[ ClassicalX ] Look At Me Now!

Jonathan Ansell is having the last laugh. Having been badly bullied at school for singing in the choir, his popularity is now soaring and his concerts selling out.

Katherine MacAlister talks to the former G4 member about going solo and why he's an incurable romantic.

You have to be a true romantic to propose on stage in front of 2,000 people, so The Valentines Tour is an appropriate title for Jonathan Ansell’s current show.

True, he’s duetting with Hayley Westenra, below right, rather than his fiancee, but either way 2009 is turning out to be a cracker for the former X-Factor contestant.

The 26-year-old’s career has really taken off as a solo artist, and not only has he found his perfect singing partner in Hayley, but he’s also discovered his soulmate in former TV Quizmania host Debbie King.

So wasn’t he worried that Debbie might say no in front of the whole of the London Palladium?

He laughs: “I suppose it was brave because if she’d said no it would have been mortifying, and embarrassing beyond belief.

“ It was the end of the A Night At The Opera tour and all my family and friends were there, so I’m very pleased that she didn’t.

“The only hitch was that I thought she’d be sitting in the stalls, and actually she was in the circle seats, so it took her a long time to get to the stage,” he laughs, “so it was very weird but really magical,” he adds.

The couple are marrying in the summer, but in the meantime Jonathan is touring with Hayley and performing an amazing repertoire of romantic songs, both classical and popular.

So is it strange singing such emotive music to someone other than his fiancee? “It’s a stage performance and an art,” Jonathan explains, “and it’s the audience who wants to believe it, so you play a part, and we are both used to that.”

And yet, roll back the years, when Jonathan was in a choir in Bognor Regis and being bullied for it at school, and it was a very different story.

“I used to play rugby at school as well, but then rugby and choir clashed and I had to choose between them so I chose choir. And after that I was badly bullied about it,” he remembers. But instead of jacking it in for an easy life, Jonathan persevered with choir, even though he was unable to vocalise what he loved so much about singing.

“I just couldn’t explain it,” he says.

So when did he know he’d made the right decision?

“At the school leavers assembly,” he says immediately. ”I sung Time To Say Goodbye, which I had practised and practised, and until then no one had heard me sing.

“They knew I was in a choir but they hadn’t actually heard me and once they did they immediately accepted that it was who I am,” he remembers, “and that was a huge breakthrough for me, because once people have heard you sing they respect you for it, and it was also a way of sticking two fingers up at all the people who had picked on me.”

After leaving school Jonathan went from strength to strength, being accepted at the Guildhall School of Music, on to X-Factor and then being signed as pop opera group G4 with his three college mates.

G4 sold in excess of 1.5 million albums in the UK. But after several years of being stuck in hotel rooms together, the attraction began to wane and they split in 2007.

“We are still really good friends, but we were together 24 hours a day for breakfast, lunch and supper,” Jonathan adds.

“We even shared hotel rooms, so the only time we were alone was in the bathroom, and however well you get along, eventually it wears you down and people’s habits begin to get on your nerves.

“Most of the time we had a proper laugh but yes, after a while we’d had enough.

“Although now when I’m touring alone, I do miss the backstage banter,” he admits.

Won’t Debbie be coming along with him now?

“When she’s not working she probably will,” he agrees.

“But we both work hard and have the same aspirations, and that was really attractive because I’d despaired of ever meeting anyone and was getting quite down and frustrated about it.”

So why didn’t he do a Status Quo and have a different woman every night? “Because that’s satisfying in the short-term, but you get to a stage where you just want someone you can hang out with and go out for dinner with, and just be yourself.

“And you do worry about whether you can trust someone and if they are with you for the right reasons otherwise,” he admits.

“Debbie was working in Germany when the whole X-Factor thing kicked off, so she knew who G4 were but it wasn’t a big deal. We met at a party and swapped numbers and that was that,” he grins.

As for Hayley, the pair have worked together a lot in the past few years and a Valentines tour was a natural progression.

“Hayley has this incredibly clear, clean, Celtic voice and our voices really complement each other,” he says.

As for the rest of the year, Jonathan can’t wait.

“Yes, 2009 is a winning combination so far. I’m really proud and excited about what’s in store because there are so many exciting things in the pipeline. So while it can be stressful, it’s always fun.”

And are the bullies a distant memory now?

“Yes, but I bumped into this girl in the local nightclub at home recently.

“She just came up to me and said ‘I used to think you were really sad and odd, but now look at you, you’re really cool.’ “And I just felt really embarrassed and sorry for her that she could even think like that. But then I don’t think I’d be the singer I am otherwise, because it has made me stronger and more emotive because having a thick skin and being resilient in this industry really helps.”

Jonathan and Hayley will be performing The Valentines Tour at the New Theatre on Wednesday. Box office on 0844 847 1585 or on www.newtheatreoxford.org.uk.

Source: Oxford Mail