Ryan, aged 43, who is a founding member and has been the de-facto lead singer of Blue since 2000, had reportedly drunk a bottle of port before boarding the British Airways flight from Glasgow to London City Airport on 31 July 2022. The court heard his speech was slurred and he was staggering, and when he requested more alcohol aboard the plane, the air steward refused the request and asked him to sit down. He is alleged to have described the victim, a black woman, as like a “sweet chocolate chip cookie”, and physically restrained her by grabbing her wrists.

In January 2023, Ryan was found guilty of racially-aggravated common assault and behaving in an abusive way towards a member of cabin crew in a trial held at Ealing Magistrates’ Court. A further charge from the incident of assaulting a police officer by biting was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) in July 2023 after a plea that Ryan had followed “poor advice from his solicitor”. After receiving a 12-month suspended sentence in 2023, Ryan pursued an appeal at Isleworth Crown Court in 2024, which allowed an appeal on accusations of threatening a member of aircraft crew, but a refusal to contest the assault charges.

Dissatisfied, Ryan’s legal team challenged the Crown Court’s decision and attempted to push the case through to the High Court, but this was rejected and called “frivolous”. They then opened a new appeal at the High Court to contest this refusal, which was dismissed on Tuesday July 14 by Lord Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Johnson, citing inconsistencies between Ryan’s recounting of the incident on separate hearings. The Independent have referenced a quote from the High Court judges which reads “It was a case where the defendant had given one account at interview – an admission that he had grabbed Ms Gordon’s wrists, albeit without menace – but then gave an inconsistent account at trial – a denial that he had grabbed her wrists. His explanation for the inconsistency was rejected by the court.”

The BBC also published comments from the two justices referring to the judgment over clashing remarks from both Ryan and the victim – they read “The essential reasoning of the court was that it believed Ms Gordon, who had been sober at the time and who was a consistent and compelling witness, and they disbelieved Mr Ryan who had been drunk at the time and had been inconsistent.”

As the High Court have reinforced the decisions of the Crown Court, Lee Ryan will now await a further trial for sentencing.

Band member Duncan James addressed the news on Good Morning Britain (which he currently presents), saying, “I have some great news that won’t leave you feeling Blue because we are putting on a special tour.” He added, “there’s been a lot happening in the last two decades,” ensuring fans that many exciting stories from Blue’s expansive career would be coming their way.

The tour will celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary, with the setlist promising to contain the best material from their six studio albums. On Good Morning Britain, James said, “We could put your city in lockdown when we fly by on a low ride very soon.”

The group took to Twitter to share their excitement, also referencing their iconic noughties tracks, “All Rise” and “Fly By.”

All rise, we’ve got an announcement!

Tickets for our #GreatestHitsTour are going on sale soon – exclusive pre-sale starts Wednesday at 9.00am (BST) – sign up at https://t.co/NJdbW35Z6k

Then, you can ‘Fly By’ to the general sale, starting at 9.00am (BST) on Friday! pic.twitter.com/hjdYD5UpWe

— BLUE (@officialblue) October 23, 2023

Duncan James also shared a video, encouraging fans to purchase their tickets with their titular single from their No.1 album, “One Love” playing in the background.  

Get ready to make some noise! Tickets for our Greatest Hits Tour are officially ON SALE! Get yours at https://t.co/XwQaKct680 and secure your spot to see us live in 2024! pic.twitter.com/PCm40FHGYA — BLUE (@officialblue) October 27, 2023

The tour won’t solely rely on nostalgia though, as the group are set to perform tracks from their newest album too, released in 2022. Members Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe produced their latest effort, Heart and Soul in October 2022, with the album debuting at No.22 on the UK Top 100 Chart.

Who’s got a copy of our brand new album? If you haven’t, you know what to do… https://t.co/lMCCQIfEXN pic.twitter.com/61ZhJsswXT

— BLUE (@officialblue) December 19, 2022

Tickets for Blue’s Greatest Hits Tour are on sale now, available to purchase here.

Ryan was found guilty of being drunk on an aircraft, racially aggravated common assault by beating, and behaving in an abusive way towards the cabin crew member.

As reported by The Guardian, the Blue member told Leah Gordon, a female member of the aircraft’s cabin crew he wanted her “chocolate children” on a British Airways flight from Glasgow to London. Gordon told the judge of this case that Ryan had called her “beautiful”, stating “He was making comments about my complexion, ‘you’re my chocolate darling, my chocolate cookie’ and ‘I’m going to have your chocolate children'”.

After Gordon told the singer to “stay away” from her, he reportedly grabbed both her wrists before some passengers intervened.

The ‘All Rise’ singer reportedly asked for his seat to be upgraded from economy to business class, however, due to the flight being sold out this was not possible. According to BBC News, another flight attendant Jade Smith told the court that “He told me he had a problem, that he was being harassed by other passengers, that he was famous and asked did I know who he was … He was angry, saying he was a gold card holder and that he needed to be moved because of this.”

Ryan received a 12-month prison sentence for the assault by Judge Nicholas Wood. Wood also ordered Ryan to pay £2500 in compensation to victim Leah Gordon, £750 to Jade Smith and £510 in costs.

Ryan has high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder, and underwent psychological assessments following his arrest. After viewing the results of these assessments, Judge Nicholas Wood declared that Ryan did not pose an ongoing risk to the public. Wood agreed to suspend the jail term for the next 18 months.

According to Sky News, Ealing Magistrates’ Court were informed that Ryan was “slurring his words and staggering around” after drinking an entire bottle of port before his flight on July 31st 2022. Shortly after, Ryan was refused more alcohol on the plane and told to return to his seat, this is when the singer made comments about the flight attendant’s looks.

The Blue pop star confessed to drinking in the British Airways lounge after his flight was delayed, however he claims to have no memory of the incident.

The singer, who recently came back into the public eye through his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, was arrested by police in Ealing, West London at about 5.30am on Friday morning for a driving offence. Whilst in custody, police further charged him with possession of Class A drugs along with criminal damage.

Ryan has since been released on bail despite being additionally charged with a failure to provide a specimen. Though he may have recently returned to the limelight in much happier circumstances, Ryan has appeared to be full of regret for his recent actions and has already spoken to the Daily Star of how he knows that he has “let people down” and that “being arrested and ending up in a cell was the biggest wake-up call”.

The singer has stressed that his plans to check-in to rehab is not a “cop-out” and he sees this next step as finally being his admittance that he needs help. Ryan is due to appear before Magistrates on May 2 to face sentencing.