Fabulous is me! It’s how I feel, how I live my life
SHOWMAN, ACTOR, SINGER AND ALL-ROUND ENTERTAINER JOHN BARROWMAN TELLS MARION McMULLEN LIFE IS FABULOUS ... EVEN WHEN FACING BUSHTUCKER TRIALS IN I’M A CELEBRITY ... GET ME OUT OF HERE!
You made it to the final three in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! How did you find the jungle challenge? AMAZING and I would do it again.
I enjoyed it enormously, but then (laughs) I’m not like most people. If something comes along that appeals to me, I do it.
They had been asking me for a bit – five or six years – but it never seemed right. Last year though seemed the right time.
We all got along in the jungle. Everyone was working already and there were no people trying to hog the camera or re-energise a stagnant drop in their career.
If people go in thinking it is going to be hell then they probably shouldn’t be doing it. You need to go into it thinking it will be challenging, incredible, you might learn something about yourself and you might have some fun.
What was it like coming home?
IT HAS changed things. I now sleep with the window open and I don’t sleep with the air conditioning on.
My husband Scott is shivering and saying ‘It’s freezing in here’ but it is windows open these days.
I just enjoyed sleeping outdoors in I’m A Celebrity.
Your forthcoming summer tour is called Fabulous. Who do you regard as fabulous? (LAUGHS) Fabulous is me! It’s how I feel, how I live my life. I have a fabulous life and I want to share it with my fans.
That ‘fabulous’ catchphrase came out of my time in the jungle.
I was like ‘I have a catchphrase?’ And, honestly, who doesn’t want to be fabulous?
You are 52 now and the tour celebrates three decades in showbusiness. Does it feel like 30 years? IT FEELS like only 10, but it’s actually more than 30; probably 32 or 33 roughly. I’ve fitted in a lot.
It’s the nature of the business for me – singing, presenting, writing – it’s all part of being alive and entertaining people. I don’t like to be pigeon-holed. If I want to do something I go off and do it.
What is your strongest memory of your West End debut in the musical Anything Goes? MY OPENING night in the Prince Edward Theatre I remember walking to the stage and hearing Elaine (Paige) saying ‘Well kid, you’re either going to sink or swim’.
I went on and did the show and after that, of course, I had to do it again – eight times a week.
That was the beginning of it, the buzz, and I’ve gone on to television, live television, TV dramas.
I enjoy every part of it. I never think I’d rather be doing something else.
Any career highlights?
ALL of them have been highlights. My mum and dad always say ‘Work leads to work’. When I was doing Torchwood and Doctor Who and finished those the producers of Arrow rang me up and offered me the character of Malcom Merlyn and I played the character for five and a half years.
That’s kind of a great thing when something you are doing leads to something else.
It’s like Frau Maria says in the Sound Of Music ‘When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window’.
You’re a big Game Of Thrones fan. Have you been enjoying the final series? I COULDN’T watch the first episode of the new season of Game Of Thrones when it was first broadcast because my hotel in the UK did not have Sky Plus and I couldn’t get onto HBO outside of the States.
I just avoided everything to do with Game Of Thrones until I returned to the States, but then I did get to see two episodes at once.
I enjoy cosplay and putting a twist on characters. I’m as much a fan of shows as my own fans and I celebrate with them.
At conventions I’ve been Princess Leia, Wonder Woman, Spider-man and Cersei from Game Of Thrones and I put my own little twist on them.
All the costumes are custommade. My accountant saw the bill the other day and asked ‘are they justifiable?’ And they really are.
What can audiences expect on the Fabulous tour? IT’S going to be exciting, fun and a great night out for everyone. I’ll be telling family stories and there will be videos and pictures as well.
The song choices have been decided based on the stories I’m going to tell – although I sometimes go off on a tangent.
I don’t do anything to extreme when I’m touring. I travel with antibiotics and medicine and I don’t go out after a show. I will sleep most of the day and I live like that for the weeks that I am going to be on tour.
How do you like to relax?
I LOVE being home with Scott and we love watching movies. We kind of have a quiet life at home.
(Laughs) I’m fabulous outside and quiet at home.
The Fabulous Tour opens at the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End on June 16 before embarking on 12 UK summer dates. Go to cuffeandtaylor.com for ticket details.