Tony Hadley slams former Spandau Ballet bandmates over new mockumentary

"I’d rather be happy on my own than be in that band again," said Hadley
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George Fenwick6 July 2020

Former Spandau Ballet frontman Tony Hadley has hit out at Gary and Martin Kemp’s mockumentary about the band, saying he was not approached to participate.

Hadley, who quit the group in 2017, said he would “not have anything to do with” the spoof, which depicts Gary and Martin attempting to strike out on their own solo careers following the band’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

“I wasn’t approached and would not have anything to do with it. I’m done,” Hadley, 60, told The Sun.

“They want me back for good but it ain’t going to happen. I’d rather be happy on my own than be in that band again.”

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He continued: “If they want another lead singer, that’s their choice. But if you want to hear those songs sung by the original singer then you can only really see one bloke — and that’s me.”

The Kemps: All True, directed by Rhys Thomas, is an hour-long special featuring Gary and Martin Kemp which aired on BBC Two on Sunday night.

It follows the pair discussing life after Spandau Ballet and their new ventures – their charity album, vegan meat substitute and a new gangster film franchise.

The hilarious mockumentary is an outlandish hour that sees Gary and Martin poke fun at their own attempts at solo ventures, and it calls to mind the infamous 2018 Bros documentary - but Thomas said their project was in the works long before.

(L-R) Steve Norman, Tony Hadley, Martin Kemp and Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet (Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)
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“It took a long time to get on screen, apart from coronavirus,” he told Standard Online.

“So the Bros thing happened while we were in production, writing it. So this isn’t like a spoof of the Bros documentary. This is its own thing.

Bros - In pictures

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“The Bros documentary wasn’t intentionally funny, you’re laughing at them. While this is different, this is meant to be funny. A lot of the jokes came from Gary and Martin, a lot of the ideas came from them. This is intentionally funny, I hope.”

Despite Hadley’s misgivings, Thomas previously said the mockumentary was not intended to make fun of the band.

“The only thing I was concerned about was what we could talk about with the band, the political side of Spandau Ballet,” he said.

“That was my main worry so I checked that with them. The fact is, Gary and Martin are the ones that look ridiculous. That was what I was concerned about, but we felt it was fun rather than nasty.

Catch up on The Kemps: All True on BBC iPlayer.

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