September 12, 2024 • 40 mins
Mile Fly Club’s First Flight:
As one-fourth of global boyband, Blue, Duncan James joins the Mile Fly Club to reveal the highs and lows of pop stardom.
Finding fame at an early age, struggling with his sexuality, and selling over 15 million records worldwide, time in the spotlight hasn’t always been ‘plane’ sailing.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Going through the height of Blue with all the fame at that time and all the public attention
(00:07):
that we were getting, especially from the red tops, you know, the sun, the mirror, we
were always in the paper. The media were running away with their own narrative, which was not
the narrative that I was living. I was completely head over heels in love with this guy and
also living a kind of double life where nobody knew about him and it was a completely secret
(00:28):
relationship. I was so paranoid about anybody finding out. We'd had a few people in our
circle that liked to kind of, I think, manipulate us in certain ways. There was a lot of stirring
of the pot. Me and Lee were like, oh, they're pissed. And at the end of the gig, it kicked
off. The most colorful band around, it's Blue!
(00:53):
She took me to the back of the plane where there was this little door that led you downstairs.
Did you know what was going on with you?
Into the crew room where there's bunk beds. There was a lot of fun shenanigans that went
on with Blue back in the day. And of course we got away with it because there was no camera
phones then, which was a blessing.
Welcome to the Mile Fly Club, your VIP lane to first class travel tips, tell all talk
(01:17):
and turbulent life tales. Think the Mile High Club only with more clothes, but no less revealing.
Each week, I'll be inviting high flying, globe trotting guests to bear all in my club.
So if you're searching for some tantalizing travel did pitch and a good old gossip, you've
arrived at the right destination. Now sit back, relax, and get ready to join me in the
(01:40):
Mile Fly Club.
Ladies and gentlemen, we've now reached our cruising altitude. I'll go ahead and turn
off the seatbelt sign. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.
Today's traveller shot to fame in 2001 with his band Blue after their first single All
Rise reached number one. And since then, he's dominated the world of show business. From
(02:03):
pop music to the West End to Eurovision and beyond, he has done it all. But who is the
man behind the music? Welcome to the Mile Fly Club, Duncan James.
Thank you.
You are officially our first member, but I have got a question to ask you. Everyone wants
to know the answer to. Are you a member of the Mile High Club?
I'm a member of the Mile High Club. I am.
(02:25):
Oh my goodness. I want to know more.
Back in the day, we'll talk about that. Yeah, a long time ago.
Wowzers.
On a Virgin Atlantic flight.
Impressive. Okay. Well, I can't wait to hear more. But before we hear more about that,
let's go right back to the beginning when it all began with Blue in 2001. Well, you
actually got together before that, didn't you?
(02:45):
Yeah. Well, I mean, we were kind of put together in 2000. And then our first single was released
in 2001, which just for some reason, it seems like a whole lifetime ago. I mean, it was
a lifetime ago, but it wasn't that well, 24 years ago, but it just seems like it's like
not from this life. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah. I mean, like the success you guys had and obviously like, you know, being in a band,
(03:09):
travel is a massive part of that. You've obviously been to some incredible places.
It's funny because when we first started out traveling, I used to be absolutely petrified
of flying, like terrified, like properly terrified. So my way to kind of get over my fear of flying
was to become a real plane geek and start learning about all the aeroplane, all the
different types of aircraft. So the boys still take the mickey out of me.
(03:32):
Were you in the end of the runway before you like took off with you?
I always used to sit there and watch planes. That's how geeky I was. I loved, I've always
loved airplanes, but frightened of them. So to get over the fear, I wanted to learn about
them, how many engines they've got and what was the type of aircraft it was. So back then
we used to fly a lot of Boeing 747s, you know, one of the one with the little bubble on the
top. You know yourself.
Which were lovely. So all the boys, they didn't have a clue. They say, Oh, all right then
(03:55):
Dunk, what's that plane? I'd be like, Oh, that's a triple seven. Oh, that's the dreamliner.
And they're like, how would you know? And I said, well, you just know if you look at
planes. So that's how you got over.
So I started to learn about them and kind of get into them. And that's how I got over
my fear.
Amazing. Right. So, you know, you've traveled to some amazing destinations. Who was your
favorite band member to travel with?
(04:19):
You can't ask me that.
I can.
Who's my favorite band mate to travel with? Probably Anthony Costa.
Right. Why?
Because Anne is very organized. He's actually really frightened of flying. He gets really
petrified when there's a little bit of turbulence, which I find quite endearing. So I kind of
feel like, it's all right Anne. I'm like mother hen. So I'd be like, don't worry, don't worry.
(04:40):
And he's like, oh, he's like popping jumpy out of his seat. So, yeah, so I do like flying
with Anne because I like to reassure him and make sure that, you know, he's all right.
But also he's super organized. So he's like, he's the kind of person that is packed for
his holiday a week before he's actually going on holiday. Everything's laid out. He knows
exactly what he's wearing each single day. When me, I'm packing on the morning of the
(05:02):
holiday and it's just being shoved in. And then when I get there, I realized, oh, I haven't
got a belt or I forgot my toothbrush.
So he was most organized and who was the worst person to travel with?
Nobody, bless Lee, nobody likes to sit in a seat in front of Lee. So we now have a rule
with all our travel agents that Lee is not to be booked behind us because he's one of
(05:26):
those people with it, you know, when they kick in the chair and he's moving the seat,
sometimes his feet are up on the top. So there's a lot of that going on. So you don't want
to be in a seat in front of Lee.
What's incredible is, you know, you guys have been together for what, 20, 25 years and you
have stayed together, haven't you? Like as a band.
(05:47):
We're like a marriage that's never actually broken up. I mean, I can't believe I've been
married to Anthony, Simon and Lee for 24 years and we've never divorced. We got into marriage
counseling, Laura.
