JOHN BARROWMAN: A FAN ONCE GAVE ME A DILDO
Mr. Fabulous himself talks wild fans and getting into the Christmas spirit with Katie Holloway
John Barrowman made his professional acting debut in London’s West End in 1989, and we can all agree he’s been nothing but fabulous ever since. Speaking to the actor, singer, TV presenter and all-round entertainer, we find ourselves in stitches on multiple occasions, and wishing we had the chance to go on a night out with the 52 year old (sadly he didn’t ask). Either that, or we’d love to get an invitation to Christmas at the Barrowmans, because it sounds like a hoot. In fact, John’s such a big fan of the festive season that he’s releasing his very own album – A Fabulous Christmas – and hopes it will help us to “make Christmas your own” and “launch you into the spirit”. Well, after talking about dirty snowballs, interesting gifts from fans and kissing Santa Claus with John for half an hour, we are well and truly in the spirit… do you look forward to christmas? I absolutely love Christmas. To quote the first track from my album – for me, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. I love decorating, I love getting presents, I like the family aspect of it, putting on your Christmas pyjamas and drinking Advocaat, or whatever you want to have a little tipple of, and just having that feeling of watching movies with a fire going. It’s one of my favourite times. We love a snowball by the fire… Oh yes – give me a dirty snowball any day. Where do you spend the holidays? Up until last year, Christmas has always been spent in Scotland at my cousin’s house in Dunblane, because I’d be doing pantomime up there. However, this year, it’ll be at our home in Palm Springs. It will be myself, my husband Scott, my mum and dad, hopefully Scott’s parents, my aunt and uncle, and my best friends Brett and Javier. Everyone will have their Christmas pyjamas on, then we will all cook a big lunch.
Who is in charge of what? I love doing the turkey and the ham. My mum will do the shortbread and some of the dessert, my aunt will do the hors d’oeuvres, my husband Scott does the roast potatoes and the mash, and my dad usually takes care of all the booze, as does my Uncle Alec. And then my friend Javier gives a Mexican flair to his contributions – and Brett will just enjoy the eating and the drinking. Do you and Scott go big on presents? We don’t necessarily do big presents for each other, because we have everything that we need. We like to try and do something for somebody else. Over the years, we’ve given money to families that we choose through a charity. We usually give them about £5,000 to help them with whatever they need. It’s about remembering people who are less fortunate or going through a hard time. The years that we’ve done it, we’ve never wanted any publicity about it – that’s why we’ve done it very quietly. Do you have any Christmas traditions? We like to try to go to a Christmas Eve service for the celebration of the music and to have that sense of community. Also on Christmas Eve, I buy two bottles of the most expensive Champagne I can find, then I buy more bottles all the way down to the least expensive bottle. We’ll have maybe 16-18 bottles of Champagne that we go through on Christmas Eve and by the time we get to the cheapest one, it tastes like the most expensive one. It’s a lot of fun!
Do any of the songs on your new album have special meaning to you? I didn’t want it to be the same old boring Christmas album. Each song has a little bit of a twist. One of my favourites is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It’s Emily Atack and myself singing it, but she’s kissing Santa Claus and I’m kissing him, too – which is inclusive for everybody. The other one is an arrangement of Be Thou My Vision, which is an old Scottish hymn that I love from the days of when I used to go to church. Also, when I’ve sung Away In A Manger in the studio, I can never make it through without crying, because it reminds me of all the Christmases when I was a child – being part of the community in the church – until I realised that not all of those people were accepting of who I was. So, this album and the songs that I’ve chosen are a way of me reclaiming that spirituality and that inclusiveness. And if there’s anybody out there who feels like they had to let go of that aspect of Christmas because of what they’ve been told or taught, this album is a way to grab it back. Make Christmas your own. This album will hopefully launch you into that Christmas spirit. This time last year, you were appearing in I’m A Celeb – is there anything you miss about the jungle? Anything I miss about being in the jungle, I’ve implemented into my life. People say it’s life-changing, and it really is. I have a hammock in our back yard now, so when I want to go and be quiet and reflect on things, I go and lay in the hammock. Some of my most peaceful times in the jungle were just sitting in that
‘I try to do something fabulous every day’
hammock, looking up at the sky. I still sleep with the doors open sometimes, because I like to feel the outside coming in and not being closed up inside a room. Are you still in touch with the jungle crew? I still chat on the Whatsapp group if I remember to. I spoke to Harry [Redknapp] on the phone a couple of weeks ago – he’s trying to help me find a house near him. I speak to some more than others, but I’ve always said – no matter who it was from the jungle – if I were to see them in the street, they would always get a huge hug and I’d be able to talk to them about anything, because we developed such a bond in there.
Are you excited to join the Dancing On Ice judging panel next year? Very. I’m going to bring a different kind of flair to it, in the sense that my judging style will be very different to Jason Gardiner’s. He was a good judge in his own right, but he wanted to move on to other things and it’s good to have a change. Also, having skated on the first season myself, I know exactly what the competitors are going through. And it’ll be nice to be on it for a whole series this time. Will you get your skates on again? If I am asked, I will have my skates on underneath that table every show. Ready and waiting. You have very enthusiastic fans. What’s the wildest thing a fan has ever done? There aren’t so many wild things. Jane, one of my fans – she knits me a jumper every Christmas and it’s always themed. If you see me wearing a Christmas jumper on my social media, it’s Jane who’s knitted it. I have fans who make me action figures, some do amazing woodwork and art. I wouldn’t say there are any wild things people have given me. Not anything that I can talk about in heat magazine… Er, you can talk about whatever you want in heat magazine… I did have a Klingon [at a sci-fi convention, which he attended because of his role in Torchwood] give me a marital aid. Basically, a fan gave me a dildo, that’s what happened. It was a very thoughtful gift, but I was like, “I don’t know what to say…” It was in front of a bunch of people. I took it home and showed Scott, and he said, “Who gave it to you?” I said, “A Klingon.” And he said, “They’re filthy – throw it in the bin!” What’s the last fabulous thing you did? Ooh, that’s a hard one, because I try to do something fabulous every day. I took two of my good friends, Keith and Morgan, out on the town the other night. And we were quite fabulous in that we drank a lot of alcohol and were fabulous afterwards. And I went to a casino for the first time. How did you do? I did OK, but I don’t get gambling. I just don’t understand it. I mean, having talked to Harry Redknapp, I understand the passion he has for it and that some people can make money from it, but I’d rather take that initial money and buy something nice. Every time I won something, I put some in my pocket to make sure I came out with what I started with. Very smart. Who would you call for a good night out? You’re going to think I’m boring because I wouldn’t phone a celebrity. I would call one of my close friends. However, I am still waiting to be back in London, because I will be calling up Emily Atack and taking her out for the night. I’m worried that the press will photograph us rolling out of a club in the wee hours of the morning and getting into a car, looking very, very messy. Keep your eye out for the Atack and Barrowman out on the town. ■
A Fabulous Christmas is out on 6 Dec. John’s UK tour runs through Nov and Dec. Tickets and info at Cuffeandtaylor.com