Ashley Parker Angel still has ‘a bit of bad blood’ with O-Town, despite recent reunion

Angel, Erik Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood and Ikaika Kahoano were reunited on the MTV reality show “Making the Band” in 2000, before Kahoano left and was replaced by Dan Miller. After a few hits, including “Liquid Dreams” and “All or Nothing,” the guys disbanded in 2003 and pursued solo careers. MTV wanted to continue working with Angel, however, and gave him his own follow-up reality series, “There and Back.”

Appearing on Hollywood Raw Podcast with Dax Holt and Adam Glyn this week, Ashley opened up about what it was like behind the scenes when they split – and was asked if he thought there was any jealousy from the apart from the other guys when he landed his own show.

“Anyone who has ever been part of a team or a group, or any group and you share these incredible experiences, there is this very close brotherhood that happens. When O-Town broke up we were all on the same page it was probably time to try something new because our record company let us down when MTV didn’t pick up a fourth season of the show,” he explained. “And at the same time, the styles of music were changing. The boy band bubble was kind of bursting and we were the last to get there. I remember we were all very excited about pursuing separate efforts. »

“To answer your question, it’s interesting because if you watch, if you watch ‘There and Back’, there was one guy in particular in the band who didn’t show up…and that was the closest friend I had in the band,” said Angel, who did not give names. Looking at the episode breakdowns on Wikipedia, it looks like Jacob, Trevor and Dan all made cameos – while Erik’s name also pops up on the show’s IMDB page for one episode.

“All the other guys showed up to support me and were really cool about it. And there was a band member who was very do not cool about it, to be honest,” Angel continued. I never, ever wanted that. Especially when it’s a close best friend. I like all the guys in the band, but it was like my best, best friend in the band. »

Although he said most of the guys were “really supportive” of his own show, Angel also said there was “a real disconnect between me and what used to be my best friend in the band, to be completely honest”. He added: “And it still sucks because for me, I never wanted it to be. »

In 2014, the band reunited with Trevor, Jacob, Dan and Erik, while Ashley decided against pursuing a Broadway career in “Wicked.” Since then, they have been performing as a quartet.

“At the time, I booked my second lead role on Broadway and the timing was so awkward because I didn’t know what they wanted to do with it, or if they were going to do just one show, a couple, a tour and it was going to finish anything and I had this contract to do a show on Broadway, which was also a dream of mine,” Angel recalled. “So I always try to keep it open and fun, open. »

He said that while he was always promoting their new music while doing interviews for “Wicked,” he saw that when the other guys were doing interviews — “especially with a member” — he surrendered. account “that there was just a lot of slights, a lot of derogatory comments, a lot of discouraging comments and it sucks, because I never really wanted that. »

“There were some absolutely vicious attacks publicly on my character as a person, with this band member not taking it well and deciding to be pretty mean as well sometimes,” he said, adding: “I’ve never been there. »

Angel ended up having a random reunion with three of the guys — including the mysterious former BFF in question, he confirmed — at Ryan Cabrera’s wedding earlier this month. While Dan was out of the country, Jacob, Trevor and Erik were all there and the foursome seemed to be having a great time catching up.

“It was the first time that we were all together like this… it was the first time that four of us, including me, were together in this kind of, you know, in this kind of situation,” a- he declared. “It was actually really awesome. I feel like somehow you pick up where you left off. »

“Even though we don’t hang around all the time anymore, our lives have taken different directions, that thread is still there,” he continued. “So for me personally, it was really great to hang out and connect on this level where everyone could relax and have fun at a party. It was a super fun weekend. And it was like the walls were kind of coming down a little bit and I was even able to, you know, I was able to reconnect with each one of them, which was really interesting. »

He added that he and his former best friend had spoken and “it was good”.

“A lot of what I talk about feels like water under the bridge to me. I want to forgive, forget and move on. I don’t like to hold grudges or group dramas,” he continued. “I’ve always wanted things to feel really good. I hope they felt the same. Because hanging out at Cabrera’s wedding was the first time we felt like we had a chance to have fun together again, as guys who were part of the band. »

Angel also hasn’t totally ruled out reuniting the guys at some point and said he plans to support the band at a gig they’re doing in a few weeks.

“I mean, right now, I’ll be honest, there’s a bit of bad blood between…we would need to clean this up,” he added, before (apparently) joking, “Because I am almost a little bit nervous that if I got on stage he would try to trip me or push me off stage, maybe it would be a set up. »