Human Nature’s Toby Allen forced to sit out Christmas concerts after travelling to Brisbane on flight with confirmed COVID-19 case

nine– Human Nature’s Toby Allen will miss some of the group’s upcoming Christmas shows after being declared a close contact of a coronavirus case, the band has announced.

Allen, 47, travelled to Brisbane on Wednesday a day ahead of the rest of the group and was on a flight from Sydney which was later found to have a confirmed coronavirus case on board.

As a result, the singer is now in hotel quarantine for 14 days and will be forced to skip the group’s upcoming Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra shows.

The band’s three other members Phil Burton and brothers Andrew and Mike Tierney travelled to Brisbane on Thursday and are not required to isolate.

“Queensland Health have advised that remaining band members and any crew that have come into contact with Toby Allen are deemed as contacts of a close contact and currently are not required to quarantine or be tested,” the group said in a statement issued across social media.

“If Mr Allen becomes a case they will then be required to quarantine,” they noted.

The group reassured fans that the upcoming concerts are still going ahead, just with a reduced line-up on stage.

“All remaining shows including both Queensland and both Canberra shows will continue as scheduled with Human Nature members Andrew Tierney, Mike Tierney and Phil Burton (and Toby Allen in spirit).”

This will be Allen’s second hotel quarantine after the group flew into Perth from their home in the US earlier this month to kick off their tour, which saw them return to the stage for the first time in eight months.

The quartet rose to fame in the mid ’90s as Australia’s most prominent boyband with hits including ‘Got It Going On’ and ‘Whisper Your Name’.

Since then, they’ve carved out a career for themselves in Las Vegas, performing Motown shows for the past decade, after being taken under the wing of music legend Smokey Robinson.

In 2019, Human Nature were recognised in the Australia Day Honours list, with the boys each receiving an Order of Australia medal for their services to the performing arts.

The same year, they were also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.