Smash Hits Magazine

"One on One with A1"

The A1 boys have been begging Smash Hits to ‘Take on me’, so we put Paul, Ben, Christian and Mark in separate corners of a room and asked them to spill the beans.

MARK:
What would you do if your management decided to kick Ben out of A1 because of his haircut?
Get him to cut his hair. There’s only so long you can have that floppy fringe thing going on, isn’t there? Leonardo doesn’t look so bad without his fringe, so maybe Ben could go for that look.

Would you pose nude for a magazine, even if Paul wasn’t keen?
I tell you something, that is the most far-out thing that could happen – Paul would not be the one who’d be wimping out! If anyone was going to back out, it would probably be me. I don’t think anyone would offer us loads of money to pose Naked, though!

What do you think of other popstars like Marilyn Manson? Would you ever go on tour with him?
I think Marilyn Manson’s a bit of an animal. Don’t get me started on him. If he called us up and asked us to open his tour, I’d say we’d love to do it because we’d spread a bit of good instead on all that evil stuff.

What would you do if you had a girlfriend and she said she’d dump you if you didn’t quit A1?
I’d try and talk her out of it. And if she didn’t come round to my way of thinking I’d be, like, “See you later!”

BEN:
Is there anyone in A1 that you hang out with the most?
Not really, no. I’ll do different things with different people. I’ll go out with Paul, have a quiet evening with Christian, or go to the park with Mark. There are certain things in all of their personalities that I can really relate to, so it works beautifully.

Does being in the limelight ever bother you?
What, with fans? No, not at all. The fans put you where you are, so in a sense you owe it to them to spend time with them whenever you possibly can. The only thing I didn’t like was when fans found out where I lived, but they were very understanding.

You seem to have a really good relationship with them.
We do try to stop and talk to them whenever possible, and I think we appreciate the fans more than some bands.

Do you like the thought of girls fancying you?
Yeah! I don’t think I’ll ever tire of that. It’s what every bloke wants, isn’t it?

When was your first girlfriend?
I had a few when I was young, but they weren’t proper girlfriends, it was all holding hands and getting excited ‘cos you’d kissed someone on the lips. I think my first was my best friend Alex’s cousin, and we were just doing kiddy stuff, but at the time I was like, “Yes! I’m in love with this girl!”

Do you get embarrassed by fans proposing to you?
(Blushing) I get embarrassed all the time! When people come up to me and go, “Oh, you’re really good looking” it makes me go so red. It’s really sweet, but I never know what to say. And when they say, “Will you marry me?” I’m like, “I’m only 18, what’s going on?”

CHRISTIAN:
What makes you cry?
Sad movies, I always watch movies and cry. The last one was Gladiator, I cried when they killed his family (“Thanks!” cries Ben sarcastically. He hasn’t seen the film yet). I cry quite easily, I believe in letting emotions out, I’ll cry if someone tells me a beautiful story, or if I read about bravery.

Do you ever get jealous when a really nice girls walks up to Ben and say “I think you’re sexy?”
Well, y’know… “BEN IS MINE!” (Ben and Christian fall about laughing.) Just kidding! To be honest, I also get girls who think I’m sexy! Maybe not as many as Ben, but I get my fair share!

Have you ever stolen Ben’s hair straighteners as a joke?
I’ve nicked them to straighten my own hair, ‘cos it can get a bit curly sometimes, but never as a joke.

Now be honest, is your hair naturally blonde?
It’s naturally blonde, yes, but unfortunately there isn’t a lot of sun in this country so sometimes you have to help it along a bit. And the older you get, your hair does tend to get a bit darker. So I admit, I do help it get blonder.

What’s the worst haircut you’ve ever had?
Since I joined A1 I’ve had a lot, but I think the worst one was when I was a hair model at age 16, it was a flat top. Mind you it did make me look really hard, I was a football referee and as soon as I had my hair cut I got more respect off the kids!

PAUL:
You’ve had some crazy hair-cuts, what is the maddest ‘do you’ve ever had?
In the first week of my first year of secondary school, I let my dad cut my hair – and he shaved it all off! I had to walk into class late, and with a number one skinhead! It didn’t even make me look hard, I just looked like a pipe cleaner.

Do you get recognized as being from A1, or do people sometimes get all the boy bands confused?
If a girl came up to me and thought I was someone from another band I probably wouldn’t correct her. I’d be like “Yep, I’m Scott from Five, can I snog you?” Nah I’m only joking – I wouldn’t do that really. Well, it depends how much I liked her…

Do you and the A1 boys like to muck around with each other?
We’re always playing tricks on each other, but one thing we would never do is hide Ben’s hair straighteners. That would just be too dangerous – he’d probably throw a fit and jump out of the window!

Which A1-er is best at pulling girls?
Christian is brilliant, as is Ben. Christian can stand next to a girl, ignoring her, and his body language will make her talk to him. All Ben had to do is wiggle his finger and girls go mad. It’s okay, I don’t mind being small and ugly – I just hate Ben and Christian!

Thanks to Crimson who took the time to type this interview and forward the scans.

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