Well done. I can't say that, but well done.
Yeah, I can't believe it either. We've never even like, we've had two fights, not 50 fights.
(06:08):
I'm talking like just, you know, arguments. First argument that happened was when we were
on our arena tour back in the day and me and Lee decided to go and do a bit of shopping
in Birmingham and we had a gig that night in Manchester. So we did the shopping in the
ballroom in Birmingham, got some bits, some selfies. We're in the car, we're going up
the motorway and there'd been a big crash. So the motorway had come to an absolute standstill.
(06:32):
We're like, oh, we need to get to Manchester because we're going to be, we're on stage
in two hours. So we were like, we need to, you know, hurry up. Nothing was moving. An
hour later, we're still stuck in traffic. Helicopter was coming in, obviously it'd been
a fatality, which was awful. So we said to the driver, you're going to have to go on
the hard shoulder because we're going to, we're going to miss the gig. The boys, Anthony
(06:53):
and Soi were really upset. They were just really annoyed. Understandably so. So anyway,
we got on the hard shoulder and we bolted it and we just managed to get there probably
about half an hour late. So we kept the audience waiting half an hour, which is really bad.
And then we kind of literally ran on stage and Simon and Anthony were really unhappy
(07:16):
with us. So you had to perform that gig. Yeah, before we could just tell, me and Lee were
like, oh, they're pissed. They're like, they're not happy at all. And at the end of the gig,
it kicked off. That was like a big argument. And it was like blaming us because we went
shopping and we were like, well, it's not our fault that there was an accident. We didn't
know that was going to happen. And did you think like at any point, like, I mean, obviously
there weren't that many arguments, but any point you ever thought, okay, there's a danger
(07:38):
here that people were going to split. The band's not going to last. Were there any points
like that? There was one moment, which was the second
argument that happened a few years ago, actually. And we'd had a few people in our circle that
like to kind of, I think, manipulate us in certain ways. There was a lot of stirring
of the part where somebody would sometimes go to one of the boys and say one thing and
(08:01):
they go to another boy and said, well, they said that. There was a little bit of that.
And so I think that was going on at one point. So that's all finished now. That resolved
in us having to move away from certain people that we were with. And actually now the team
(08:22):
that we've got for the last year and a half has been the best team we've ever had in the
whole 24 years of Blue. And it's just, it feels like a really happy place to go to work.
There's no kind of like weird stuff that goes on. There's no manipulation stuff. There's
no weird stuff. And you know, me and the boys, we are quite, we're just normal lads really.
(08:44):
We're not very organized apart from Anthony. We need somebody to be able to tell us what
to do, where we're going, reminding on a constant basis. So, you know, we need to be mothered
quite a lot. I mean, look, I know all of you. Bar Simon,
I've obviously known you. We've been cruising together. We have. We have indeed. We've been
(09:05):
cruising together. And obviously I know Lee, because I used to sing with Lee back in the
day. And Anthony, I know as well. And obviously I've seen you on tour and I think, you know,
your friendship is amazing. But you are, you obviously got each other's backs. Yeah. And
you, but there must have been things that have gone on. So come on. There was this,
(09:26):
you mentioned something or Lee, was it Lee mentioned something or you mentioned something
about the threesome? Oh gosh, that was, I'd just like to say the
threesome wasn't with me, but is it true? Like, well, back in the day when we were like in
our twenties and you know, very young, young kids, obviously we were at the height of fame.
We had a lot of success very early on and there was a lot of partying going on back
(09:51):
then. You know, there was a lot, we were going flying in different countries, hotel rooms
getting wrecked. A lot of hotel rooms getting wrecked. There was a lot of fun shenanigans
that went on with Blue back in the day. And of course we got away with it because there
was no camera phones then, which is a blessing because we would have been cancelled years
ago. But yeah, but there was a lot of fun. There was obviously a lot of girls around
(10:13):
and I was straight back then. So I thought, so, you know, there was a lot of girls, there
was a lot of, there was a lot of just temptation and mixed that with alcohol and fame and on
the road of being looked after. There was, there was some incidents, there were some
instances that had happened where we'd all end up potentially in the same kind of room
(10:35):
together and things would happen. So back in the day there was, there was some shenanigans
that happened, but I think most, you know, people in their twenties when you're experimenting
and you're, you know, you're having fun before you've really found yourself, they get up,
you get up to all sorts, don't you?
And going back on that, you know, you sort of say in better commas, thought you were
(10:56):
straight. At what point did you, did you always kind of know actually, you know, I am gay
or like what, when did you, when did you start to figure that all out?
So I was brought up as a, in a very strict Catholic family. So I was an altar boy at
church when I was at school. So I would have to serve the mass every Sunday because my
grandfather, he was a very strict Catholic. So it was my grandma and he played the organ
(11:19):
at the church. He played the, you know, the keyboard. So I was the altar boy, grandpa
was at the organ. It was very much a family affair thing. And every single Sunday I had
to go to church. So I think growing up in such a kind of strict way, I had a lot of
that Catholic guilt, couldn't allow myself to think about anything to do with sex or
(11:39):
anything like that. Cause you'd go straight to hell if you have those thoughts. So it
was just best to not even think about it. And I think growing up in that kind of way,
I was always really kind of frightened to even open up that kind of door to anything
sexual. I mean, I didn't lose my virginity until I was quite old. I was like, well, older,
I was 18, 19. So I was older to a lot of my friends. But that was more out of fear of
(12:06):
doing something wrong. Do you know what I mean? So again, it comes back down to that
Catholic guilt. So I think that went through work, working with my sexuality with not really
wanting to address the fact that I was probably gay and it was probably just best to keep
that door shut and not open it. And actually as I've got older and I've spoken to a lot
(12:27):
of, to a lot of gay people, they've gone through, it's a generational thing, I think they've
gone through very similar things where it's much easier to suppress that and to close
the door on it to not even open it up. And there's been a lot of guys I've met who I've
talked to who are much the older generation and they didn't come out until they were like
(12:49):
60, 70 years old. And they've spent their whole life being completely closeted and afraid.
