‘Duet with Matt gave me a big lockdown lift!’
RACHEL LAWTON LOOKS AT HOW A WOLSTANTON COUPLE GOT TO RUB ‘VIRTUAL’ SHOULDERS WITH AN 80S ICON...
A COUPLE from North Staffordshire spent time in the spotlight when they got to sing live for 1980s pop icon Matt Goss.
Matt is best known for being the lead singer of band Bros, which was set up with his twin brother Luke Goss and friend Craig Logan.
But recently the popstar rubbed shoulders - virtually of course with married couple Darren and Kath Shaw, from Wolstanton. The pair are keen Bros fans and regularly tune into Matt’s Instagram live sessions, where he’ll often pick viewers to go live with him and sing a song.
To their surprise, Darren and Kath were chosen out of hundreds of requests, which led to Darren singing one of his favourite songs - Two Faces by Bruce Springsteen
- to over 18,000 viewers.
Darren is an operating department orderly (ODO) at the Royal
Stoke, and said the experience really gave him a boost after a tough year working through the pandemic.
Darren told The Sentinel: “Kath is a big fan of Matt Goss - she had Bros posters all over her wall as a child. She’ll often watch Matt’s Instagram lives and got me into watching them too.
“What happens is that people from all around the world will request to be on his show there’s usually about 18,000 people watching.
“I told Kath that I’d sing so she requested for me to do it, not expecting that we would get picked. I went to get a glass of water from the kitchen and Kath said: ‘You’re not going anywhere, we’re on next, we’ve been picked’.
“She asked me what I was going to sing and I looked through my itunes and thought of the Bruce Springsteen song, Two Faces.
“I was nervous to do it, but I had spoken to Matt before during lockdown on another live, and private messaged him a few times, so I felt quite at ease. He’s such a nice man and so supportive. He just tells you to stay calm and take a deep breath.
“I thought that I really had to just give it a good shot, so I did and it was great.”
The experience has given Darren some newfound confidence - which he hopes to use to continue singing in the future.
He continued: “I feel very honoured and lucky to have been on live video with Matt. There were so many people from around the world who had properly rehearsed and had careers in singing, but I just went in cold with no experience. “It’s actually inspired me to start singing a bit more and given me a real confidence boost. I did a little video before the England game last week singing It’s Coming Home, and I posted it on social media for friends and family. I’d have never had the confidence to do that before.
“At the time I didn’t really realise how unique it was for us to have this experience. There are so many Bros fans who have never even had the chance to speak to Matt, or Luke, so both Kath and I feel quite blessed.” NHS worker Darren also said that the online encounter gave him a ‘real lift’ after working throughout the pandemic. He said: “I’m an ODO at Royal Stoke. I’ve been here about 11 years now but I’ve never seen anything quite like the past year. “I lost two colleagues and friends who died from covid. They were porters and worked for Sodexo. It’s upsetting because they were really good people.
“It’s been crazy at the hospital, a really tough time. But this whole experience with Matt really did give me a lift during the pandemic, and it absolutely made Kath’s year.”