Reports surfaced last month that Sony reneged on a deal which would have seen the newly reunited quintet release the long-awaited follow-up to 2000’s 'Buzz.'

However, the 37-year-old said told The Daily Star that the group didn’t have any concrete plans to head back into the recording studio:

“There’s talk of a new album but it’s just speculation.

“We would love to do it but we haven’t actually sat down with anyone to discuss how Steps might work in the modern world, and with which producers.”

The ‘Tragedy’ stars, who yesterday were announced on the bill for July’s PWL reunion show in Hyde Park, will kick off their sell-out UK & Ireland arena tour in Belfast on Apr 2 and Lee says that the group will not disappoint:

“We ain’t got any elephants on stage but we’ve got a few things the fans really want.”

The 26-year-old drummer, who beat Jason Donovan and Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey in the 2011 final, is seen fitted out in scuba gear whilst submerged in a massive swimming pool alongside dancing partner Aliona Vilani in a picture released earlier today.

The McFly drummer said he was initially bewildered when told of the unusual routine: "When I first heard about Strictly Underwater, I thought, 'How is that going to work?'. I didn't quite understand what they meant and I didn't think it would work – but it does."

Judd first became involved with Sport Relief when McFly released a cover of Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ for the official 2006 single and in the same year also travelled to India to play in several cricket matches for the charity.

The spectacular performance, which sees the pair dancing to Take That’s 'The Flood,' will air on BBC1 on Friday night.

The UK boyband, who are set to chart inside the UK Top 5 this week with their official Sport Relief single, ‘Proud,’ told The Daily Mirror that they regularly have to deal with negative comments from social network users.

Aston says he found it hard to deal with the criticism early on in their career:

“It’s pathetic that people have got so much time and energy to put into negativity. When we were starting out you couldn’t help but read all these negative comments on the internet.

“I’d ask myself ‘Why would someone hate me so much?’ It is hard. All the smoke and mirrors... everything looks great on the outside, but stuff happens behind closed doors that isn’t always so great."

The 24-year-old, currently in the middle of the band's 4th Dimension arena tour, also blasted those who targeted his sister following the band’s X-Factor success:

“I was bullied a little when I was younger, but what tipped me over the edge was her. It was hard for people around us to get to grips with our success, and my sister got bullied as a result.

“We’ve had racist abuse be it on YouTube or Twitter, all the troll stuff. How people can lower themselves to that set of mind... It’s wrong, awful.

“You just have to be thick-skinned in this industry and try and ignore it. But now I don’t read the comments. It’s a case of be the best you can be, and the old saying, ‘If you’ve got nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all’.”

According to Nielsen Soundscan, the X-Factor boyband sold 176,000 copies of 'Up All Night' over the last seven days to keep fellow Brit Adele’s '21' and last week’s chart topper, Bruce Springsteen’s 'Wrecking Ball,' off the top spot.

The achievement surpasses the debut position of The Beatles’ first US release, 'Introducing The Beatles,' which charted at number four in its first week in 1964 and the Spice Girls’ 'Spice,' which entered at number six in 1997.

The album’s success tops off an incredible start to their American career, which has seen the quintet score a hit single with ‘What Makes You Beautiful,’ appear in front of 10,000 screaming fans on The Today Show and support Big Time Rush on their arena tour.

The band’s official Twitter account earlier posted this message: “Congratulations to One Direction for coming in at #1 on the U.S. @billboard charts. Thank you to all who've been there from day one. 1DHQ X.”

Named after the band’s 1978 hit, the Amanda Byram-hosted show, which kicked off on Sunday night, sees wannabe pop stars who fail to impress the judging panel get ejected from the stage via embarrassing methods including horizontal bungees and trap doors.

But the 64-year-old, who along with Roger Taylor and the remaining finalists, appeared on The X-Factor to perform ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in 2009, was keen to voice his disapproval of the concept:

"Of course with this title people are going to think it's something to do with us, Queen. But it's not. It sure looks like just another cheap way to humiliate people.

"If you ever see me sitting on a panel acting like I think I'm God Almighty and making demeaning remarks about fellow musicians, you have my permission to shoot me. With a rubber tommy water gun."

The legendary musician, currently in the charts with Dappy collaboration, ‘Rockstar,’ will join the rest of his Queen band-mates and guest vocalist Adam Lambert for a special performance at the Sonisphere Festival in July. 

The 31-year-old Irish singer, who will be seen in his judging role on The Voice for the first time this Saturday, told the Radio Times that he’ll always be grateful to the former Beatle for personally inviting them to open his three shows at New York Mets’ stadium in 2009.

“He gave us our big break when he booked us to perform with him at the Shea Stadium. We made him a personalised bottle of whisky to say thank you.”

The Dublin trio were virtual unknowns in the States before their support slot, but went onto score a Top 20 hit with ‘Breakeven’ and a number three album with second release, ‘Science and Faith’ in the Billboard charts.

O’Donoghue also went onto reveal that his father was the main inspiration behind the band’s early material:

"My dad, Shay O’Donoghue, was a singer but passed away four years ago. I grew up in a house full of music."

The Oklahoma quintet’s new record, ‘The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends,’ also features collaborations with Erykah Badu, Nick Cave and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, alongside several tracks that have previously been released on various EPs. 

The album, which will be issued on a double multi-coloured vinyl set, has been put together specifically for Record Store Day on Apr 21, but fans will have to be quick to get a copy due to its deliberate limited edition pressing. 

Wayne Coyne’s band joins the likes of Kate Bush, Noel Gallagher and The White Stripes on the list of artists who have contributed material to this year’s annual celebration of independent record stores.