It makes me so sad. It makes me sad. But I mean, I guess I was probably in the last of
that generation where now it's a lot more accepting, you know, kids are coming out of
the womb. You know what I mean? And it's like a lot more accepting these days.
And the boys in the band, like at what point did you tell them like you were travelling
(13:10):
around or like, how did you break that?
So I was really frightened to tell the guys because I thought, are they going to accept
me? Are they going to, are they going to want to still be my friend? I had all these question
marks in my head. And the first person I told was Simon.
Right.
Yeah. And I told Simon because I was in Los Angeles at the time and I had gone through
(13:32):
a breakup with a secret undercover boyfriend that I'd had, who was actually one of blues
dancers. And I was completely head over heels in love with this guy and also living a kind
of double life where nobody knew about him. And it was a completely secret relationship.
And I was so paranoid about anybody finding out. So it was just best to keep it all quiet.
(13:52):
And it got to the point where we'd broken up and I was just devastated. And I was just
needed to talk to somebody. And I remember raiding my mini bar in my hotel room in LA,
literally raiding the mini bar to get enough courage to be able to ring up Simon. And it
was, I thought I'm going to tell Simon because I know he's the most tight lipped of the group.
And if I tell him something, I know he's not going to say anything. And I rang him up and
(14:17):
I told him and he was just, he was incredible. He was like, what you want a best friend to
say? He was so incredible. And my mum was with me in LA. I remember him saying, he goes,
please do me a favour, go and talk to your mum because it's your mum and she's there
with you. I don't want you to be going through this on your own. Go and speak to your mum,
go and knock on the door on our room and talk to her. It was like one in the morning. So
(14:39):
I said, all right then. So I knocked on my mum's room and she answered the door. In a
hotel in LA. She opened the door. She was fast asleep. She was like, I've been crying,
floods of tears. Eyes were red. She was like, what's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong?
I said, mum, I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you. For me, it was like a huge
thing. And I said, sit down, sit down, sit down. And I said, mum, I need you to know
that I think I'm gay or bisexual and I'm really confused with my sexuality. And she went,
(15:04):
oh, I thought you were going to tell me you had cancer. She gave me the biggest hunk.
Of course. Like, you know, you're a fan. But in my words, she thought you had...
She thought I was going to tell her something like really serious. But for me, it was a
really serious thing. But I think you magnify it in your own head because when it's
become like a secret for so many years and you're so frightened to come out, it becomes
(15:29):
that... It becomes a bigger thing than it really is. So when I come out, I was like,
oh, no one's bothered. No one gives a damn. But do you look back on that time? I think
that was one of your most turbulent times. Yeah. Yeah. I think for me, going through
the height of blue with all the fame at that time and all the public attention that we
were getting, especially from the red tops, the sun, the mirror, we were always in the
(15:53):
paper, always linked to girls. Jerry Halliwell, Martin McCutcheon, I was linked to all of
these. Tara, bless God rest her soul, Palmer Tomkinson. And so you kind of... The media
were running away with their own narrative, which was not the narrative that I was living.
So you kind of get caught up in this very mixed two-way world. So it's very hard to then find
(16:16):
the reality in it. So I was in Harley Street seeing psychiatrists. I was on a medicine
called Seroxat to try to help my anxiety with it all, because it was all a lot. And I didn't
really have a lot of people to talk to. But when I came out, Simon and my mum, honestly,
(16:36):
I felt that was great. So much better. So much better. And then a few years later,
I did the story for the News of the World and came out. And it was one of the most scariest,
but most liberating things I've ever done. Of course. Everyone loves you. I mean,
look at the career that you've had going on since then and that you're having now.
I know. We're still blessed to be working. I mean, I just got off doing a massive Italian
(17:02):
summer tour in front of thousands touring around Italy, where it's just like what it was back in
the day. Amazing. So favourite country? Do you think you've... Is that difficult question to answer?
Favourite country? It's difficult because I like countries that I like to escape to, to run away
where I'm not known and have a holiday without getting bothered or anything. And I like countries
(17:22):
that I like going to for work that I really enjoy with the boys where we love. So Italy has always
been probably the biggest country that supported blue outside the UK. Has it? Yeah. We had a number
one hit there for 16 weeks, which we sang a song in Italian. And what was that? It's called A Kimi
Di Cce. Right. Yeah. And it's like every single... What would that have been in... What's that...
(17:44):
Bredese in English. Okay. Bredese in English is translated to A Kimi Di Cce in Italian. 16 weeks
in number one. Number one, it was a long time. So it's become one of the countries, like anthems,
every single Italian person, you say A Kimi Di Cce, they're like, oh yes, we love A Kimi
Di Cce. And they know it and they all sing the words to it. So it's like a huge song. But Italy's got a kind of special place.
(18:07):
So Italy's a very... And also it is such a beautiful country. Yeah. I mean, it is stunning. We just got back from
Sicily, which I love as well. Sicily, the food is just... I'm a real foodie. Yeah. So the fish,
the seafood, the meat, it was just literally in heaven and the pasta, of course. So yeah. And what about
(18:28):
travel from an LGBTQ plus point of view? When you pick a destination to go to, is that kind of on
your mind where you think, right, well, I want to make sure that it's a place that's going to be...
Yeah. Because there are destinations that I've traveled to that I'm like, okay, there's quite a big culture of that.
People there or what? Does that kind of come into... Yeah. I think you've got to be really careful still,
(18:50):
which is really sad because there's certain countries you go to where you can't be seen to be gay at all.
