What was the problem you had with your voice? I had a polyp
on one of my vocal cords. Sometimes they disappear but just as it started to
heal, I got the flu, which made it worse. It haemorrhaged and there was blood
on my vocal cords. The doctor said I needed surgery because it was getting to
the stage where my career was in the balance. I couldn’t talk, never mind sing,
and it wasn’t going to get better without having surgery.
The surgery came with the risk you wouldn’t be able to sing
again, though. Yes. It all depends what happens in the 45 minutes they’re
operating on you. There’s a high chance the operation will be a success but
there have been examples where things haven’t gone to plan. The worst thing is
when the doctor sits you down and says: ‘Just to let you know if this goes
wrong, that’s it.’ Then you have to wait and see how the surgery has gone while
you recover. It was a tough time. I really had to work very hard to discipline
myself and make sure I was doing the right things to help my recovery.
It must have been an anxious time to see if you could sing
again? Yes. I spoke after four days. My family were with me in LA and I wanted
to travel home with them, rather than stew in the US for a whole month. The
first thing I said was ‘hello’ to my mum and I sounded like Barry White. My mum
looked at me with a look of shock, confusion and terror. It was an amazing
moment. The next thing I said was: ‘What the f*** has he done to my f***ing
voice.’ My mum phoned the doctor and said my voice was three octaves deeper
than it should be. He explained it was because my vocal cords had relaxed so
much it made my voice deeper and he let me come back to Britain.
What were your targets when you first started? We were
hoping to emulate the success of JLS but, because we hadn’t come off The X
Factor, we started by doing a schools tour. People in the industry were saying
we’d be lucky if our first single, All Time Low, got into the Top 40. So, when
it went in at No.1, it was unbelievable. We didn’t know what to think. We’d
been on a radio tour being overly nice to people to an almost sickly extent so
they’d play the single, so we weren’t prepared for it being a No.1 track. Then
we wanted to sell out a tour, which we did, then do an arena tour, then one in
the US. We’re so lucky. It’s a bit surreal. Now we’ve got the world tour.
How’s your new romance with singer/actress Ariana Grande
gone down with the fans? The fans have been great. People have opinions, which
they’re entitled to, but I’m a believer in: ‘If you don’t have anything nice to
say, don’t say anything at all.’ Me and Ariana are at the stage where if people
don’t like it, they should go and concentrate on their own romances. We’ve had
nice comments but as far as the one per cent who don’t have anything nice to
say – don’t say it.
Have you heard anything from your devoted fan Lindsay Lohan
recently? Yes, the last time we were in LA. She’s a great girl. A complete
sweetheart.
Have people got the wrong idea about her? People don’t have
an idea about her if they don’t know her – people try to pick apart other
people’s’ personal lives based on what they hear about them. We’ve known her
for a while now and she’s nothing but a really sweet girl with a great sense of
humour. If people met her, they’d realise what a great person she is.
Who will be the first to leave the band? No one will leave
the band. If anything was to happen, it would be a group decision to split up.
This is the first time I’ve really thought about it. I’m a bit stumped. We’re
just concentrating on the album and tour. We’re not even thinking about
holidays, never mind anyone leaving the band.
What’s the worst gig you’ve done? Headlining a tribute act
night in Exeter before we’d released anything. It was packed. We went on last
after some really good tribute acts – everyone had been singing along to all
the songs then they didn’t know any of ours. We cleared half the venue. The
only people left on the dance floor were the remains of a drunken hen party and
a man in leggings. It’s one of our worst gigs but also one of our favourite
ones because it was so funny.
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