THEY are the five-piece who stole the nation’s heart when they won Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 and now Collabro are back on the road promising something bigger and better than ever before.

The world’s leading musical theatre vocal group have had a meteoric rise to fame winning the UK’s top TV talent show less than five months after getting together.

The five members – Michael Auger, Richard Hadfield, Jamie Lambert, Matt Pagan and Tomas Redmayne – met through mutual friends and social media and a shared love of musical theatre.

A string of sold out concerts and two best selling albums later, Collabro are heading to King George’s Hall, Blackburn, as part of their biggest UK tour to date.

“At first it was just a whirlwind,” said Jamie. “We didn’t know what to expect when we got together and decided to audition for Britain’s Got Talent.

“People who win shows like that usually have some kind of back story but we didn’t have anything like that. We just had a shared love of musical theatre.

“But I think that had a resonance with a lot of people who could see that we were real. We weren’t a boy band, we had a genuine love for the songs we perform – and a lot of other people share that passion.

“I think that people are prepared to invest in you either by buying albums or going to the how if they see you as being genuine. Now we’re embarking on our second major tour in two years.”

Jamie said that 2016 promises to be a really special year for Collabro – and this following 2015 in which they played America and toured Japan, sold out the London Palladium and saw their second album Act Two selling over 300,000 copies.

“If anything 2015 solidified everything,” he said. “Now we’re looking at continuing all that momentum and doing a lot more live shows.

“Our fans have been so supportive and we really love getting out there and singing for them.”

For the new tour songs from Act Two will feature prominently in the set but Jamie also promised a few surprises along the way.

“We’ve got a really exciting set,” he said. “There are one or two new songs and some truly brilliant songs.”

The boys’ five-part harmonies and clever vocal arrangements of classic and lesser known songs from the world of musical theatre has seen their fanbase continue to grow massively – their diehard fans are known as Collaborators.

“Musical theatre is bigger than ever,” said Jamie, “Just look at all the great shows in the West End and on tour – they’re selling out. We share out audiences’ passion for the music and we have such a close relationship with our fans.”

The five members of Collabro also have a very close relationship with each other.

“We are all mates,” said Jamie. “When you’re on the road like we are you form a very close bond. We all support each other.”

Jamie, who was classically trained is also a vocal coach.

“I give the boys a few tips,” he said, “but I wouldn’t dream of doing too much.

“We all have big voices and we have to look after them. We can all do huge songs if necessary and we can all switch around to take different harmonies.”

For their 2016 tour Collabro will be supported A J Brown and feature soprano Catriona Murray.

“AJ has supported us before and we really liked working with him” said Jamie. “And Catriona is such a great soprano, we all love her. Having her on the tour allows us to do some duets and add a new perspective to some of the songs.”

Collabro, King George’s Hall, Blackburn, Saturday, February 27, details from 0844 847 1664, and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Monday, February 29, details from 0161 907 9000.