Jon and
Jordan Knight...as children, they were exceptionally close. They complemented
each other perfectly: Jon was quiet while Jordan was outgoing. They shared
everything from toy cars to school lunches and back again. What happened when
they became megaplatinum recording artists as members of New Kids on the Block?
That's a very good question, and we're going to analyze it right now.
We recently
spoke to their mom, Marlene Knight, and she's so proud of how her sons have
handled their fame. She's even more proud of the fact that they haven't
forgotten their roots and still look forward to coming home to Dorchester on
their rare day off.
"The guys
have really been cool about their success," she says, "and their relationship
with each other hasn't changed much. They're not egotistical, even if girls are
always coming around the house screaming their names. Some girls even steal
twigs from the trees and pick bags of grass. I've got three-quarters of an acre,
so I'm not too worried about it. Jordan went on a talk show last fall and talked
about the girls stealing the bags of grass, and that made a couple hundred more
fans come by and take bags of grass. If he knew the result, he never would have
made that comment on national television!"
Jonathan
himself says that things are as great as ever between him and his younger "bro."
"We're good friends and we'll always be good friends. Many people think we're in
competition since we're in the same group - and this kind of thing happened in
the past between 'showbiz' families - but things have only gotten better between
us. We spend more time together than most brothers, and sure, we fight
sometimes, but for the most part we just have good brotherly feelings towards
one another."
To which
Jordan says, "Jon's a different guy than me, but we understand each other really
well. We know each other's personality quirks so we know when to leave each
other alone. We have a lot of good laughs together, especially when fans do
silly things. We get all sorts of funny things from the fans, little gifts and
things, and we come home with like a million bags and suitcases."
What's the
key to keeping a good relationship on the road? We'll let Jordan answer that
one: "Like I said before, we just gotta know when to leave each other alone. We
each need our space. There's a time to be together and a time to be separate."
Let's hear it
for the Knight boys - they can brighten anyone's night (or day!).
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