STAR! Magazine 1991
What is it with Jon Knight? Everyone seems thrilled with Donnie's "bad boy" antics or Joe's cuteness but what about quiet, sincere Jon? With the New Kids tour just around the corner we thought we'd better give Jon Knight his due - he's such a great guy! And cute, too!
ON HIS OWN
Jon spends a lot of time apart from the other New Kids when they're on the road. "I like to stay apart from the others, not because I don't like them or nothin' but we're together all the time and it's the best way to keep sane. But I'm always like that. That's how I like to be."
ON THE STREET
It's not just the other New Kids Jon likes to escape from, either - sometimes he feels he just has to go out walking by himself. That's OK - except for the fact that he has to wear a disguise, like a wig and dark glasses, to avoid being recognised! It USUALLY works! "I like to do this, to just go out for a walk completely on my own with no bodyguards but this is when I usually get trapped by fans and can't get back! Sometimes it's difficult. You're tired and you get trapped in a hotel by 50 people and you're there for half an hour signing autographs but people don't understand when you say, 'I'm tired, I don't wanna do this.' There are situations where you get cornered by fans and you think you'll never get out. That happens all the time. I've got trapped in elevators, in alleyways, in… it usually happens when I'm out with no security. Like, you try to be brave and sneak off on your own - you know, to try to have a little time to yourself and that's when it happens."
THE SPIRITUAL
Jon isn't one to poo-poo the idea of life after death, and he believes in spirits coming back to haunt you, too! "I believe in ghosts but I never saw one yet. We were in a theatre in Edinburgh, and they told us it was haunted so I was scared so I put a, what's that stuff they give you for good luck? Yeah, heather. I put it in my pocket for good luck during the show because I was scared."
THE FARMER
Jon paid a million dollars for his farmhouse on a 17-acre block in Massachusetts. It has a certain serenity that appeals to this quiet, well-behaved and tidy New Kid. "I bought an English farmhouse in Massachusetts. I can't wait to fix it up. As soon as I get back from this tour I get a two-week vacation and the first thing I'm gonna do is build a fence and plant some more bushes. I love gardening, I'm doing the whole yard. I got a big backyard - 17 whole acres. It's quiet and it's mine. I'm gonna import some sheep over from England."
THE PROTECTOR
Jon thinks of himself as the band's protector - he's grown up looking after his brother Jordan, and now he extends that care to all the New Kids. "I guess I'm the older brother type… I don't know! I think the others know I'm always looking out for them… oh, I DON'T KNOW! I guess I like things to be done right and to be done the best they possibly can be done. Especially I think maybe just from growing up with my brother. He's easy-going and carefree so I just looked out for him and I think now it's just become a thing where I look out for everybody."
THE CLEANER-UPPER!
Jon hates things messy - a place for everything and everything in its place! "Donnie, Danny and Joe have one tour bus and Jordan and I have the other. And I have messy things. So I pretty much keep all of us clean. Jordan's not too messy. We all have our own closets and stuff. My mom doesn't have to make me wash up or anything. I just do it anyway. Last time I was home for two days I ended up cutting the grass. I went home, and the grass was all long and messy. I had to cut it… I just like everything perfect. I even fixed the fence."
THE AVERAGE GUY
Jon has certain regrets about his life as a New Kid. He can't have a settled existence, he's always on the move, he can't get close to anyone. But he says that his success in one of the hottest groups on earth hasn't altered his personality. "I'm still the same person - the most beautiful person ever and that's not in a conceited way, haha! Right now, I'm doing what I think is important and in the future there'll be other things to do that I haven't had a chance to do, in other careers. Sometimes I would like to have more time building a home and a relationship, a secure base, but there's nothing I can do about it right now."
THE PHILOSOPHER
"Money's not everything. You don't have to be rich to be happy. Sometimes I get really fed up with being so tired all the time, but it's not forever. Now is my time so I gotta do it now. "I'm very happy. This is like, this is like… fantasy. You know, I think it's something everyone wants to be. We're living out a fantasy and we're very lucky."