Matt and Luke Goss are as close as two brothers can be now – but it wasn’t always the way.
Born just minutes apart, the twins were inseparable as youngsters and former their band, Bros, with friend Craig Logan when they were just schoolboys in 1986.
The lads were catapulted into pop sensations and won over legions of fans in a hysteria of ‘Brosmania’.
Bangers such as ‘When Will I Be Famous’ and ‘I Owe You Nothing’ were chart-topping hits and they sold an estimated 16 million records worldwide.
When Craig left the band in 1989 the brothers decided to go it alone and played to more than 77,000 people at Wembley Stadium.
However, they officially split three years later after Luke told Matt: “I’m done. It’s not fun any more.”
So what drove a wedge between the brothers, who are both celebrating their 52nd birthday today, that resulted in them not speaking for a decade?
Craig Logan with Matt and Luke Goss at the height of their Bros fame in 1988 (Image: PA)
Recounting the moment their 15 minutes of fame were over in must-see doc Bros: After the Screaming Stops in November 2018, Luke explains he said: “This is official Matty, I’m leaving the band, Bros is done.”
He adds: “It was probably the most painful professional moment of my life.”
Unlike most boyband splits, Matt explained there wasn’t one cataclysmic falling out.
Despite both being in the Los Angeles area, they rarely saw each other as Matt enjoyed chart success with his solo career, while Luke became a Hollywood actor in big budget blockbusters including Blade II and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
With solo success the pair drifted apart as they sought to distance themselves from their boyband legacy.
“We were born on the same day, grew up together and went to school together,” Matt told The Mirror in December 2016.
“Then we were in the same band together. We had effectively one identity. It was too much.”
The brothers did not speak for a decade (Image: Getty)
But the death of their beloved mum Carol from cancer in 2014 put into sharp relief their faltering relationship.
“I got a call from my brother’s wife Shirley,” Matt said.
“Me and Luke just jumped on the phone and started talking. It was a couple of years after Mum passed. I realised, there and then, that Luke is the love of my life.”
It was a handshake in a Hollywood restaurant that brought the boys back together and set in motion one of the fastest-selling gigs in history – with tickets for their O2 show selling out in seven seconds.
The handshake didn’t just signal the return of one of Britain’s most successful bands, but marked the end of hostilities between the two brothers.
Despite being born 11 minutes apart, had barely talked over the past decade.
The brothers decided to make amends (Image: Handout)
“It’s fair to say we didn’t get along and didn’t speak for a long while,” Matt explained.
“I have to admit it was all very hard and very personal. The handshake changed everything. Now Luke is my best friend – again.”
Bros: After the Screaming Stops documented the lads returning to the UK for the reunion gig in the summer of 2017 as they attempted to mend their fractured relationship.
“If me and my brother can get back to the energy we had when we were eight years old, that’s it,” said Matt in the documentary.
“The reality of getting back together is seeing if we can put blood back into the veins of a very big pop band.”
Luke added: “Family can be challenging but at the end of the day we are brothers.”
The brothers were filmed as part of their hit documentary (Image: BBC)
But it wasn’t long before the duo struggled with the demands of rehearsals for one of the most hotly anticipated gigs of all time.
“I had an epiphany, I was like this is mentally difficult,” confessed Matt.
In one shocking scene, Luke was seen storming out of the rehearsal room shouting: “I can’t do this.
“We are behind schedule, we have a massive workload, we rub each other the wrong way. We are not the same people, and that’s OK.”
In August this year, Luke revealed what was behind the early atmosphere – and how they overcame it.
“There was tension because we were learning to play together again as a band and I had to use all my meditation and prayer practices to relax,” he told The Mirror.
“It allowed us to get things off our chests but I hope it also corrected some of the misconceptions about us that were radically inaccurate.”
The brother joined This Morning to talk about their new music, and why the documentary was ‘surprisingly therapeutic’ (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Their most fiery row came before an appearance on This Morning at the end of 2018, just moments before going live on air.
When Luke attempted to talk, Matt cut him off and yelled, “you’re gonna speak are you?” as he approached his brother.
With tensions at an all time high, the clash ended with Matt telling heartbroken Luke to, “go f*** yourself,” and storming off.
A few months later, the pair returned to This Morning to explain what really happened behind-the-scenes.
Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, who conducted the first interview, confessed they had no idea what had happened backstage.
“But in hindsight when I look back at that your [Matt] body language, you weren’t very happy,” explained Ruth.
Eamonn and Ruth admitted they had no idea about the row (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Giving his response, Luke said: “Well this is an institution this show and you guys are national treasures and there’s a responsibility to try and rise above what we were dealing with.
“But I have to say, the crazy side of all this is we have become closer through this process. It’s been like therapy in front of the nation – I’ve got my brother back.”
Opening up, Matt continued: “There were times where we hadn’t spoken and we hadn’t addressed so many issues – some very serious about our loss and about our mum and about the band.
“We had to carve out new careers for ourselves and I was over apologising for being the front man. I didn’t know when we set Bros up that I was the singer or what the dynamic would be. It was so new to both of us.”
The pair admitted that ‘creatives can lock horns’ and Matt dropped another classic ‘Bros-ism’.
Matt said: “Any great meal needs spice, and I think that’s what we are. We are two very separate ingredients that are essential to what we do as a band.
The brothers are closer than ever now (Image: Getty Images)
The brothers may quarrel but have gone from strength to strength since filming the documentary.
During an interview with The Mirror in August this year, Luke revealed they speak every single day.
“Once the bridge has been rebuilt,” said Luke, right on cue, “Only then can the water flow under it again.”
“My brother and I shoot the s*** about life and the band and business opportunities a minimum of once a day, at most four times a day.
“And we tell each other we love each other on every call, once at the beginning and once at the end and once in the middle.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
