Gareth Gates: 'My speech is an ongoing battle - but when I sing, I feel free'

Gareth Gates. The man who first appeared on our TV screens back in 2002 on TV show Pop Idol. The one we were all gripped watching as he took on Will Young in a battle to take the talent show crown.

He didn’t. He was runner-up. But that hasn’t held him back.

Gareth, 40, has gone onto enjoy chart success as well as being the leading man in many major musicals.

He also won Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins in 2023, which was no mean feat. There we saw a side to Gareth which was both heartbreaking but also extremely powerful. His resilience was impressive, I guess born through years of having to fight to get to where he wants.

Now, he’s very much in that place, both producing and starring in his own shows, which are coming to Scotland next month.

The first – Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs from the Movies – will take to the stage at Glasgow’s Pavillion Theatre on February 13 before moving to Perth Concert Hall on February 14 (how romantic).

You can also catch him singing hits from Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at Ayr Gaiety on April 1 and you’d be a fool to miss it.

Terrible jokes aside, it sounds like it’s going to be a great show that Gareth has poured his heart and soul into.

He said: “I first had a number one hit with Unchained Melody and this got me thinking; a lot of the world’s greatest love songs are from movies. So we’ve put together an evening of all those big hits. We’re doing a full tour of Scotland, which is exciting.”

It’s a lot to take on – curating, producing, getting West End singers on board and putting yourself out there as both the frontman and the one who is responsible for it all.

But it’s a challenge Gareth is relishing – and he can’t wait to be back in Scotland, having performed here many times over the years.

“The more north you go, the more up for it the audience are, and they will always sing along,” he added.

Thinking of the Frankie Valli hits, he added: “I might need help with those songs, because some of them are very high. I’ll be wearing my tight pants for those!”

While much has been made of the effects talent shows, fame and fortune have had on those who have taken part over the years, Gareth said he looks back as his time on Pop Idol fondly.

Perhaps it was different because the show was the first of it kind, ahead of X Factor and the likes.

“I look back on Pop Idol with only fond memories. Myself and Will Young. We were in it together to the end, and it was great. It was fun.”

When Gareth appeared on the show, it was quickly established that while he could sing like an angel, he had a speech impediment and lived with a stammer, which had rendered him speechless for much of his early life. It wasn’t until he discovered singing that he truly found his voice.

This was thrown under the spotlight on Pop Idol.

Gareth said: “I think something I am very proud of is I did heighten the awareness of stammering on there.

“When I was a child, I didn’t know anybody else who had a stammer, and if there was somebody in the public eye, I could have gone ‘well actually, I’m like them’. It would have made things a lot easier for me.”

He added: “My speech is an ongoing battle, but the moment I get on that stage start to sing, I just feel kind of free.”

Now, he’s about to turn his negative experience of living with a stammer on its head and use his story as the basis for a new musical he’s written.

“I’ve been writing a musical called Speechless,” he explained.

“It’s about a guy that can’t speak – obviously something I can massively identify with. I think we’ve locked in a West End theatre for 2026 so watch this space, I guess.”

Determined and talented – I’m sure it will be a success.