| IN THE PUB WITH GARETH GATES POPWORLD sits in a quiet south london pub, close to the bridge that featured in Will Youngs 'Light My Fire' video. There are only a handful of people in the place, but every head turns when Gareth Gates walks through the door... Gareth is tired. It's a bright spring afternoon, but he's feeling the effects of too many early mornings and a rushed McDonald's lunch. However he feels, though, Gareth is always charming. He asks how you are; he takes an interest in what you've been up to. When asked to sign a old photo himself, he runs a hand through his hair and laughs in his Bradford accent, 'Wasn't my hair terrible!' The new hair is much less bother than the old hair. It looks as if he just wakes up, ruffles it and- voila!- instant Gareth hair. When Gareth removes his coat, the first thing you notice is that he's filled out a bit from his Pop Idol days. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, he looks more, well, hunky; he's clearly put on a bit of muscle. Gareth gets a drink from the bar, has a few quick pictures taken, then settles into a comfy old leather sofa... First things first: girls. Starting with the dancers in the 'Spirit In The Sky' video... 'They're nice girls, them!' Are you getting more attention from older girls now? 'Yeah. Hopefully, after the next video, I'll get even more of that sort of 'feedback', because I'm wanting to go a little bit cooler, on the edge.' Fans' mums might fancy you... 'Wooo! Older women...' How about those two, then? [POPWORLD subtly points out two attractive women in their twenties. Gareth checks them out and smiles to himself. 'Its an avenue I could explore...' It's a standard bloke question, but... Britney or Christina? 'Out of those two, probably Britney, even though Christina would be proper dirty. Absolutely. But then, Britney... I don't think she's as clean as people think.' What about Sarah Whatmore? 'Now, she is gorgeous. We're just friends. It's just like, Hi there, how are you? Y'know, we're cool.' Gareth sinks further down into the sofa, using his coat as a pillow. POPWORLD notices his battered leather, cowboy-style boots. They make his feet look enormous. What size are your feet? 'I'm size eleven.' Blimey... 'I can moonwalk, though. I'm working on my choreography. On my next tour. I'd like to be like Michael Jackson.' Is he your idol? 'Absolutely. Him and Elvis. Withg Elvis, it's not so much the music but having a strong image, and all that hysteria. The girls crying and fainting and screaming... I want all that.' The front rows on your last tour must have been like that... 'You can't hear anything; it's just like, 'Aaarrrggggh!' Without the house lights on, you can only see maybe ten rows back, and after that you can see those glow sticks that everybody's got, or those chains that everyone wears. I like to flirt when I'm on stage, to make people in the crowd think, 'Oooh, yeah.' I'm trying to give that feeling to everyone in the audience.' |