| Smash Hits (July 10th - 23rd) |
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| "I can feel the lurve in Smash Hits right now!" Darius Danesh is laughing as he rifles through the rack of summery shirts we have brought him to wear on our cover shoot. As always, he's nor scared to take the mickey out of himself. But looking at the vision of phwoarsomeness in front of us, we can hardly believe this is the same person that was introduced to the world on Popstars back in 2000. Forget his old image of kebab shop ponytail, pasty pallor and scary facial furniture - the new Darius is sporting a glowing tan, muscles and the short, tousled hair he wowed us with on Pop Idol. Incredibly tall with puppy dog brown eyes and a killer smile, this 22-year-old looks every inch the superstar. The comeback king is officially through with reality TV shows and is ready to unleash his debut single, Colourblind, onto the world. Yes, we've watched him laugh, cry, embarrass himself and sing his heart out on national TV, but what is Darius really like? It's time for him to reveal himself! Bling Bling, Baby Today we're giving Darius a touch of urban cool as we bling him up in designer gear. He strips off in the changing room and all the SH girls crane their necks to get a good look at his bronzed torso (which is very nice, by the way). His outfits today are a far cry from the slick suits we're used to seeing him in on the telly. Ok, so he's wearing 'comedy' banana print boxer shorts underneath, but some girls think they're sexy, right ? "I love these clothes. They're the sort of thing I wear when I go out", he says. "Labels like G-Star and Paul Smith, battered up jeans... I'm used to being a poor student so I'm happy to mix and match designer and high street stuff. It's not always about what you wear, it's how you wear it. " Work that attitude, D! Despite having been called arrogant, cocky and, erm, cheesy ("My favourite type of cheese? here's nothing quite like Cheddar, on toast, with Worcestershire sauce"), the phenomemon that is Darius is still coming to terms with his fame. In the last two years he's turned his life around, transforming himself from a national laughing stock to the confident pop star that's here today, sticking his tongue out at Simon Cowell along the way. "I was naive when I first came on the scene. They made me look like the tragic hero and the villain all in one on Popstars, " he says. "But on Pop Idol I had the chance to be myself. I cut my hair off and it felt like I wasn't hiding anymore. People thought I was arrogant but I was really determined. After all, I was crazy enough for seconds, wasn't I ?" Must Be The Music As for having a platinum album before he's 35, well, he's been there, done that and featured on the official T-Shirt ! "The Pop Idol album has gone platinum," he says proudly. "So I've lived up to one of my promises already. Maybe I'll do it on my own one day. Right now my only goals are to make music and be happy." As far as his former Pop Idol mates go, Darius isn't giving much gossip away. But he will reveal that Gareth does have bad hair days! "Annoyingly , he looks good with the dishevelled hair too," Darius grins. "I've never touched his spikes though. My hand would probably get stuck." As he dances around to the sounds of his favourite old skool house CD, we can tell Darius is a bit of a party boy on the sly. "I work hard and I play hard, heh heh!" he chuckles. "I've had wild nights out which have turned into days and I've done the club circuit in Ayia Napa with my friend Simon, who DJs with all the superstar DJs." So he's no stranger to the dance music scene, but does Darius have any special dance moves prepared for future performances? "What, you mean, like my Tom Jones-style hip swing?" Erm, no. We're referring to your ...Baby One More Time hand clappin', finger-clickin', shoulder shrugging shimmy! "Ah! Now, that was inspired. Listen," he laughs, "It was right at the time, but it's like when you say something stupid and think, 'Did I just say that out loud?'" We know the feeling. Gotta Love The Laydeez Fame might be hard to get used to, but one thing Darius has had no problem with since his success is the female attention - which he gets in truck-loads. And like any red blooded single male, he's not exactly upset about it! Getting comfortable, he fixes his piercing eyes on us, "Put it this way, being on TV hasn't hurt my love life" he grins. And have any celebrity stunners caught his eye lately? "Well," his voice drops to a whisper. " I have to admit, the celebrity girls that I've met so far have been a bit disappointing. I met one who was really stuck up and thought the world revolved around her. I was like, 'Get over yourself!'" This is definately one guy that hasn't been fazed by fame. But we can't believe there are no pop lovelies he would snog... |