Why Conor Smith Threatened to Drop Out of ‘Building the Band’

Building the Band’s Conor Smith and Alison Ogden’s unexpected onscreen romance may have come with a price.

In the sixth episode of the singing competition series, which premiered on Netflix on July 16, Smith and Ogden spent some alone time together after each expressed interest.

“I had a very lovely night. We spent a lot of time talking about our emotions,” Smith, 21, told his bandmates. “We may have kissed. We went to bed at 5 a.m..”

Though they were supportive, his bandmates asked him to go to bed early to prepare for rehearsals. “Not date two tonight, my friend. You’re gonna have to wait until after the performance I think,” Mason Watts, 25, told Smith, who agreed.

That afternoon, Smith showed up late to rehearsal and his bandmate Zach Newbould expressed concern.

“Conor is missing our rehearsal time and it just worries me because I need him to be there to rehearse and just leave the whole girlfriend situation behind him and focus on the competition,” he said.

Watts sat down with him after the rehearsal to discuss what happened — and Smith said he was “listening to music” and had a “mad nap.” Eventually, the pair came to the understanding that he should focus on the band — but he proceeded to spend the night with Ogden again.

“I mean a romance may have been sparked,” Ogden said in a confessional. “I’m trying to keep it together because I’m here to win the competition. I’m not here to get a boyfriend.”

At their next rehearsal, Smith broke down and his bandmates sat down to chat with him as a group.

“I don’t think any of us want you hanging out with Alison because it caused all this drama. That’s got us nervous going forward,” Watts said. Bandmate Shane Appell added, “I feel betrayed by someone I thought was my brother.”

“I get where you’re coming from of course. But from the get-go, it was one of those situations that was so deep and I have no regrets with how I acted,” Smith said in response. “With all that’s happened, me continuing this, there’s always going to be tension. I don’t think I can continue on.”

Still, his bandmates assured they were there for him and didn’t want him to leave.

“We’re trying to make a family here and you want to throw this s— away,” Watts said. “We’ve got your back, music aside, what’s going to make this work is knowing that when it comes down to it we’re there for each other.”

“I don’t want you going anywhere Conor,” Newbould said.

Then, Smith came to his senses and said it was “pretty big” that they asked him to stay — despite his actions.

“I’m really sorry, if you’re still willing to have the old Conor, I’ll chill out,” he said. “It’s a very good feeling that you boys are willing to look past that. I shouldn’t have been like, focusing my time on Alison. It was almost like a brainwash.”

“If we can work through the worst times together, I think we can make it through anything,” Newbould concluded.

Episodes 5, 6 and 7 of Building the Band are now available on Netflix. Episodes 8-10 will be available on July 23.