Love: (TOTP issue 83)

Tell us, Ben, were you scared about your first kiss?
No i was quite excited until i realised how horrible it was cos we were both rubbish! We literally had no idea what we were doing. I felt sick and dizzy because it was so strange - sticking my tongue in somebody else's mouth. It was distgusting actually! I think i'd already told everyone i had kissed someone before, so i couldn't let them know by asking for advise!

Do you own any special pulling pants?
I've just thrown them away but i did have a pair of multicoloured pants - they were awful! I'm wearing a thong today actually and i'm not sure how that goes down with the girls, but i'm sure i'll find out pretty soon, ha-ha!

We bet you've written a love letter or three in your time!
Yeah, i've written loads! I usually write soppy stuff although it depends on how serious i am about her. If i'm really serious, i'll say stuff about the rest of our life. I really write a lot of them!

Time Machine: (TV Hits issue 149)

Watch out world!
Hello and welcome to 1981, the year i was born! I arrived in a nice warm hospital in Middlesex and my mum's brother said i looked like a baby monkey!

Things that go bump...
It's very vague but i still remember jumping head-first into a coffee table when i was three! Mum called me from the front room to tell me Garfield was on the TV. I came pedalling in on my tricycle and went straight into the table. Ooo, i can still feel the pain!

Fishy business...
Mum bought me two goldfish when i was four! They both has pop-out eyes and i named them Goldfish and Fish! Isn't that ridiculous! I was only five! They only lived for four months. I'll never forget watching mum flush them down the loo - sob!

Scary school days...
First day at primary school was so funny! I walked up the path holding mum's hand and i was really nervous. We didn't do anything but colouring-in all day. I thought, "If this is how it's going to be at school i think i'm going to enjoy it"!

Great! I'm an actor!
Christmas '87 was the first year i got into the nativity play! I played the back end of an electric eel! Don't ask! I don't remember an electric eel visiting Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus! Needless to say i didn't have any lines to say.

Moving and mates...
We moved house in 1991 so i left my old school. I made some really good friends at my new school and i still see them now. A couple of them are at Bristol University now and i see them every two or three weeks.

The start of A1...
I left school when i was 16 and started auditioning for different bands, i only had one audition before i joined A1. I got a record company and management offers straight away! It was great but it wasn't 'til i met Mark and Tim, our manager, that i knew this was what i wanted more than anything!

Yee-haa! Our deal...
We got our deal with Sony in 1999 and it all happened so quickly. We released 'Be The First To Believe', and 'Summertime Of Our Lives' and i moved out of home. I stayed on my mate Alex's floor 'til i had the cash to move in with Paul and Christian.

My first flat...
My parents bought a flat in London in 2000 and asked me if i wanted to move in. I love having my own space!

We're winners!
We won our first Brit Award in February 2001 - it was amazing! We just couldn't believe we'd won it. We celebrated in serious A1 style but we had to get up early for GMTV and we couldn't wake Paul - he'd just partied too much! Ha ha!

Fast forward to...
I'd love to fast forward 30 years and see what i'll get up to in the future. I'd love to see who i end up with, if i'll have kids and all that stuff. I really want to know what's worth slugging my guts out for, and what's not. At least then i could escape a lot of rubbish that's going to happen!

Star Dreams: (Tv Hits issue 149)

I had this hilarious dream the other day. Me and Christian were on the tour bus and we were ripping Mark and Paul to bits while they were asleep. Then Christian's neck started growing like a giraffe! He was laughing so much, then the same thing happened to me! Our necks wouldn't stop growing. I think it was a punishment for being horrible to the others. Wierd!

What it means...
Dreaming of necks means Ben'll come into some serious cash in the near future. As Christian's in the dream too this could also mean the same thing for him! Looks like writing songs pays off, fellas!