Legal High

There’s a pause when you ask Gareth Gates a question, a pause and a breath before you get your answer, as if he’s in Australia and there’s a time delay. But when he does speak, he’s as warm and articulate as you’d imagine, and it takes me a while to realise it’s because he’s dealing with his stutter.

Now a speech therapist, alongside being a pop star and musical theatre lead, there’s a lot going on in this Yorkshire lad’s life and he’s taking it all in his stride. But anyone who saw his first heart-breaking Pop Idol audition, when he sung like an angel but couldn’t even say his name, will know how far he’s come.

Currently starring in his latest musical Loserville, while rehearsing hard for Legally Blonde, Gareth’s never been one to take things easy.

“Things are very hectic at the moment, so it’s quite full on, and there was a nasty moment in rehearsals when I called out the wrong character’s name,” he laughs.

“But although it’s quite daunting, it’s really exciting as well. And to be honest all you have to do is get out there, say your lines and sing.”

And yet, while he has always been able to sing, his speech is obviously still a problem, so how does he deal with his stutter on stage? “I only stutter when I’m Gareth Gates, not when I’m Warner (in Legally Blonde) or Eddie (in Loserville). And once you get into the flow of it, the lines come quite easily. I just have to work a bit harder at rehearsals. And it means I now have a certain level of confidence and it has opened up many more doors for some really great roles,” he smiles.

“But I’m not cured, I just take measures to control it. But I still go through ups and downs and my speech crumbled on a TV show the other day and that’s a hard thing to swallow,” he admits.

It must also be a relief to share the stage, I point out, having watched his home filmed documentary Whatever Happened To Gareth Gates? about life after Pop Idol, where he lost out to Will Young, left, depicting him as a rather lost and lonely character. “Absolutely, being part of a cast and not being on your own is a lovely thing. But acting is about listening and responding as well and has a whole new set of challenges and things to learn. And as usual I’ve had to learn them on the job,” he grins.

But isn’t that always his way? Pop Idol comes along, one audition and suddenly he’s a platinum albumed pop star who then disappears again as quickly as he arrived. “I know, I always learn the hard way, but I’m a firm believer in going for it whole-heartedly and throwing yourself in,” he says. “So doing the show was my training and my apprenticeship.”

The fact that he’s also a classically trained musician seems to go largely unreported however. Gates achieved Grade 8 in piano, classical guitar and singing and had gained a place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester before the finals of Pop Idol. “No one’s very interested in that bit, but I wouldn’t have got these roles without it,” he acknowledges. “And ever since I was a child I’ve loved musicals and I did Joseph at school so it was great to then get the opportunity to do it in the West End and then do Les Miserables.”

So is there a big difference between performing as an artist and an actor? “It’s more challenging to perform in front of a theatre crowd but if you already have a stage presence then that’s it.

“But theatre is much more nerve-wracking because you have to say your lines and play someone else and the portrayal has to be right, so there’s more to think about than just how to deliver a song,” he explains.

Things on the home front seem much calmer as well, Gareth now being married with a three-year-old daughter. “I was ready for a break,” he says, “I had been on the road for four years and it was quite intense, because it (his fame) wasn’t just in the UK, it was in Asia and Europe and South Africa and I was away for months at a time, and although it was the best time of my life, it was good to come home and have a bit of normalness.

“So my wife and daughter come on tour with me wherever possible and I get home as often as I can.”

As for the musical, Gareth says Legally Blonde is true to the film but successful because of the music. “Plus it’s very, very funny, touching and high energy,” he adds. “And my co-star Jennifer Ellison, pictured left, brings a lot to the part.”

As for coming to Oxford, he says: “It’s a beautiful place. I am really looking forward to spending the whole week there. And I’m really enjoying musical theatre, so I’m going to keep at it. That’s not to say being a recording artist is a closed door, it’s not, but for now I’m doing this, and so far so good.” Amen.

* Gareth Gates and Jennifer Ellison star in Legally Blonde The Musical at the New Theatre, in George Street, Oxford, from Tuesday. Log on to www.atgtickets.com/oxford or call the box office on 0844 871 3020