Daily Express

Heading to go ew here please thanks to youer

- By News Reporter By Olivia Buxton

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HE has the cool, confident swagger that goes hand in hand with being the frontman of one of the UK’s top bands. Yet underneath his confident exterior, Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson is riddled with insecuriti­es and happier living the quiet life.

The handsome 42-year-old Yorkshirem­an has had women falling at his feet for two decades. But, although he is engaged to be married to stunning stylist Grace Zito, he is oblivious to his good looks and blushes at the reminder that he is Zoe Ball’s celebrity crush. “Ooh, stop it,” he insists.

He also can’t stand watching himself on television and finds it hard when people criticise him. Indeed, he was so nervous when he recorded his first appearance on The Voice six years ago, his doctor diagnosed him with anxiety, although he stayed for three series and enjoyed two winners before leaving in 2017.

Since then he has taken antianxiet­y medication, had a brief spell in therapy and kicked drinking alcohol into touch.

While Ricky has been enjoying life in lockdown, he and the rest of the group are set to perform at the UK’s first drive-in gigs this summer with concertgoe­rs at the city-centre events having a private viewing zone next to their cars.

It’s no surprise the band is involved in the unique tour.The Kaiser Chiefs’ I Predict a Riot and Ruby have become radio staples. Their 2005 debut album Employment went platinum six times in the UK. They released another six albums, with their seventh Duck released last year.

RICKY’S current project involves co-hosting a popular podcast, Pop Detectives, with broadcasti­ng legend Tony Blackburn, where the pair debunk pop myths and solve musical mysteries. And Ricky generously insists Tony’s interviewi­ng technique is “far superior” to his.

All in all, it’s a world away from the life of a pop star, which he doesn’t necessaril­y miss. “You think you’re indestruct­ible but being a pop star can be pretty f ***** up,” he admits. “You’re encouraged to be a party animal and there’s a s***load of booze flying around but you’re also encouraged to have this work ethic. There’s a lot of push and pull. I often internalis­ed things because I didn’t want to be seen as moaning. It is mind-blowing what happens to you but it’s so tenuous as well and you quickly realise it’s fleeting.

“When I was on The Voice, I told contestant­s: ‘This is your time now’. They should tell kids when they get signed that the hardest thing about being a pop star is that you’re not allowed to say how hard it is.”

Ricky was confirmed as a coach on The Voice UK in 2013. He went on the win the fourth and fifth series but he recalls how his battle with lifelong anxiety surfaced when he went to film the first episode. “I do remember the first day that I went to record The Voice and I felt really dizzy

GETTING MARRIED: Ricky and his fiancée, stylist Grace Zito

and I had to see a doctor,” he remembers. “He said I had anxiety. I insisted I didn’t. But I did because I had suppressed what I was feeling. Being on The Voice is a dream job, but it can go horribly wrong if you say one bad thing.

“Even when I was on it, I had paparazzi outside my house going through my bins and, the week after the final there was nothing, so that shows how transitory fame is and doesn’t really mean anything.”

It was reported that Ricky was “furious” not to be a part of The Voice’s coaching line-up when the talent show made the move from BBC to ITV and he was replaced by Gavin Rossdale. But he insists he was the one who left though he would go back if he was asked. “Sadly it’s not up to me and down to the people

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 ??  ?? Above, the new mugshot from 2006; left, a photo from 1996
Above, the new mugshot from 2006; left, a photo from 1996

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