I remember going to a water park in Dubai with my ex-boyfriend at the time and we'd gone down the slide
together and it was one of those really drop fast ones. Yeah. And I remember getting out of the water
and he was there. Did you have underwear on? I was like, I was fine. I was like, oh my God, that was so
(19:13):
annoying. And I cuddled him and we were hugged, we embraced and security came over and said, no,
like really angry and like, you can't show that here. You get thrown out if you do that again. I
was like, oh my God, are you serious? So that was kind of a bit scary. Did that put you off? Has that
put you off going back to Dubai? I still love Dubai, but it just made me realize that's their rules,
(19:35):
their country. You have to respect their wishes in a way. So even if I don't agree with it personally,
but it is their country and their rules. So you have to kind of just respect it. Yeah.
Your partner now, you've got a partner. Rodrigo. Yeah. So we're going on holiday to Mykonos this year.
(19:55):
Mykonos is like the gay Greek Island, isn't it? So it's so fun. So you've been another time? I love
Mykonos. It's so expensive though now. I mean, it's ridiculously expensive, but it's beautiful.
You know, everything's all those like white villas. Yeah, blue and white. And it's just a really
lovely place. They've got a really fun kind of gay bar at outdoor by the beach called Jackie O's,
(20:18):
which is just fabulous. They have like a resident drag queen who hosts. And you know, you've got all
the boys, a big pool, all the boys and their little, in their little sungas. What do we call
them here? We call them, what are they called? Those little speedos. I mean, I'm in Brazilian
most. Sungas is the Brazilian name because obviously being with the Brazilian for six years.
(20:40):
Where did you meet? Belgium. Right. Interesting. How, why? We did a gig in Belgium and we got off
stage and we went to the hotel where we were staying in the hotel bar. And he was in the hotel
randomly with his friends having a drink before he was going out for dinner. And I'd got off stage,
me and the boys balled in. You know, we're quite loud and obviously he was looking at what's going
(21:03):
on and we ordered some drinks. And I saw him at the bar and I was like, oh, he's really cute.
And I said, do you want a drink? And he's like, okay. So I bought him a gin and tonic and he
came over and said, thank you. And then we started chatting and he, you know, he didn't have a clue
who I was or anything like that, which was really nice. And we just started chatting a lot and
talking, talking, talking. And yeah, that's how, that's how we met. It's been six years. Amazing.
(21:29):
Oh, he's mad. So what does the kind of future hold for the two of you? Is there kind of, do you think
you'll get married? Any like? We've had an argument this morning and I've turned my
final. So that's where we are this morning. Yeah, we had an argument. So a turbulent morning then?
A turbulent morning, yeah. The journey wasn't plain sailing. It wasn't. There was a lot of
texting, but we'll be fine later. We now interrupt your flight for a word from our advertisers.
(21:51):
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(22:16):
celebrity crushes? Do I have a celebrity crush? I've always had a little soft spot for Will Smith,
actually. I thought he's always. Yeah, I used to love Will Smith growing up as a kid. He's quite,
he's quite feisty though. He's been a bit feisty recently, hasn't he? Yeah. But from growing up,
watching him on from Fresh Prince and everything and seeing all his films that I wrote about, which
(22:38):
he was super high on. And he just, in interviews, I've seen him in the past. Charming. Very, very
charming. Yeah. So you'd like to join the Mile High Club with him, would you? My boyfriend is
watching this, so no, no, no. I only have eyes for my boyfriend, of course. No, we haven't actually
ever done the Mile High Club. Rodrigo, if you're watching. Yeah, there you go. You're watching.
(23:01):
That's a bucket list tick. On your way to Mykonos. Probably get caught and be cancelled and end up in
the papers. So travel, what does it mean to you? I love traveling. I think because I've lived
pretty much in a suitcase for the last 24 years, well, not lived in a suitcase, but lived out of a
suitcase, I'm just used to always traveling. So a lot of travel hacks I've got quite clued up with.
(23:26):
Oh, can you share? Always, always, always, always collect your points, whether you're, you know, your
avios or your hotel points, because they come in super handy. Yep. And you never know when you're
going to, you know, need them. And obviously you get certain perks for collecting like your avios
and say your Hilton hotels or whatever, because you can get free night stays and it all really helps.
(23:47):
So even you, in your, you know, you kind of like to, you're savvy. Oh, I'm really savvy. Yeah. I
was devastated. I was gold member at BA for like three years in a row. And then last year we didn't
fly enough. So I went back down to silver, which was devastating. So I've made it my mission this
year and I'm about literally about to go gold next week, my next flight. So at least I've got that
for another year. And I know that sounds like really like arrogant, but honestly, it means,
(24:11):
it means that it takes away so much stress when you get to the airport. So if you throw, if you're a
gold member, they've got their own separate wing, which you go through. So you don't have to go
through the whole security with everybody. You go through your own private little entrance, which
is just so nice. And then you go, it takes you straight into the lounge. So you just sit in a
(24:32):
nice lounge. Do you, do you find that's like a massive perk for you as well? Because obviously
you are who you are and you're traveling through airports. Do you constantly get recognized,
people coming up to you? Because for me, being at an airport is probably one of the most places that
I get recognized on a plane. Yeah. I mean, obviously people now have camera phones, but there's a lot
of international people flying. We're quite an international band. So people know is not just
(24:52):
the Brits, but obviously Italians and stuff like that. So it can get a little bit like when you're
at the airport, you just want to just, you know, get on that plane. Don't you? And a lot of the
time you're tired if it's an early morning flight. So for me, the lounges are really, really helpful
and really useful. And it's just a place to chill, isn't it? Before you get on a flight, especially
if you're going on a long haul or whatever, you just grab a little bit to eat. And I sometimes
(25:15):
eat in the lounge and like get on the plane and just sleep. Yeah. Cause that's great. But I mean,
for me, airports, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with, because I don't know if you've
noticed nowadays, well, obviously you would have noticed, but there's more and more delays. It seems
like there's more and more problems with flights. There's more people camping outside the whole,
outside the airports because they've missed their flight or their flights were canceled or whatever.
