Shayne Ward: My family keep me grounded

Mar 28 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

Emma Pinch discovers Shayne Ward is planning to be around for a long time

THERE once was a boy who worked all day fitting shoes to women’s feet. He was a handsome lad, and the possessor of an uncommonly melodic voice, so the women went away happy, bags bulging with Scotchguard, suede brushes and protector sprays.

Shayne dreamed of being a pop star and when X Factor came to town, a sprinkling of his fairy godmother’s showbiz magic (no offence, Louis) saw record royalty fall in love with him. Now he’s living happily ever after, with fame, riches and the adoration of maidens across the globe.

Shayne Ward’s rise to fame may seem like a modern-day fairy tale, but happy endings are still hard to come by, especially for X-Factor winners.

Since his victory in 2005, he’s endured an operation for career-threatening throat nodules, seen stories about his family splashed across the red tops and the meteoric ascendance of that more recent X Factor star, Leona Lewis – who yesterday topped the US charts.

But the poster-boy good looks and hint of Irish brogue belie a fighting spirit more like that of a Manchester fighter than a Louis Walsh protegé.

“There’s a stigma about winning on a talent show, people think, ‘Oh, it’s just a talent show’ but when you win it you have to prove why you’re a winner, and you have to shine,” says Shayne. “People say there’s a curse – people win and you won’t hear from them again. I’ve proved a lot of people wrong because I’ve had great success. I hope Leona has it, too.”

Over three years, Shayne’s actually had seven hit singles with his debut, That’s My Goal, going to number one in the UK, released two albums, Shayne Ward and Breathless, and done a solo tour. But we don’t seem to have heard as much from him as initially seemed promised, I venture.

“I’ve had huge sales in Asia and South Africa and Australia, and they’re not easy markets to crack,” he says, bristling slightly. “Australia is on board. I toured Asia before and after Christmas. People need to realise that I’m not just a UK name. I’m more international. I’ve spent eight months in studios in the US and Sweden. Now I’m preparing for a UK tour and before then I’ll tour in Scandinavia.”

He’s takes criticism on the chin.

“Not everyone is going to like what you do,” he says. “If someone writes something nasty on a website, I don’t take it to heart because they don’t know me.

“I just think, ‘you spend too much time on your computer’. Once I read it, it just goes over my head then it’s gone. I don’t give out. I only write back to fans.”

But he’s looking forward to establishing his own identity more with his third album.

“When you come from a talent show and you’re signed by a record label you’re in no position to say I want this or that.

“It’s about respect and showing them I’m on the same wavelength as them, and on the third album I’ll be writing the songs as well.”

Success has meant he spends a lot more time away from home, which is Clayton in Manchester, where his Irish mum, girlfriend Faye and six siblings live. He’s at home at the moment, before flying off to Prague on Saturday. His family keep him grounded.

“They don’t let me get away with saying I don’t want to do anything,” he says. “If I make a mess, I have to clean it up. I would never change that. I still go to the shops or the pub with my mates or my brothers, and the only difference now is I get recognised by everyone and people get on the phone and several other people come down.”

As for keeping his relationship going, “that’s what mobile phones are for,” he says. There’s no question of getting married, he says. “I'm still a child. Well, I am at heart.”

He’s also substantially better off than he was in 2005.