Interviews: Olly Murs

Are you excited about performing on the set today, have you been here before?
I’ve never been to Hollyoaks. Obviously I watch TV and I’ve watched Hollyoaks when I was younger, so it’s great to be here actually. I’ve never done a performance on a TV set like this, so yeah I’m looking forward to it – it’s going to be good fun.

Is it the weirdest place you’ve ever performed?
It could be up there because you don’t really get the opportunity to play such a small venue that is so well known. I’ve done bits for T4 and I’ve done stuff for other TV shows and chat shows where you get on and perform, but never to this level, so yeah I’m looking forward to it.

Do you have a favourite character from the past that you’d like to see come back?
I remember Paul Danan used to be on it and I think his name was Sol, we were discussing this earlier, because Hollyoaks has got such a young audience, I don’t know what the age group is now, but you used to range from 8/9 up to about 16/17/18 and it touches on a lot of really great teenage issues – so I used to watch it a lot leading up to that point. I remember Paul Danan being one of the main characters as Sol and also Gary Lucy was in it and his girlfriend – I can never remember his girlfriend’s name, blonde haired girl that used to be in it.

Was it Gemma Atkinson?
No, but Gemma Atkinson was in it as well, so I remember some of the characters from the past . I used to watch the omnibus on Sundays and it was always for an hour or two. But the last two or three years have been so busy I haven’t had a chance to watch it and being 27 now, I’m a little bit older now. It’s good though, it’s a great show and what Hollyoaks is great at, it’s probably one of the only soaps that has been on for such a long time now. I used to watch Grange Hill and I think what Hollyoaks touches on is all the elements of kids going through school and what they’re going through as teenagers, so it’s good on that aspect.

If you were part of the famous Hollyoaks Hunks calendar, what month would you be and why?
I’d pick May because that’s my birthday. I’d like to dress up as a fireman! I’ve always wanted to be a fireman.

Is that what you’d do if you weren’t a singer?
I did apply, well I almost applied – I  had the paperwork, I went through some details, but I never quite sent it off. But I’d love to be a fireman – I’d love to see if I could get away with being a proper fireman’s outfit to see if I looked good in it. Guys that always do that are always the hunk – all the girls always go ‘oh my god he’s so hot!’ It’s like ‘he’s only a fireman for god’s sake!’ So hopefully I’d get that effect if I was a fireman!

Tell us a bit about what you’re up to at the moment.
I’ve just been recording the X Factor – I’m literally just doing the Xtra Factor with Caroline Flack, I’m co-presenting that this year, which is great fun. Obviously at the moment I’m promoting my new single, Heart Skips A Beat, which is going to be out now so I’m doing that at the moment. Then I’m just finishing off the album and getting all that prepped, but pretty much everything’s to do with the X Factor. I’m back on the show.

Is it a bit weird being back and not being part of it?
The way I look at it is like when you’re a pupil at school and you go away for a couple of years and study to be a teacher and you go back as a teacher. It’s one of those weird things going back to my old stomping ground where I know everything. I’m actually going back as kind of a mentor really on the Xtra Factor as someone who’s been through the experience and come out the other side. I think the most important thing is the X Factor is a show that breeds on success from people who are on it. Lets be honest, if you wanted to apply to the show and you were a singer and no one ever came off the show and did well, you’d be like what’s the point in me going for it then? So I think it’s good for them to have people, not saying like myself – I haven’t been a massive – people say I’ve been a big success, but for me I still think I can get better. But I think the fact that I’ve done well from the show and I can come back and say ‘look, this is what I’ve achieved, this is what I’ve done – you can do the same if you do well’. It’s good, it’s great to be back. Like I say, I’ve got the album coming out in November, I’ve got the second single coming out, Christmas and everything else, so it’s going to be a busy, busy time.

Heart Skips a Beat is the new single, and in the video you were with the Rizzle Kicks, were they good fun to work with?
Yeah, they’re great guys. I like them because they’re not typical for their genre one raps, one sings – they have this real, edgy, hip hop vibe about them, but they’re actually quite quirky in they’re music and it’s very different, it’s very current and I think that’s what separates them from what other people are like in the industry at the moment. I kind of feel the same about myself- I’m not typically what’s out there at the moment in the market, I’ve got my own little niche and doing my own little thing. I think putting us two together was a great combination and it just works really well with this single, it’s a shame they couldn’t be here today to do it. But I just think it works really, really well with them on it.

Was the video good fun to film with them?
They were good fun. They’re not as bad as Jedward. I did a shoot with those two guys before and they were a bit crazy. Rizzle Kicks were nice to work with because they’re great mates of course but they were just full of energy and we bounced off each other a lot in the shoot and it worked really, really well. The views and the comments on Facebook and video and Tweets and everything else has been amazing. Everyone’s really enjoying it. I think it’s my best video in terms of – I think all the other videos were really good, but I  just think the song as well and the video just work really well together, I think it’s a great blend.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever been requested for on Twitter?
The thing I’ve done a lot, because one of the girls did it, she actually wanted me to sign her wrist, so I signed it and she actually went and got it tattooed! So I’m actually getting a lot of fans now requesting on Twitter that the next time they see me, can I autograph them somewhere so they can get it tattooed, which I think is the most bonkers thing ever! Weirdly enough I think it proves how much of a fan they are really, because for anyone to do a tattoo, especially something that’s going to be on their body for the rest of their lives, it’s quite a big thing! So I thought it was quite random, because I personally have got some massive artists that I’m friends with, that I really like but I would never get a tattoo – my Mum wouldn’t let me for a start!

Do you still get start struck when you see anybody?
I’m only human. There’s always that one artist, if you’ve said to me now ‘we’ve got a surprise’ and Stevie Wonder walked in the room, I’d be like ‘oh my god’, or Michael Jackson or someone like that*. There’s so many massive artists out there. The thing with me is I don’t really get star struck with pop stars, I get more star struck with football players because I’m a massive football fan. Weirdly enough last year I met Gordon Strachan and I was so excited to meet Gordon Strachan or Roy Keane, or any of these players. For me, footballs really my key, but on the X Factor you got used to every week there being a big name, like we had Michael Buble, Whitney Houston, so you kind of got used to being around these people. I think I’m only human like everyone else, you can’t help but get star struck sometimes.

*We have to say we'd probably say more than 'Oh My God' if Michael Jackson walked into the room