(25:41):
So airports are becoming more and more and more just masses of people and more stressful places
to be in. I think different times of year for me, like it kind of varies massively. Obviously that
summer months, school holidays. Yes. It's crazy busy, but obviously we had like an IT kind of thing.
I was stuck in that. Were you? I was stuck in the IT, the Microsoft. What do you do when you're stuck
(26:05):
on a plane and you're delayed? We had a nightmare because we were in Catania and thankfully my flight
was in the evening. Where's Catania? Catania in Sicily. Oh, okay. So luckily my flight was in the evening and this
computer crash happened in the morning. So the boys had early morning flights and I'd booked a flight
to come home that night, which was great. So I literally spent the whole day by the pool and I
(26:26):
could see that my flight was delayed. So I just thought, well, I'm not going to rush to the airport
and be there on time because the flight hasn't even taken off from London yet to come to collect me.
So I was monitoring it on flight radar. Another good travel hack. So I could see when the plane,
where the plane was, how far away it was before it was landed, before I went to the airport.
And then I got to the airport and we were delayed even more because of something to do with air
(26:50):
traffic control issues. I got on the plane, we missed the slot, had to wait 50 minutes for the slot
to come back up. And eventually when we got on the way and we landed at Gatwick, we'd landed at
nighttime and there'd been a lot of planes landing at the same time because a lot of them were
delayed. So it was at midnight, loads of planes came in at once, not enough baggage handlers.
(27:16):
And it was midnight, so all the baggage handlers had clocked out. So they were going home because
they're like, well, I'm not getting paid any extra. I'm going home. It's my shift. Shift initiative.
So there was probably about two and a half thousand people in Gatwick waiting for their bags. And I
think I waited two hours for my bags to come. After we were delayed, yeah, we were just sat there
waiting for the bags to come. And it was funny because every conveyor belt, when the bags came,
(27:39):
everybody was cheering because they were really pleased their bags came. So. But despite of the
delays, despite of, you know, hanging around for luggage, you still love travel. I still love,
I do love travel, even though it can do your head right in. Do you know what I mean? It can do your
head in, especially when you're caught on a delay or whatever. Do you turn right? I like to turn left.
I bet you do. If it's short haul, I can do it right. But long haul nowadays, I've got a bad
(28:02):
back, Laura, and I need a comfortable bed. I've had discs removed. Have you? Yeah. It's very difficult
sitting up for me and for all those hours with when you've had discs removed out your back. I mean,
when you have kind of done it once, it is nice, isn't it? To turn left. But it is a massive
pressure. But if you can be savvy with your points, collecting your aviaries, actually,
you can often do the buy one, get one free, can't you? And also you can upgrade yourself. Yeah.
(28:26):
Yeah. Which is great. And you can use your aviaries to upgrade. But what I was saying is,
you know, you're sitting there and it's all waiting to go. And then you get that dreaded
announcement by the captain who says there's a technical problem with the plane and you're
like, but we aren't getting it fixed. And you just think, oh no. And that for me sends me off because
it's like my head will start spiralling. Well, what, what technical problem? What's happened? And I'm,
(28:47):
I will go straight up to the cabin crew and I'll want to know all the information. So I'll,
I'll talk to them and I say, oh, what's happened? And they'll be like, oh, it's,
you know, whatever's happened on the wheel or there's been a light that's come up on the
dashboard. They have to check. You want to know what's going on. Of course you do with
your plane spotting book. My plane spotting book. I want to know. What flight? Have you ever been on
any flights and there's been like, you know, a bit of drama, anything going on that? I remember me
(29:10):
and the boys were on a, on a cafe Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London. And we were delayed for
hours in Hong Kong because of really bad weather. And we actually had to have a plane swap last
minute. So we were due to fly back on a Boeing and we got swapped last minute to an airbus.
(29:31):
Now we took off from Hong Kong airport and normally the plane, obviously it starts climbing
till it gets to its cruising destination, cruising altitude. Sorry. So we started to,
we took off, we got to about 8,000 feet and then the plane leveled off. And I'm thinking,
this isn't normal. We should be climbing. What's going on? And I looked out the window
(29:54):
and we were in thick black cloud. Like we were in a storm cloud and the plane was, you know,
doing the whole thing. And I just remember looking out the window and seeing lightning bolts
hitting the wing and electric blue going all the way up the wing. And I was like, close that window.
Anthony was over there literally, you know, having a heart attack blessing. So I was like, okay,
this is really scary. We're not climbing. What's going on? What's going on? And about five minutes
(30:16):
later, we actually started to, to climb again. And the captain came on and said, we're really
sorry about that, but we were caught in a thunderstorm as you might've seen. And we were
told to hold a certain flight because there was lots of planes around. So we were just told to
hold at that height. And he was said, but the good news is we don't have to return back to the
(30:39):
airport because we swapped this plane out and you're now in an Airbus and not a Boeing. And if you
were in a Boeing with the lightning that was struck, it would have been backed out. And you
were like, yeah, well I know that because I know my planes. Because Boeing is all cabled and
Airbuses are all mini computers. So if it gets struck by lightning, the computer shuts down.
(30:59):
Shuts off and reboots. Yeah. So, but Boeing is all cabled. So lightning goes along the cables and it
short something out. So that's why I was, we were able to carry on flying home back to London.
