DENISE, HOST: The Hanson brothers stormed the charts worldwide with the infectious, fun, and funky record “MMMBop,” which I’m not going to sing again. Girls all over the world went crazy. Now all grown up, both physically and musically, Hanson are rocking & rolling all over the country on their current UK tour. Will you please welcome Zac Hanson! Hello! How are you?

ZAC: Good, I must admit when they told us we were going to be on Loose Women, I didn’t expect this. I was like, “Oh, that’s probably a late night TV show.”

DENISE: Are you pleasantly surprised or disappointed?

LYNDA: That can be arranged.

DENISE: Now Zac, your new single was out on the 16th of April. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Is it kind of a bit of a departure from “MMMBop” that you heard me singing so brilliantly earlier in the show?

ZAC: Which was very brilliant.

DENISE: Thank you.

ZAC: You should take up the singing thing. “MMMBop” was 10 years ago so obviously from 11 to 21 there’s definitely a lot of changes but the new album has some of those same elements and some of those same influences. But the song “Go” is more of a ballad and…

DENISE: It’s a bit more indie, isn’t it, she says cos her son is in…

ZAC: You know, we’re an independent band, we have our own record label, we release our music ourselves so I think that’s probably where the “indie” comes from. It’s definitely more textural and acoustic-based and it’s actually the first single that I’ve actually sung lead on in a while.

JANE: There’s a reference in the song to “rusty old pipes,” I believe, is that right? *Zac laughs* Was that about us? Is it an actual term? Is it about… you shouldn’t be having rusty old pipes…

ZAC: I don’t have rusty old pipes but it is a term in reference to that. Well, just about the fact that so much in relationships nowadays I don’t think people take the care to really care about things and really focus on building something that is true and will last and I think that’s why you see so many relationships falling apart cos people just go, “Oh, this is disposable.”

LYNDA: You’re married?

ZAC: Yep.

LYNDA: You’re very young to be married. What is it… how do you keep it going and lasting, please? Some big tips?

COLEEN: How do you keep your pipes from going rusty?

ZAC: Unfortunately I think my pipes will go rusty, too, that’s kind of the point but we’ve done everything young. Who comes out and is in a rock & roll band at 11? So to get married at 20 was just…

LYNDA: You’re kind of in your 50s now.

ZAC: Yeah, I’m really 50.

DENISE: And do you think you were mummy’s boys?

ZAC: No. I wouldn’t say we were mummy’s boys particularly. Doing all the traveling and working we did when we were young, I think that kind of helped us from being mummy’s boys in a way.

DENISE: And do you get a chance to do much of your own cooking and stuff or are you on the road so much of the time?

ZAC: You know, we are on the road a lot but when we get home there’s definitely some of that. I cook a mean breakfast, though my wife is much more talented with everything else besides pancakes.

JANE: Oooh, breakfast. Just one meal a day will do me, love. Also, have you still got national Hanson’s day in America?

ZAC: It’s something that—we have had a couple times that people have inducted Hanson Day in New Orleans and Oklahoma and all these different places. I don’t think it’s nationally celebrated. It is in the Hanson fan group but people don’t get bank holidays on Hanson Day, but if you guys want to help me we could petition for that.

LYNDA: What would you feel as an American, 21?

ZAC: 21.

LYNDA: about the comments in America of this terrible shooting, that it wouldn’t happen if you all carried guns? Is this possibly a “For Real?” statement?

ZAC: Honestly, as an American I’m just pissed off that people are even covering it. I think obviously, it’s ridiculous. I understand why it’s in every magazine, I understand the shock value, of course people are like, “Ohh, ohh!” But come on. We’re glorifying a mass murderer. This guy is just a psychotic crazy person and to put his pictures on the TV… I was watching the news and all the sudden—they’ve got posters of this guy behind—like a glorified, like the greatest president or Prime Minister that ever lived. The guy who cured cancer. Instead that’s who it should be but it’s this crazy psycho…

LYNDA: Good thinking.

DENISE: And how is the tour going, Zac?

ZAC: It’s going good. We have two more shows. One tomorrow in Manchester and London on Sunday.

DENISE: How did Newcastle go in my hometown?

ZAC: It was good, it was good. And actually first time there playing shows but it was awesome. Wonderful.

DENISE: You have to say “awesome.”

ZAC: Yeah. Well, that’s American.

JANE: And were the fans behaving? Cos you’ve got some willllld fans!

ZAC: We have incredible fans. We were talking about we need to start making Hanson tents cos we have so many fans that camp out for our shows.

JANE: Darling, you’ll never find me in a tent.

DENISE: What about—did you hear us talking—just quickly before we have to let you go. Did you hear us talking about taxis? Have you got any sort of taxi stories?

ZAC: The best taxi story I have is we do vocal warm-ups before we play concerts and do performances and we were in a taxi in New York and all three of us were doing these vocal warm-ups (imitates), just doing these crazy sounds. The taxi driver kind of nervously driving and looking back. “STOP THAT!” Very Russian guy, and we had to convince him 4-5 times that, “No, no, no, no, this is not some practical joke, this is not some hidden camera TV show.” He would literally stop the car and turn around and scream at us for a while. We would be like, “No… This is just for our voices.”

DENISE: Did he think you were taking the mickey out of him?

ZAC: He did. I think maybe he thought we were… I don’t know… assassins or something. Like we were going to take the mickey.

DENISE: Well listen Zac, we’re going to hear from you and your brothers at the end of the show. For now, ladies & gentlemen, Zac Hanson!