British pop stars JLS decided to hang up their microphones and disband as they didn't want to be tied into another long recording contract.

The boyband, which found fame on Britain's The X Factor, shocked fans this week (ends28Apr13) by announcing they are to split following a farewell tour, but singer Marvin Humes reveals they have been keeping the news secret for months.

He tells U.K. talk show host Alan Carr, "I suppose it's been since the end of last year (we knew about the split). What had happened was our lawyers sat us down and we'd actually come to the end of our contract with Sony. She says, 'Look, you've come to the end of your contract, do you want to sign again for another five years?' The four of us sat down for a long time and discussed it and said, 'Are we gonna carry on for another five years?' We started in 2007, the last six years has been all of our wildest dreams come true and we wanted to... remain friends, finish at the top and go out with a massive bang."

Humes' bandmate Aston Merrygold reveals Jls decided against renewing the Sony deal as it would have meant making a 10-year commitment.

He adds, "Five years doesn't seem like a long time but... that would be us doing an album every (other) year. It's a five-album deal so for the next 10 years we'd do an album every two years. That's a long contract."