So I set you all that challenge.

You know, the one where I said,

“I want to know about your first ‘celebrity’ crush. You know, the one you fancied from that band, or that film, or who read the news, or who won Gold at the Olympics.

Did you have their pictures on your wall or in your locker?

Did you dress like them, style or colour your hair like them, follow them, meet them, marry them? (It could happen.)

Photos of THEM would be good, photos of YOU at the time you liked them would be even better.

Also, if you have time, I’d like to know whether they had any influence over your life, the person you became, or if they were just an embarrassing blip you would kind of rather forget about.”

And I bet you were all thinking, Jo must have a reeeeeally cool celebrity crush, someone like Bob Dylan, or Mark Bolan, or (tries to think of someone cool from the eighties/nineties but fails miserably), erm, somebody else who was cool.Well, I was born in 1975, and though I ‘liked’ certain pop stars as I grew up, and fancied a couple, it wasn’t until one band hit in 1988 when I was 13 and, erm, hormonal, that I finally fell in love with some.

I was one of those kids who generally followed along with her big sister. She liked Duran Duran, I liked Duran Duran. She liked Bros, I liked Bros. But in my defense, I always fancied the ones nobody else fancied, because;

a. I wanted to be different to my big sis
b. I wanted to be different
c. I had a thing for the underdog

But when THIS band arrived, I heard of them first, so they were mine.

To be honest, it wasn’t a musical thing. I still hadn’t found my music, but it was totally a teen thing, a heart throb thing, a jumping on the bandwagon and enjoying the ride thing. Even then, I knew that musically that were a bit cack, but there was something for everyone there, and the way they were marketed meant even the shy, chubby kid with the glasses and the less than cool outfits was made to feel accepted and loved.

They covered my walls and ceiling. Literally.

Their names covered my school books, along with variations; Jo Knight, Jo Whalberg, Jo McIntyre.

When a new single, album or video came out I rushed to HMV and bought them, or begged my mum and dad for them, or ‘taped’ them off my mates. When I got home I’d play them again and again till I knew every word. I’d sing along plaintively or sit glued to the TV making little excited whoops and cheers, like a large and mostly bald chi hua hua.

I saw them in concert 5 times.

In short, I loved them.

This continued for several years, in fact, basically the whole of puberty. I suppose it helped that they were a similar age to me, the oldest, Jon, was 7 years my senior, the youngest, Joe was 3 years my senior, so, you know, perfect marriage material. And I suppose they were a safe outlet for those new and confusing feelings that came with the breasts and the armpit hair.

Whatever it was, these 5 men are my embarrassing secret.

I wrote them poems, knew everything there was to know about the, and discussed them daily with my mates.

In 1991 I won a competition in Smash Hits magazine and ended up having a weekend in London with my sister. I was 16, she was 18. We had a night at the Ritz, a chauffeur driven limousine, a trip to Harrods, dinner at The Hardrock Cafe, tickets to see ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet’, and £500 to spend.

You know what I spent it on?

Mostly these…

Yes, if you hadn’t already guessed it, I was a fan of ‘New Kids on the Block’, or NKOTB,
which stands for “No kids Ought To Buy” or occasionally, Nice Knitted Octopi Try Ballet.
(But generally it’s the first).

There.

It’s out there.

For you.

Are my cheeks red?

Well that’s kind of a personal question, but yes, a little.

Thanks God I hit 17 and developed musical taste. The hormones were settling down, the ‘being my own person and actually finding music I like’ was coming to the forefront, and bands such as The Wonderstuff, Senseless Things, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Lemonheads were in the charts.

Sighhhhh.

I got me some docs, some stripy tights, a very tiny skirt, and headed off to Rock City to find myself, and I never looked back.

Until now.

And then, I find this…

(There seems to be an annoying ad first, but it gets to them in the end.)

Can you believe it?

My celebrity crush have reformed, and have their first performance this week??

So will I be watching it??

Nahhhh.

They got me through my teenage years, but they’re just not my ‘thang’ anymore.

So, embarrassing blip?

Musically yes, but emotionally?

Well, they still hold a little corner of my heart.

Now click on the lovely list and go read everyone else’s celebrity crush stories. I know I will.