I want to talk a little bit more about your, your career actually, cause you have had, I mean,
you're not just a pop star. You've performed in the West End. You've done Eurovision. Where was
(31:21):
Eurovision? Dusseldorf, 2011. You're on Gogglebox, TV presenter, radio presenter. Is there, do you
have a, like what's your favourite thing to do or do you just love it all? I'm very lucky. I like
to have a little dabble at everything. I've been very blessed. I've had the opportunity to do lots
of stuff. But I've got to say, I do love musical theatre. I started off, Rocky Horror was the show
(31:48):
I did. Were you in Greece as well? No, I didn't do Greece. I did Legally Blonde, the original cast.
Elwoods. It's my Elwoods reference to you when I saw you. Yeah. Give me Elwoods today. I got to play
Warner, which was El's boyfriend, their dumpster to go to Harvard. And Sheridan Smith was my Elwoods.
Oh, amazing. I've done Chicago, the musical many, many times in the West End, which was incredible
(32:14):
getting to play Bitty Flynn. And I got to play my first ever drag role in Priscilla Queen of the
Desert. Did you? I love that. That show's great. I got to just, yeah, I loved it because I love a bit
of drag. I love RuPaul's Drag Race. I love anything to do with the whole kind of artistry of drag.
So to get to play such an iconic part in such an iconic musical from an iconic film was like a dream
(32:42):
come true for me. And it was just incredible. Who's your favorite drag queen then? Who is my
favorite drag queen? This is such a difficult question for me because I love so many drag queens,
but I think from the British, Brits, I've got a very special place for Cheryl Hall because she's
a very good friend of mine. And I love the Vivienne and I love Baguette Chips. Oh, okay. I love those
(33:05):
queens and Kitty Scott Claus. We need to get them on. We need to find out if they're part of the
They would. Drag queen, of course there's a drag queen on a mile high club. Is there?
Sure. Oh, you need to, you need to. I'll do some investigating for you. Definitely. But American drag queens.
Alyssa Edwards is up there. Bianca Del Rio, love her. A bit more of the old school ones. You're
(33:31):
probably thinking, who are you talking about? The modern day ones. But do you know what I love is,
like, you know, obviously you have had like, you went through that turbulence of being able to come
out and tell Simon and your mom and whatever. And now you really feel at ease and comfortable with
who you are. And not giving a crap what anyone else thinks. You know, not worrying what anyone else.
I'm still waiting for Ru Paul to ring me up and ask me to be a judge on the show, but you know,
(33:54):
the phone call never comes. Yeah, to hear first. You never know. Sort of how Ru. You are incredible.
You've gone through it. What advice would you give to anybody that was kind of struggling right now?
Well, I think, you know, it's still, there's still a lot of stigma attached to coming out. It's still
not easy, even though it's a lot better now than it was back in the day. It's a lot more accepting,
(34:16):
I guess. But, you know, religion pays a really big part. People's family, they're scared of,
of, you know, what the reaction is going to be from family members. And it's really difficult.
And, you know, we are not, we don't choose to be this way. You know, you are born, I believe you
are born that way. And obviously we make choices along the way, but I think that it's really
(34:42):
important to have somebody that you can talk to. Don't suffer in silence. That is the number one
thing I would say. Try to find, you know, somebody that you can talk to because so much mental health
problems are out there nowadays. So many people are bottling things up and they don't have an
outlet. They don't find that they can talk to somebody. And I've heard some horror stories
of people taking their lives because they, they, they were frightened to ever tell somebody.
(35:07):
And I think that is such a travesty. That's so sad. You know, it's really important to be able to
talk to people and to just offload. There's so many help lines out there. If you, if you didn't want
to speak to a family member or a friend, there's so many discrete help lines that you can ring,
that you can talk to people. So I just, yeah, it's talking, getting it out is half the battle. I
(35:31):
think it really does help finding that special person that you can confide in and trust. She's
really important. Oh, great advice. And I'm sure, I'm sure it will help a lot of people. I hope so.
I want to talk a little bit about your daughter, Tierney. Tierney, yes. I've seen Tierney, like
she's an incredible ballet dancer. I know. You must be so proud. I'm so proud. Proud, Dad. Yeah,
(35:53):
we're proud of our kids, aren't we? But I mean, the fact that she's gone through literally her
whole life at the Royal Ballet School and she's just progressed from white lodge to upper school.
And now she's 19, starting her life. Just, just before you talk a little bit about,
bit more about her, you, you actually told your mum, didn't you, that you were, were gay. And then
(36:13):
you went on and had your daughter. So how did that? So I came out to my mum and I remember my mum,
when she processed it all, she said, well, does that mean I'm not going to have grandchildren? And
literally a few weeks after that, I'd found out that Claire, Tierney's mummy, who was an ex-girlfriend
of mine, she, she got pregnant. And yeah, I remember, I remember thinking at the time,
(36:36):
this is so bizarre. I just told my mum I might be gay and now I'm going to tell my mum, I'm actually
going to have a child. So bless my mum. My head must've been all over the place, but I guess it
shows that my head was all over the place back then as well. I really didn't know, I hadn't really
found myself, you know, I didn't know if I was gay straight by what I was really, but I'm very blessed
(36:57):
I had a beautiful, healthy daughter who I absolutely adore. And me and her mum, you know, we, we are
just so proud of her because she's just done incredible things with her ballet. She's such a
talented ballerina. Do you ever go on holiday with the boys outside of touring with the boys?
We've got a gig coming up actually next month in Bali, which is amazing. So we've all decided,
(37:23):
so we stay for a couple of extra days. We go a couple of days before. So we're going to have a
couple of days. Have you been to Bali before? I've never done it. We actually got stuck in Bali in
the beginning of lockdown. So when, so lockdown happened, first of all, in obviously China and,
and it spread through to Asia very quickly. We were touring around that part of the world and
(37:46):
we were, we were in Bali and we had a gig to, I think it was Indonesia, but the flights were
canceled because they went, that country went into lockdown. So we were then stuck in Bali.
Oh my word.
