East 17: From Chart-Toppers to Homeless – What They’re Doing Now 30 Years After “Stay Another Day”

Famed for being the edgy rival to the squeaky clean Take That, East 17 paved a new way for boybands in the Nineties. 

Their bald heads, tattoos, and rebellious image instantly captivated women, taking over the music charts and appearing in the media.

Originally consisting of Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell, they swiftly rose to fame as one of the most favored boybands of the era.

Yet things came crashing down when lead singer Brian was sacked from the group in 1997 after boasting about his drug use.  

In the years that followed, East 17 had multiple lineup changes, with the original singers going on to have varied fortunes. 

The quartet have had very public bust ups, suffered financial hardships and with the exception of Terry, they no longer perform. 

This month commemorates the 30th anniversary of their popular Christmas song, “Stay Another Day,” which achieved global success by selling over 1.4 million copies.

So three decades on from the band’s heyday, MailOnline spoke with John and Terry to find out where it all went south for East 17.  

Terry and John have both had their ups and downs when it comes to finances.  

When East 17 were formed they were signed on a million pound record deal but their late manager Tom Watkins only paid them a wage of £125 a week – raised by £25 every four months. 

‘I look at other bands and see what they’ve got – bands who haven’t written their own songs and they’re still living in multi million pound houses,’ Terry mused. 

‘I wouldn’t say it stings because I’m not that type of person… just that the band ended. I went out and got a normal job because I had kids and that’s what you gotta do.

‘A job’s a job. I’ve always seen East 17 as a job – the best job in the world don’t get me wrong – but it’s a job.

‘I’m no bigger than the guy sweeping the street. We’re on the same, we’ve just got different jobs.

‘There was a time where I worked for Volvo, I’d drive the cars to the franchises and I was probably doing about 14 hours of driving a day. 

‘It was long hours but really crap money – about 45 quid a day for 14 hours – but you gotta do what you gotta do to feed the kids.’

Meanwhile, John now makes a living as a roofer. 

‘When I started working roofing I thought I was gonna get really badly put down,’ he confessed. ‘But I’ve had respect from people saying good for you getting back on the roof after what you’ve been through, what you’ve done. 

‘Some people say to me, “you must have no money”, I’m like, well we never got any money! That’s what people don’t get.’ 

John knows the value of money all too well. Recently, he fell on hard times and ended up homeless. 

He had moved to Spain with his wife Nina just before the pandemic hit and with lockdown crippling his business he soon realised he had to move back.  

‘We didn’t have any money’, John explained. ‘I had to borrow money from my cousin to get the flight back. Then we didn’t have anywhere to live, no one would put me up. 

‘My cousin paid for a hotel for about 10 days and then I had to get on Universal Credit. We ended up being put in a hostel and I lived there for a year and a half.

‘It was bad. You’d walk down the corridor there’d be crackheads in there. It was during Covid time as well and we had to share a bathroom. We had to share a kitchen. We were in a room with bunkbeds with the kids. 

‘It was the worst. I’d gone from all alright upbringing, to wow now I’m a star, then back to normality and then right back down.  

‘I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. Now when I see people out in the street begging for money, I always give them a couple of quid or something.’ 

After leaving East 17, Tony Mortimer stepped away from the spotlight to focus on songwriting and his family life and is living on a farm, although this year he re-released their iconic festive classic Stay Another Day to celebrate its anniversary.

Brian Harvey has had a tough few years, being stabbed in 2001 to nearly dying in a bizarre car accident in 2005.

In March 2021, Brian was arrested on suspicion of malicious communication – and posted the moment he was confronted by cops on his YouTube channel. 

He has since built up a large following on social media. 

Terry makes his living continuing to tour under the East 17 name but with different bandmates – Robbie Craig and Joe Livermore. They have a new single coming out next week. 

‘We run our own destiny now’, Terry explained. ‘We do all our own bookings, we manage ourselves. There’s never any pressure to release anything. 

