JLS have confirmed that they have signed a new record deal with BMG and have already started making new music for release this year.

The four-piece boyband - Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Oritse Williams and JB Gill - split in 2013 but announced plans for a reunion tour last year, which was ultimately thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to The Sun, the group revealed that the tour has now been rescheduled to start this October, while they have also inked a new deal with BMG.

"We were absolutely devastated. We were riding such a massive high this time last year when we announced the comeback, and we did a couple of performances," said Humes.

"We were on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and that was the last live TV show that was screened around that time.

"Nobody could have predicted the last 12 months, but the tour will go ahead, and we've been working hard behind the scenes.

"At first we said this was going to be a reunion tour for fun, but this has given us time to pull things together and we've been writing and recording. We're very excited."

He added: "We have got three, possibly four, tracks already down. In our opinion they are very good and when BMG heard those records and offered us a deal, we couldn't refuse.

"We have loved being back, and hopefully we'll work with some amazing people too. People like Ed Sheeran would be fantastic."

JLS are one of the most successful acts to have come from ITV's The X Factor, having finished runners-up to Alexandra Burke in the 2008 series, and went to number one with their first two singles.