The ‘Kickstarts’ star, who previously said his new album would be finished by the end of February, told his one million followers he was in the studio with the Scottish producer/DJ before posting a photo of the pair enjoying lunch.

The 29-year-old said: "Studio with @calvinharris. He's eating bananas. I'm on a Mexican hype.

"Calvin is a fussy eater. LA has changed him. We're making a song btw - not just eating"

The pair had previously collaborated on a track for Example’s second album, ‘Won’t Go Quietly,’ but it’s not yet clear whether their new song will appear on his forthcoming record or Harris’ third effort.

The ‘Glad You Came’ boyband looked exhausted as they left the plane but still found time to pose for pictures, sign autographs and chat to the hordes of teenage girls who greeted them.

Max later tweeted his delight at their rapturous reception: “Great seeing all the fans at LAX....... WHAT A WELCOME THAT WAS”

Jay then added: “Big cheers to the fans at the airport/hotel! You're better company than our tour manager by faaaaaaaar,” before Tom posted: “In LA. Tired but ready to drink x.'”

The band then hit the town with Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun and pop-punk band All Time Low, whose lead singer, Jack Barakat, later uploaded a picture of the night out, declaring: "What a bunch of good looking people."

The quintet made the 11-hour trip from the UK to L.A. ahead of an eventful week which sees them release their second US single, ‘Gold Forever,’ and appear on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno later this evening. 

The singer and rapper is best known for her colourful hairdos and often outlandish attire, but speaking to Complex magazine, she reiterated her stage persona doesn't translate into real life.

She said that her personality hasn't changed since she became famous, conceding that she never liked going clubbing or going out. She said:

"I'm the biggest homebody. But I've been like this. Nothing about me has changed since I got fame. I never liked to go to clubs. I never liked to go out. I don't know where that public craziness came from. I was always like a comedian to my friends and family, but in a lot of ways I'm shy. I think people read my shyness as being mean. They misinterpret it."

Minaj also revealed her dislike for rehearsing and her penchant for improvisation. When asked if she rehearses face and body movements, she replied:

"No, I hate rehearsing. I never rehearse what I'm gonna do in a video. It's just that I have this love-hate relationship with the camera. I wanna please the camera so bad. The perfectionist in my brain is like, 'You have to be on.' I always want to feel like I gave everything my all and never, never, never exhibit laziness."

Speaking to Sirius Radio's esteemed host Larry Flick, she admitted that she felt like she had "things to get off her chest".

The Queen of Pop recently released her directorial debut 'W.E' but she admitted that she had been hankering to get back to the "raw emotion" of music. She said:

"I felt like a caged animal. While I enjoyed the expression of filmmaking, and I'm really proud of my film, I felt like I really wanted to get back to basics of chugging my guitar and the simplicity of raw emotions."

She added that her daughter Lourdes will coming out with her on her upcoming tour. When asked about the rumours that she would be joining the tour, Madonna said:

"Well she is definitely going on tour with me. I gotta keep my eye on her, she is 16. But she hasn't decided on what she wants to do yet. This is how we roll. She plays the piano beautifully, she's an incredible singer, but she's going through that 'I don't want anybody to notice me phase', so she might be doing hair and makeup or dressing people in the wardrobe department, who knows."

The singer had announced in late February that she had been forced to cancel a number of performances in order to rest her voice.

She had experienced difficulties with her vocal cords and was told to rest her voice by doctors.

In a statement posted yesterday (March 19), it was revealed that progress is going well and that she is on course to recover fully in a month. The statement said:

"Celine Dion received good news last week during her follow-up examination with Professor Gerald Berke at the UCLA Medical Clinic. The rest that Professor Berke prescribed allowed Celine's vocal chords to recover from their weakened state and it is expected that she'll be back to 100% within four weeks time."

The singing star was a contestant on the eighth season of the TV talent show, ending the series as runner up.

However, speaking at a fan event hosted by radio station KC101, Lambert admitted that he hasn't seen music mogul Simon Cowell since the show - and revealed they barely even spoke whilst on it. Speaking about Cowell, he said:

"The only time I ever talked to Simon was when you guys saw me talking to him on camera. I never spoke to him except for one time when he picked my song, towards the end. I haven't seen him since."

When asked if he had a lot of interaction with him on the show, he replied:

"No, it's just what you see on camera. I think that's probably for the best, they want to keep it fair, want to keep it official."

Lambert recently attended another fan event, taking time to speak about gay acceptance in the American music industry - suggesting that the business is not ready for a gay love interest in a music video yet.

According to the Telegraph, Michael has confirmed he will reschedule the tour dates originally postponed when he fell seriously ill late last year.

He was treated at a Vienna hospital where staff brought him back to health, with Michael admitting that he could have died.

And the newspaper reports that he is inviting 1,000 staff from the hospital to a gig in Vienna. Michael is reported to have said in a statement:

"I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you first to the doctors and nurses who saved my life and took such great care of me," said the singer, who also thanked his friends and family for their support. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone."

Rescheduled dates are due to be performed later this year, with a show at London's Royal Albert Hall planned for September 29.

The Beckhams took in a soundcheck whilst the UK boyband were out in the country in their attempts to break the market.

The Wanted's Jay McGuiness told The Sun that Parker taught Brooklyn, who had been playing guitar for three weeks, the Oasis hit 'Wonderwall'. He said:

"Tom taught Brooklyn how to play Wonderwall, which was a beautiful moment. He'd only just starting learning how to play three weeks before and is well into his rock music. He told us he likes music as well as football but he doesn't really know which way to go."

As previously reported, Tom Parker was recently embroiled in some Twitter fisticuffs with members of The Only Way Is Essex cast, who called him the "ugly one in the band".