Comeback pop group Steps have said they hope their return would add “colour” to a world left grey by recent political events.

The five-piece group will mark 20 years since their start with an album and tour later this year, and called the reception to their reforming “amazing”.

The group, made up of Lisa Scott-Lee, Claire Richards, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Faye Tozer and Lee Latchford-Evans, said although they were not going to become a political band, the timing of their return had worked in their favour.

Latchford-Evans said: “I think the world needs a bit of light-hearted fun.

“Steps always brought that, we’ve got upbeat music, we like having a great time, we just want the audience to join in with us, forget their worries for a while and just have a bit fun and that’s what we want to bring back.”

I think the world needs a bit of light-hearted fun

Asked if the band had thought about the election of Donald Trump in the US and the uncertainty Britain faces over Brexit before announcing their return, he said: “I didn’t think about it really... I noticed people were tweeting about it.

“People were saying with Brexit and Trump and everything else, they were saying the world feels in a very grey place, doesn’t it, and we need this colour to come through. Steps are the colour to come through, people just need that light relief.”

Tozer added: “We always made a point of staying away from that [politics] because we want to have our music as escapism. When the battles go on, there’s always someone keeping a bright smiley face on, the show must go on and keep happy, that’s our job.”

Watkins warned the band were “not politics”, with Richards adding: “It just doesn’t feel quite right in the world, does it, at the moment, maybe it is just something to put a smile on people’s face.”

Steps marked their first appearance in the top 40 of the singles charts in 16 years last week after Scared of the Dark, the first track from their upcoming album Tears on the Dancefloor, landed at 37.