Yahoo News McFly are 'better than ever' and 'bring their best to the band now' says Danny Jones
McFly's Danny Jones says the band is 'better than ever' now and loving it more than ever, as he shared a story about how a leftover nacho became symbolic of each member's plans for the group.
The 36-year-old, currently appearing on BBC's Celebrity Masterchef, spoke about the band's hiatus, first announced in 2016.
He told Kate Thornton on White Wine Question Time that the time apart for the band, whose 2020 album was their first studio album in 10 years, was like a footballer having to rest after an injury.
The singer-songwriter and guitarist said: "We are better than ever now. Things need to stop for it to repair, things need to just slow down.
"If you have an injury as a footballer, you go and get it sorted, and you rest, you don't play. And I think that for us what we needed to do, we just needed to get our feet up and just rest and settle and appreciate each other and appreciate what we had."
WATCH: Danny Jones on McFly's rocky start, having dinner with Elton John, and embracing his love of food on MasterChef
He said he thought the band was 'peaking again' with more people seeing them play — at their Glastonbury 2022 appearance the field they were playing in had to be closed off it got so busy — and more people 'getting it'.
Jones added: "We're loving it more than ever, we're giving it more than ever. We understand what we are. We understand who we are as individuals.
"That's massive, because then you bring your best to what your band is."
He said the band, also made up of members Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd, had a whiteboard they used to answer the question 'what is McFly?' which helped them to realise that they wanted the group to be.
They have spoken before about the infighting in the band which led to their split, finally announcing they would be working on solo projects in 2018.
After Jones said being in a band needed good communication, 'just like any relationship' he and Thornton and Jones discussed it being 'like a weird marriage'.
"A sexless marriage is what it is," Jones said.
He went on to say: "The fact that we're still relevant, that we're still making music, that I'm still in a band, that I get to do what I love every day, still, and then manage to fit in Masterchef and The Voice Kids and all this. I'm super proud of that. Absolutely."
But it's been a long road to get back to this. The pair discussed a meal the band had when touring with super-group McBusted, formed of McFly and two members of Busted, when they had to discuss if they would bring McFly back again.
Jones said the band members had difficulty confronting the issues because they were so scared of hurting each other, as friends.
Read more: McFly sought group therapy before making their comeback
He also added that it wasn't just about friendships but about a career, a band and a business all in the mix.
With the exception of Judd, he said the other band members "weren't great at confrontation".
"Or we were scared of hurting each other because we were such good friends,' he explained. "I feel like that's with any friends.
"It's hard to tell somebody the truth. It's hard, and then there's a way to tell it."
As they shared a dish of nachos, Judd had raised "the elephant in the room" and got the band to talk about their future.
Poynter, who has spoken openly about his addictions including to alcohol and Valium, was the last to leave one of four nachos on the plate, with the others having eaten theirs in what they saw as a symbol of wanting to stay in the band.
Jones said: "The nachos became the symbolic, this thing of: 'This is his yes or no, guys. This is him saying yes or no.'"
He said it was a "weird moment" he couldn't explain, but also admitted he did not understand what Poynter was going through, as close as they were.
"I remember his pain," he told Thornton. "And him being backstage and I didn't know... Harry had to explain it a little bit more to me. And I've learned a lot from it."
He described Judd as "amazing" and said he was a bit of a translator for the band on how not to say things in a way that is offensive or overly emotional, but knows the benefit of talking things through.
Jones explained: "I'm very emotional, well I was, I'm much better now. I can't react straight away. I have to take a minute, dissect it, [and] come back.
"I always go away from an argument or from a conversation going: 'Why didn't I say that? It all makes sense now.'
"Because in the moment, I get really claustrophobic. I get stuck. I get angry. I get all these emotions or overwhelmed that I can't speak any sense."
WATCH: Danny Jones on the embarrassing boyband audition that changed his life
