THEY sold over six million albums, had ten top-ten singles and were worth more than £2 million each at the height of their fame.

After a 12-year hiatus, broken only by their 2005 appearance in ITV reality show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time and occasional live shows, nineties boyband 911 are back.

The trio are starring in ITV2’s The Big R­eunion: On Tour – the follow up to The Big Reunion – and released their new album ­Illuminate ... The Hits and More and single 2 Hearts 1 Love, on Sunday.

In December, the band will join other The Big Reunion favourites for a seven-date arena tour – with plans for their own theatre tour in the spring.

The path to pop stardom has not been easy for 41-year-old dancer and singer Jimmy Constable.

Jimmy, who has lived in Eaton Socon for the past eight years, spiralled into ­depression following the band’s split in 2000 and became involved with drink and drugs.

He said: “I looked at committing suicide at one point because I was so low. After a ­couple of years of trying to get myself out of the ­situation I started songwriting again.”

The turning point came in 2005 when he rekindled his romance with wife Claire following a chance meeting at a Basildon nightclub.

He said: “We actually went out for about six months at the beginning of 911. She worked in the office for Boyzone but I was young and hormonal and she knew it wasn’t going to work out. We didn’t see each other for about eight or nine years. Then we happened to bump into each other and we hit it off – we knew that in some really weird way we were meant to be together.”

Claire, 36, grew up in St Neots and Jimmy “sold everything” and moved to the area in early 2006. The couple married in 2009 and have two children, Ellie, six, and Taylor, two.

Jimmy said: “Claire is very grounded and it helps she understands the music business. ­Having two kids changes your whole priority in life – I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

When asked about his second shot at fame, he said: “It’s a bit weird really, it’s kind of strange because everybody has moved on with their life now – life has changed so much.”

He credits St Neots with having a positive influence on his life.

He said: “Life is great, my kids love it here. It changed my view of hecticness. I came here and fell in love with it.”

INFORMATION: Illuminate ... The Hits and More is available to download on iTunes. For more information, visit www.911official.com