‘Me and Robbie have never had an argument in 11 years and we talk to each other literally four or five times a day. We’re best mates, but it’s our business as well.’ 

It certainly seems calmer than the original lineup. 

East 17 have famously fallen out over the years – not afraid to deliver some very cutting remarks about one another. 

Just this week, John was caught in a war of words with Brian Harvey – with the pair taking to social media to hit out at one another. 

So is there any chance of reunion? 

‘That would never happen!’ John confirmed. ‘We tried a reunion before and then Tony wanted to beat up Brian and so that ended on the day, we met the production team. 

‘Then there was another time we tried it and nothing happened with that.

‘If things were different and we did all get on then it would’ve been nice to get out there and do a one-off tour for the fans.  

‘But if you look on the social media sites, everything that’s going on at the moment. it’s a nightmare.’

Brian, notably, has long been vocal about his disdain for his bandmates online.  

This week, John took to Instagram to hit back at Brian, telling him ‘stop f***ing banging on about everything… just move on with your f***ing life, you’re getting on my f***ing tits bruv.’ 

In response, Brian released a series of recordings of John from their last phone call in 2019. 

Explaining how the exchange came about, John shared: ‘I had fans telling me Brian needs help [because of his social media posts].

‘But he doesn’t need help, it’s just a cry for attention. But they kept on bombarding me so I thought I’d ring him.

‘Then I told him something about me that I’ve never told anyone and I didn’t know he was recording me. He’s posted it and how dare he. He had no right to do that. 

‘I was saying to my friend that it’s getting to the point where I’d have to go round there and sort the geezer out but he was saying don’t do that because you’ll just end up getting nicked!

‘He told me to get a solicitor because it’s just not right.

‘I just just want to be happy in life and move on and that’s what I try to say to Brian.

‘Just move on in life mate. Why keep digging up the past? It was 33 years ago, you know, nobody else is talking about stuff like that.’

Terry also doesn’t hold much hope of a reunion with the original lineup.  

‘I’ve tried to get us together over the years but it all fell through. I’ve kind of had enough really.’ 

Recently, Terry, John and Tony all featured on the BBC2 documentary Boybands Forever to reminisce on their time in the band. 

The trio were filmed separately and had no desire to catch up afterwards. 

‘We don’t talk,’ Terry explained. ‘But I don’t hold any grudges. There were good times and there were bad times but that’s like in any job. We lived together basically, we worked for three years without a day off so of course we argued about things. 

‘But I’m grateful for the times I shared with them.’ 

While there’s clearly some old wounds that time has yet to heal for John and Terry, they explained that they still look back at parts of their East 17 journey with fondness. 

There’s no escaping the memories around Christmas, with Stay Another Day played religiously around the festive season. 

So now it’s on its 30th anniversary, do they ever get tired of hearing it? 

‘I actually enjoy it more now,’ Terry confessed. ‘It’s the legacy that’s been left behind. 

‘When I’m up in heaven – hopefully not too soon – the great grandkids can say oh my great granddad sang that!’ 

‘When I was younger and in the limelight and it would start playing in Tesco I’d pull my cap right down.’ 

Meanwhile, John is just pleased to see one of their hits is still a fan favourite. 

‘I like hearing it because they don’t play none of our other songs!’ he laughed. ‘I think we had about 28 hits. So it’s quite nice to hear it.’

The music video for the Christmas hit saw the foursome don large white padded coats. 

Yet sadly, John and Terry no longer own the iconic accessories. 

‘I’m probably on my fourth or fifth white coat now,’ Terry laughed. ‘The old one fell apart.’ 

As for John he lost his coat during a bad breakup. 

‘I left her house with a couple of bags and my coat was up in the loft,’ he explained. ‘I’m never going back there!’ 

Yet while the coats haven’t lasted the test of time, it seems things are looking better for John and Terry.