Because we couldn't get flights home because all the flights were grounded because
How long was that there for?
We had two weeks.
Did you?
Yeah, we had two weeks in Bali on a beach whilst the rest of the world was going into lockdown.
(38:06):
And we were having a fabulous time in Bali. We didn't know the severity of it at the time.
And then of course we flew, got back into London and everything went straight into lockdown.
Crazy times. So come on, I need to then know a bit about the mile high club.
When that happened, the Virgin flight.
So that was back in the day.
Are we talking full blown, went to the top? What happened? Did you fly first class?
(38:30):
No, so it was, I shouldn't really say this.
Yeah, you can come on, dish the dirt.
They don't work there for Virgin anymore, but there was a girl who was on the Virgin Atlantic flight.
She was cabin crew.
We'd gone out to LA and we had partied with all the cabin crew and she was on another flight and
(38:53):
she was quite, quite naughty, I think. Anyway, she said to me, oh, I have to show you the crew
restroom. And it was in the days when you could, you were allowed to go in, you know, before 9-11,
you know, post 9-11. So it was pre-9-11. So she took me to the back of the plane where there was
a little door that led you downstairs.
(39:15):
Did you know what was going on?
Into the crew room. And there was like a crew where there's bunk beds. So we had a little,
you know, a little play in the crew because you could get into the little bunk bed and close the
curtain. So me and her got in there and had a little, it wasn't full on, you know, but we...
You still joined it.
I still joined it.
You had a little dabble.
Had a little bit of fun. And I was like, okay, I'm kind of like, I'm in the Mile High Club.
(39:39):
You are in the Mile High Club. You're also in the Mile Fly Club.
Mile Fly Club, yes.
Thank you.
Yes.
Oh Duncan.
And I'm the Virgin, the first woman.
You are, you are the Virgin.
I popped the Virgin cherry for the Mile Fly Club.
I've popped the Virgin cherry.
Join the Mile High Club on the way to Mykonos.
Yeah, I'll make a little video and send it to you.
Fam, for fun. Thank you so much. It's been amazing having you as our first guest.
(40:03):
You were my Virgin.
I'd like to be a Virgin again. It's been lovely to be reborn.
And I've popped your Virgin cherry as well.
You have indeed. Safe travel.
And thanks to all the listeners out there.
We love having you all as members of the Mile Fly Club.
So stay tuned for more fantastic episodes coming soon.
Going through the height of Blue with all the fame at that time and all the public attention
(00:07):
that we were getting, especially from the red tops, you know, the sun, the mirror, we
were always in the paper. The media were running away with their own narrative, which was not
the narrative that I was living. I was completely head over heels in love with this guy and
also living a kind of double life where nobody knew about him and it was a completely secret
(00:28):
relationship. I was so paranoid about anybody finding out. We'd had a few people in our
circle that liked to kind of, I think, manipulate us in certain ways. There was a lot of stirring
of the pot. Me and Lee were like, oh, they're pissed. And at the end of the gig, it kicked
off. The most colorful band around, it's Blue!
(00:53):
She took me to the back of the plane where there was this little door that led you downstairs.
Did you know what was going on with you?
Into the crew room where there's bunk beds. There was a lot of fun shenanigans that went
on with Blue back in the day. And of course we got away with it because there was no camera
phones then, which was a blessing.
Welcome to the Mile Fly Club, your VIP lane to first class travel tips, tell all talk
(01:17):
and turbulent life tales. Think the Mile High Club only with more clothes, but no less revealing.
Each week, I'll be inviting high flying, globe trotting guests to bear all in my club.
So if you're searching for some tantalizing travel did pitch and a good old gossip, you've
arrived at the right destination. Now sit back, relax, and get ready to join me in the
(01:40):
Mile Fly Club.
Ladies and gentlemen, we've now reached our cruising altitude. I'll go ahead and turn
off the seatbelt sign. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.
Today's traveller shot to fame in 2001 with his band Blue after their first single All
Rise reached number one. And since then, he's dominated the world of show business. From
(02:03):
pop music to the West End to Eurovision and beyond, he has done it all. But who is the
man behind the music? Welcome to the Mile Fly Club, Duncan James.
Thank you.
You are officially our first member, but I have got a question to ask you. Everyone wants
to know the answer to. Are you a member of the Mile High Club?
I'm a member of the Mile High Club. I am.
(02:25):
Oh my goodness. I want to know more.
Back in the day, we'll talk about that. Yeah, a long time ago.
Wowzers.
On a Virgin Atlantic flight.
Impressive. Okay. Well, I can't wait to hear more. But before we hear more about that,
let's go right back to the beginning when it all began with Blue in 2001. Well, you
actually got together before that, didn't you?
(02:45):
Yeah. Well, I mean, we were kind of put together in 2000. And then our first single was released
in 2001, which just for some reason, it seems like a whole lifetime ago. I mean, it was
a lifetime ago, but it wasn't that well, 24 years ago, but it just seems like it's like
not from this life. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah. I mean, like the success you guys had and obviously like, you know, being in a band,
(03:09):
travel is a massive part of that. You've obviously been to some incredible places.
It's funny because when we first started out traveling, I used to be absolutely petrified
of flying, like terrified, like properly terrified. So my way to kind of get over my fear of flying
was to become a real plane geek and start learning about all the aeroplane, all the
different types of aircraft. So the boys still take the mickey out of me.
(03:32):
Were you in the end of the runway before you like took off with you?
I always used to sit there and watch planes. That's how geeky I was. I loved, I've always
loved airplanes, but frightened of them. So to get over the fear, I wanted to learn about
them, how many engines they've got and what was the type of aircraft it was. So back then
we used to fly a lot of Boeing 747s, you know, one of the one with the little bubble on the
top. You know yourself.
