Two of the original stars of the group are relaunching as a duo, The Wanted 2.0 - but admitted they were surprised to be working together.
Max George and Siva Kaneswaran have told how their pop comeback will honour their late bandmate Tom Parker, saying they want to "have him with us the whole way".
The Wanted was originally a five-piece group, but George and Kaneswaran are relaunching it as a duo in The Wanted 2.0 following Parker's death in March 2022.
George and Kaneswaran also spoke to Lorraine about their surprise at working together, despite not being close during the peak of their fame.
What, how, and why?
Max George and Siva Kaneswaran have told Lorraine that relaunching their pop career as The Wanted 2.0 will be an emotional experience as they pay tribute to late bandmate Tom Parker.
Parker, one of the original five stars of The Wanted, died from a brain tumour in March 2022 after joining the group on dates of their last tour together during his final months.
George and Kaneswaran are now rebooting the group as a duo, The Wanted 2.0, and told Lorraine host Ranvir Singh how they would mark their friend's memory.
Read more: Boybands Forever
Kaneswaran said: "We can't help but miss him, seeing the old videos and seeing his face just brings it all back. We wanted to launch The Wanted 2.0 in Manchester Cathedral in association with a charity just to have a nod to Tom and have him with us the whole way."
However, the stars expressed their surprise that they had ended up working together as a duo after Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes chose not to rejoin the group.
George admitted: "I'm not going to lie, if you'd said to us 10 years ago that it'd be me and Siva doing this together we'd be like no, never. Because me and Siva, we weren't the closest throughout the band. We didn't live together."
Kaneswaran agreed: "Max was with Tom, I was with Nathan and Jay."
George continued: "Apart from working, we didn't spend any time together so I feel like I've got to know Siva more in the last year than in the whole 10 before it. Which is mental, but then to be on the road and it just be the two of us, you find out more about each other when it's just the two of you."
Talking about the others choosing not to return, George added: "We had lots of conversations with the other boys and each other. The other boys are so happy doing what they're doing and they're really focussed on their lives and their careers. Me and Siva were just constantly like we want to get out there and continue the legacy of the band."
Kaneswaran said: "We missed being in the band...we really wanted to get back on stage."
Max George and Siva Kaneswaran on the pressures of boyband fame
The pressure of boyband fame is in the spotlight thanks to Louis Theroux's BBC documentary Boybands Forever, where stars including Robbie Williams, Brian McFadden and the group Five have spoken about how it affected them.
Although The Wanted did not take part in the documentary, Kaneswaran said: "There are two worlds - one world where you're the celebrity and it's very glamorous, but another world where you're a young man, a bit anxious, away from your family and you're trying to balance the two."
George revealed: "In 2012 we only had two, three days off the whole year, but looking back you think that's mental, but at the time we loved it.
"There were times we suffered anxiety and depression and sometimes it comes at the best time - personally, it was straight after we had our first number one."