SIXTY SECONDS
THE X FACTOR WINNER AND MUSICAL THEATRE STAR, 29, ON BECOMING A CHAT-SHOW HOST AND WHY HE WON’T DO GRINDR
You’ve done quite well in lockdown. Lots going on… Well, sitting down and doing nothing is not what I’m good at. The first half of the first lockdown I thought, ‘Oh, this is nice. The well-needed break I’ve not had for about ten years.’ Then after about four weeks I was like, ‘Nah, it’s not working for me’ so I made a live studio in my house.
Working on a new album?
The album’s not finished. I’d written quite a lot of material before the first lockdown, and wrote 15 to 20 songs in lockdown over Zoom. The great thing about that was
I could do sessions I wouldn’t normally be able to do, with people in America and Sweden. I’d just say, if you’re at home and not doing anything, we’re going to do a writing session this afternoon. All over Zoom!
And you’ve had a Zoom chat show…
Jade. from Little Mix.
Between Me And You was a little series. I thought there was something quite interesting about artists interviewing each other – I thought if we interviewed each other it might take out the element of us being guarded.
Who did you get?
Jade from Little Mix, John Barrowman, Faye Tozer from Steps, Alexandra
Burke, Arlene Phillips… I had a few texts afterwards going, ‘What did I say? I forgot it was being recorded, I started thinking of it as a night out.’
Do you ever think about The X Factor or is that gone from your brain?
I do. I’m 30 in June – game over! It’s like dog years in the industry. But I do think back at how different I was then. If I ever see a clip, it frightens me, how young I was. I didn’t think I was that young – I was 18 – but when I think what I coped with…
Because you walked away from Boot Camp a couple of years earlier…
Yeah. I just had a freakout. I thought, this isn’t for me, I don’t like the cameras. I wasn’t a fan of the process so I walked away and everyone was saying, ‘You’re an idiot! That’s such an amazing opportunity!’ But I knew it was the right decision. I just went out, phoned my mum and said, ‘Can you come and pick me up, please? I want to leave.’
But they wanted you back.
It was funny because when I first auditioned I was a bit tubbier and I looked completely different when I went back the second time – and I don’t think Simon [Cowell] remembered
I was 18 and working out who I was. I hadn’t had many relationships
me so it wasn’t mentioned. It sounds ridiculous but even at such a young age I knew I wasn’t ready and felt a bit guilty to be taking a place from someone who was raring to go.
Who did you beat the year you were in it?
We had Olly Murs, Stacey Solomon, Jedward. It was a huge year for the show.
You didn’t come out until after you’d won. Was that strategic?
No. I was 18 and working out who I was. I hadn’t had many relationships and you’re in situations where journalists are asking who you fancy and you’re a bit,
‘Hang on, I don’t know the answers yet.’
But everyone knows who they fancy at 18.
But maybe you don’t know how to verbalise that. I wasn’t
‘out’ to any of my friends nor my parents. It was an age thing and as soon as I met someone and thought, ‘I really like this person. OK, I’m gay. I’ll tell everyone. I have nothing to hide.’ dumped and you’re on the sofa feeling sorry for yourself and you want to get the ice cream out and then you go, ‘Actually, no. I’m not going to let that person make me feel like that. I’m calling up my friends and we’re going on the biggest night out ever to dance it off.’ I’m a massive fan of country music so I wanted that sound with steel guitars meeting the disco synth.
You were quite big in musical theatre – was that in the game plan? Is that your favourite thing to do?
I don’t ever have a game plan. It all happens by accident and I’m like, ‘How the hell did I end up here?’ I love playing someone else on stage, having something to hide behind. Touring’s what I love the most, whether it’s with a band or a musical theatre tour. I like being in a different place every day. . Inspiration:. . Donna Summer.
Your new single is billed as part Donna Summer, part Fleetwood Mac…
The song is a big, uptempo break-up song. I wrote it with a friend and said, ‘I want to write that song when you get
[Laughs] I don’t use that. You have to have the awkward conversation of ‘are you who I think you are?’
So are you in a relationship?
I’m single but you can’t go anywhere, can you? We’ve got to be extra careful so dating’s way out of the question.
Joe McElderry’s single Baby Had Your Fun is out now