Jason ‘J’ Brown is making a shock pop comeback after confirming he is rejoining boyband Five.

The rapper, 48, last made a public appearance in 2013 when he featured on ITV2 series The Big Reunion in which he hit back at bullying accusations from fellow band members.

But the reclusive Warrington-based star revealed on Tuesday night he is returning to the boyband alongside Abz Love to complete the original line-up ahead of a huge tour announcement.

Five members Scott Robinson, Richie Neville and Sean Conlon have continued to play gigs as Five as a three-piece in recent years but now the boyband are fully back together, a huge arena tour is expected to be confirmed on Thursday.

A music insider said: ‘J coming back to Five is a huge development – nobody ever thought he would return to the limelight.

‘He’s kept his head down for over a decade, with no intention of returning to the public eye and communication with his old bandmates has been few and far between.

Jason ‘J’ Brown is making a shock pop comeback after confirming he is rejoining boyband Five ahead of the group officially announcing a huge tour

The rapper last made a public appearance in 2013 when he featured on ITV2 series The Big Reunion in which he hit back at bullying accusations from fellow band members 

The reclusive Warrington-based star revealed on Tuesday night he is returning to the boyband alongside Abz Love to complete the original line-up ahead of a huge tour announcement (pictured in 1999)

‘He’s been more of a recluse than Jason Orange so it’s a real coup for Five to have him back.’

Five have been teasing their comeback on social media for the past few days and created a new website and Instagram, both stating ‘27.2.25 Loading…’

On Tuesday night, the Instagram account posted a picture of a conversation between the band starting with J, who has created his first ever Instagram profile, commenting: ‘Mic check… is this thing on?,’ adding ‘Five bad boys are coming to rock’, a lyric from the band’s song Everybody Get Up.

Aside from his cameo on the Big Reunion, J’s last prominent showbiz appearance was starring in the 2007 series of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, finishing in third place.

The rapper’s time in Five, like his bandmates, was marred by mental health issues.

Five accused their record company of working them into the ground to capitalise on their popularity.

They were put together as a male version of the Spice Girls and earned a reputation for being the ‘Bad Boys of Pop’, a тιтle their boss Simon Cowell lapped up.

Speaking on the second series of The Big Reunion, to explain why he didn’t rejoin the band for the nostalgic pop tour and hit back at accusations he bullied band members, J said: ‘Stuff’s been said that’s actually not true and it has had a deep impact on me.

Five were put together as a male version of the Spice Girls and earned a reputation for being the ‘Bad Boys of Pop’, a тιтle their boss Simon Cowell lapped up 

J’s last prominent showbiz appearance was starring in the 2007 series of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, finishing in third place (pictured November 2007)

The rapper’s time in Five, like his bandmates, was marred by mental health issues, with J confessing he attempted suicide before finding fame with the group (pictured November 2007)

‘I thought, I actually can’t believe what I’m hearing and who I’m hearing it from.’ 

‘I was loud and a bit aggressive at times, and I was physically bigger than them so I can see how that could have been taken a certain way. But never in my mind was I so-called bullying people.’

J also admitted he went through major depression before his career took off with the boyband.

He said: ‘When I was 19 or 20, leading up to when I got into Five, I was actually in a really desperate way, psychologically.

‘I’d been depressed and I took about a box and a half of painkillers and tried to finish myself off.

‘I came around and the feeling I had was of panic because of what I’d done, because I realised the level of desperation I’d obviously fallen into, to even contemplate going through with that. But I didn’t want to exist any more.’

He insisted he would never return to Five, adding: ‘Being in that band just wouldn’t work for me. I actually couldn’t do that now. I’d be lying to myself and lying to other people if I tried to put myself on stage.’

Five have sold over 20 million records worldwide and bagged three UK No1s, Keep On Movin’, We Will Rock You (featuring Queen) and Let’s Dance.

One of the boyband’s biggest moments was opening the BRIT Awards in 2000, a year before they split.

Sean was the first member to leave in August 2001 after suffering a mental breakdown from stress and depression.

But before that, Scott secretly wanted to leave after having similar mental health issues, but stayed on until the band officially folded in September 2001.

The boyband attempted a comeback in 2007, with Scott, Sean, Richie and Abz on board, but after failing to secure a record deal, they abandoned plans eight months later.