Cyrus and Bieber to 'regret' antics

Stars like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber will regret their behaviour in years to come, says 1970s pop idol Jimmy Osmond.

The 51-year-old was part of the seven-strong family group The Osmonds, one of the biggest bands of that decade.

But in an interview with the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live show, Jimmy said family values had protected the siblings from the pressures modern pop singers face.

He said: “I think nowadays we reward bad behaviour because it’s good business for the media. I think if you really look at maybe Miley Cyrus and the core of her and the core of Justin Bieber, you see some good kids just trying to figure it out to stay on top because there’s such pressure when you’re up there.

“These entourages, you’re supporting everybody and you feel so much pressure that you have to almost shock people to stay in the mainstream.

“They have a responsibility. They’re affecting young teenage minds that this is good behaviour, and someday they’re going to look back at that and regret it.”

Jimmy added that he was “grateful” he had a family that guided the band “to conduct ourselves without taking substances into our bodies”.

He said the pop heartthrobs had lived without alcohol, drugs or sex before marriage, and recalled how his father had told him to clean up the apartment complex they lived in when he heard a nine-year-old Jimmy had scored a number one hit single with the song Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.

The father-of-four, who was raised in the Mormon faith, also praised his religion’s church for its handling of the hit musical The Book Of Mormon.

“It wasn’t respectful at all,” said Osmond.

“But our church said ‘You saw the play now read the book, because it’s nothing like they portray’. If any other religion were to be mocked like that there would be riots in the streets.”

Earlier this year Jimmy told how his family had lost around 80 million US dollars (£47 million) after listening to poor financial advice, but he said they were “still intact as a family after all the odds, and we’ve had everything thrown at us”.

The Osmonds, a family from Utah in the United States, began as a barbershop quartet in the late 1950s and scored their first American number one single in 1971.

Cyrus and Bieber to 'regret' antics