected his voice.
He said: 'They operated on my throat so I couldn't talk and my lungs were completely flattened so it is really testing me doing this gig.'
Tickets for East 17's live comeback at the Shepherd's Bush Empire are available now by calling 0870 400 0688. Or log on to http://www.getlive.co.uk.