| Gareth still stammers when he speaks, more so when he's talking about things he's passionate about. When you interview him, he sits with a pen and a pad. When he finds himself stuck on a word or part of a sentence, he writes it down. This seems to jog him out of the stammer and back to his story. As a result, conversations aren't slowed down too much, and you end up with a piece of paper with words like 'sexy' 'dirty' and 'raw' scrawled all over it, like a piece of fridge poetry. The stammering isn't like it was on Pop Idol, when your heart bled for Gareth as he struggled to express himself; one on one, it's more endearing, and you can lean in to hear every word... On the next tour, will you talk to the crowd between songs? 'The whole crowd know that I have a stammer, so there's not any pressure there, really. When I go on my solo tour, it's only me on the stage, so I've got to do summat. I can't just write it down!' What did you get up to offstage? 'We just slept! Honestly, we were all shattered, because we'd have the show, then we'd have a drink together and all have a laugh...' Did you stay up late? 'Really late. There were some nights when we were up 'til six in the morning just having a laugh, dancing and being stupid. You've not got to work 'til three or four the next day, so you can sleep. It was a bit harsh on the last tour 'cos we were promoting the single ['The Long And Winding Road'/ Suspicious Minds'] at the time, so I was up and down the country like a yo- yo.' Still up late, though? 'Yeah! Go on, hardcore!' What do you drink? 'You see, I've kind of gone up in the world now- I'm on champagne more often! Having said that, if I'm with the lads we're all on beer, lager, whatever. But if I'm with the ladies, it's champagne or wine.' And at showbiz parties? 'Whatever! You just do stupid shots- they're crazy.' You've been known to throw up, haven't you? 'Never.' Yes, you have... 'When?' The 19 Christmas party [a bash thrown by Gareth's management team]. We were there too. Remember? [Gareth looks confused for a moment, then remembers and laughs.] 'Ha! You know, that is one of the only times I've ever thrown up...' Was it all the work and stress? 'Absolutely! Hahaha!' Why haven't we seen any pictures of you in the papers, stumbling out of clubs? 'With alcohol, I can take so much. I'm fine. My friends are all like, 'Weeuurrghh!' but I'm fine. I'm always the last one standing.' Any trouble when you're out? 'Sometimes people come up to me and say, 'Are you Gareth from Pop Idol?' and I say no. There have been a few times when I've been bothered; if I'm out with my mates, we can get a bit rowdy, and we've had trouble at times. Other people come up to me and go, 'Oh, it's you, innit?' and start giving it all this [makes 'mouthy' gestures with his hands]. My mates are like, 'Woah, get back!' Its Crazy. I'm like, Hits him! And they hit me back.' Is the attention of other blokes' girlfriends ever a problem? 'Yeah, thats causes a bit of trouble too. I'm like woah, know what I mean? Before I were famous, I could always - and I'm not just saying this- I could always pull. Absolutely amazing girls as well. I'm aware that some girls out there want me because of the person I am now, but I also know that I could always pull before, so I'm not bothered.' |