Jonas Brothers are currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of forming the band, and in doing so they've been reflecting on the past two decades.
In a new interview with Variety, the Jo-Bros discuss many topics, including the media attention on their private lives, most notably their high-profile romances as teenagers - Joe Jonas dated Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato, while Nick Jonas stepped out with Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez.
One particular area of scrutiny the brothers faced was in choosing to publicly wear purity rings, a personal choice that was widely discussed and joked about, most famously on an episode of South Park. Of course, the guys have come to even poke fun of themselves for wearing the jewelry back in their teenage years, but they do think there was too much focus on such a personal decision.
“There was a lot of interest in our sexual life during our teenage years, which was odd,” Joe tells Variety.
Nick believes the constant curiosity over their sex lives was “very inappropriate,” noting that such topics are called out for being too invasive and judgemental in today's media landscape.
“If we were a small part of things — course-correcting people taking that much interest in teenagers’ sex lives — then I’m happy we went through whatever we went through to get there,” Nick admits. “But yeah, it was a bizarre time.”
The band also shared how reuniting in 2019, six years after breaking up, was never in the cards.
“I never thought we would get back together,” Kevin says. “I thought those days were gone when the band broke up. Me and my wife, Danielle, were about to have our first child. I dove into being a first-time father, that part of our life, and put aside my grieving process of the band. Then it hit me — I would be sitting on the couch doing nothing for hours, days. It was a change of not knowing who I was as a person. I learned there was depression involved and anxiety and so much that I was dealing with when my wife pulled me out of it.”
Nick agrees, adding, "I’ll say that I thought that when the band split up back in 2013, that really might be the end. And that was sort of a sacrifice in a lot of ways we all made to ensure that we were good as family first, and then once that healing happened, it’s hard to believe that we’ve now been reunited and doing this for as long as when we were apart doing our own things and spreading our wings. Overall, we feel like we’re having the most fun we’ve ever had."
Read the full interview here.