Rob’s BGT glory was inspired by his tragic friend
ABARMAN won an emphatic four yeses on the latest episode of Britain’s Got Talent after being inspired to apply for the show by his late friend Martyn Hett, from Stockport.
Rob King, 28, works behind the bar at The Lowry in Salford, where the ITV talent show is often filmed.
He says Martyn’s support inspired him to reach for the stars and follow his dreams. Rob sang at Martyn’s funeral, after the PR manager and Corrie superfan was one of the 22 people who died during the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22, 2017.
The singer has also previously performed at Manchester Pride and appeared on BBC show All Together Now.
Rob, from Altrincham, told our sister paper The Mirror: “Martyn made a huge fuss of each of my pub gigs and used to sit in the front row absolutely screaming each word back at me. His friendship, and loss, has been a vital life lesson. He never wasted a second and seized every opportunity.
“After he was taken, the hashtag BeMoreMartyn inspired people to be more positive and go-ahead like him. I think of him every day.
“Martyn’s the reason I applied for BGT. He was on my mind as I stood on stage trembling in front of Simon Cowell. He gave me that strength.”
The pair met through Twitter, Rob revealed.
“Martyn and I followed each other on Twitter and met four or five times,” he said. “Each time he introduced himself as if it was the first time.
“One night he fell asleep on a train and ended up in Nottingham so tweeted, ‘Do I know anyone there?.’
“I happened to be there so got in touch to say he could stay with us.
“As soon as he turned up, he stuck out his hand and said, ‘Hi, I’m Martyn’ and I said, ‘I know – we’ve met a good few times.’
“We started hanging out a lot more and he never missed one of my gigs.
“He always said he wanted me to sing a Mariah Carey song, Till the End of Time, at his wedding. I was devastated, and also honoured, to be invited to sing it at Martyn’s vigil and funeral.”
All four judges - Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Simon Cowell - gave him the thumbs-up after he sang Conchita Wurst’s Rise Like A Phoenix.