Getting To Know…
Lee Mead
◆ My family persuaded me to do this tour. They said it was an achievement to still be around ten years after winning a reality show. So the last weekend of each month I’ll be on tour, and during the week I’ll be in scrubs filming Holby City. It’s a nice balance. The tour includes songs from previous albums and shows such as Phantom of the Opera. I also tell stories from my career. The album features 12 of my favourite tracks, including Bring Him Home from Les Miserables.
◆ Everything works around my daughter. She’s my world and I’ve turned down great roles to be at home. It’s hard to say no, but Betsy (from Lee’s previous marriage to Denise van Outen) is seven and you don’t get those years back. It’s important that I’m there for her.
◆ I’m not one to rush into relationships. I was single for four years but I’ve been seeing someone for just under a year. I met her with Betsy doing the school run. We went to a local coffee shop and Issy was there with her four-year-old son. It was a while before I plucked up the courage to ask her on a date. She’s a lovely woman and it’s nice to have found someone – I feel very happy.
◆ My home looks right out on the sea. I lived in London for 15 years and was back in Southend with Betsy one weekend. We were walking along the beach and I thought, yes, it’s time to come home now. I didn’t realise how much I missed it.
◆ I can’t dance. When I was 20 I auditioned for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I got through the singing and acting bits, but to be in the chorus of a musical there’s often dancing involved, so I didn’t get the part. Fast forward a few years and I was playing Caractacus Potts, one of the main roles, in a nationwide tour.