Which were lovely. So all the boys, they didn't have a clue. They say, Oh, all right then
(03:55):
Dunk, what's that plane? I'd be like, Oh, that's a triple seven. Oh, that's the dreamliner.
And they're like, how would you know? And I said, well, you just know if you look at
planes. So that's how you got over.
So I started to learn about them and kind of get into them. And that's how I got over
my fear.
Amazing. Right. So, you know, you've traveled to some amazing destinations. Who was your
favorite band member to travel with?
(04:19):
You can't ask me that.
I can.
Who's my favorite band mate to travel with? Probably Anthony Costa.
Right. Why?
Because Anne is very organized. He's actually really frightened of flying. He gets really
petrified when there's a little bit of turbulence, which I find quite endearing. So I kind of
feel like, it's all right Anne. I'm like mother hen. So I'd be like, don't worry, don't worry.
(04:40):
And he's like, oh, he's like popping jumpy out of his seat. So, yeah, so I do like flying
with Anne because I like to reassure him and make sure that, you know, he's all right.
But also he's super organized. So he's like, he's the kind of person that is packed for
his holiday a week before he's actually going on holiday. Everything's laid out. He knows
exactly what he's wearing each single day. When me, I'm packing on the morning of the
(05:02):
holiday and it's just being shoved in. And then when I get there, I realized, oh, I haven't
got a belt or I forgot my toothbrush.
So he was most organized and who was the worst person to travel with?
Nobody, bless Lee, nobody likes to sit in a seat in front of Lee. So we now have a rule
with all our travel agents that Lee is not to be booked behind us because he's one of
(05:26):
those people with it, you know, when they kick in the chair and he's moving the seat,
sometimes his feet are up on the top. So there's a lot of that going on. So you don't want
to be in a seat in front of Lee.
What's incredible is, you know, you guys have been together for what, 20, 25 years and you
have stayed together, haven't you? Like as a band.
(05:47):
We're like a marriage that's never actually broken up. I mean, I can't believe I've been
married to Anthony, Simon and Lee for 24 years and we've never divorced. We got into marriage
counseling, Laura.
Well done. I can't say that, but well done.
Yeah, I can't believe it either. We've never even like, we've had two fights, not 50 fights.
(06:08):
I'm talking like just, you know, arguments. First argument that happened was when we were
on our arena tour back in the day and me and Lee decided to go and do a bit of shopping
in Birmingham and we had a gig that night in Manchester. So we did the shopping in the
ballroom in Birmingham, got some bits, some selfies. We're in the car, we're going up
the motorway and there'd been a big crash. So the motorway had come to an absolute standstill.
(06:32):
We're like, oh, we need to get to Manchester because we're going to be, we're on stage
in two hours. So we were like, we need to, you know, hurry up. Nothing was moving. An
hour later, we're still stuck in traffic. Helicopter was coming in, obviously it'd been
a fatality, which was awful. So we said to the driver, you're going to have to go on
the hard shoulder because we're going to, we're going to miss the gig. The boys, Anthony
(06:53):
and Soi were really upset. They were just really annoyed. Understandably so. So anyway,
we got on the hard shoulder and we bolted it and we just managed to get there probably
about half an hour late. So we kept the audience waiting half an hour, which is really bad.
And then we kind of literally ran on stage and Simon and Anthony were really unhappy
(07:16):
with us. So you had to perform that gig. Yeah, before we could just tell, me and Lee were
like, oh, they're pissed. They're like, they're not happy at all. And at the end of the gig,
it kicked off. That was like a big argument. And it was like blaming us because we went
shopping and we were like, well, it's not our fault that there was an accident. We didn't
know that was going to happen. And did you think like at any point, like, I mean, obviously
there weren't that many arguments, but any point you ever thought, okay, there's a danger
(07:38):
here that people were going to split. The band's not going to last. Were there any points
like that? There was one moment, which was the second
argument that happened a few years ago, actually. And we'd had a few people in our circle that
like to kind of, I think, manipulate us in certain ways. There was a lot of stirring
of the part where somebody would sometimes go to one of the boys and say one thing and
(08:01):
they go to another boy and said, well, they said that. There was a little bit of that.
And so I think that was going on at one point. So that's all finished now. That resolved
in us having to move away from certain people that we were with. And actually now the team
(08:22):
that we've got for the last year and a half has been the best team we've ever had in the
whole 24 years of Blue. And it's just, it feels like a really happy place to go to work.
There's no kind of like weird stuff that goes on. There's no manipulation stuff. There's
no weird stuff. And you know, me and the boys, we are quite, we're just normal lads really.
(08:44):
We're not very organized apart from Anthony. We need somebody to be able to tell us what
to do, where we're going, reminding on a constant basis. So, you know, we need to be mothered
quite a lot. I mean, look, I know all of you. Bar Simon,
I've obviously known you. We've been cruising together. We have. We have indeed. We've been
(09:05):
cruising together. And obviously I know Lee, because I used to sing with Lee back in the
day. And Anthony, I know as well. And obviously I've seen you on tour and I think, you know,
your friendship is amazing. But you are, you obviously got each other's backs. Yeah. And
you, but there must have been things that have gone on. So come on. There was this,
(09:26):
you mentioned something or Lee, was it Lee mentioned something or you mentioned something
about the threesome? Oh gosh, that was, I'd just like to say the
threesome wasn't with me, but is it true? Like, well, back in the day when we were like in
our twenties and you know, very young, young kids, obviously we were at the height of fame.
We had a lot of success very early on and there was a lot of partying going on back
(09:51):
then. You know, there was a lot, we were going flying in different countries, hotel rooms
getting wrecked. A lot of hotel rooms getting wrecked. There was a lot of fun shenanigans
that went on with Blue back in the day. And of course we got away with it because there
was no camera phones then, which is a blessing because we would have been cancelled years
ago. But yeah, but there was a lot of fun. There was obviously a lot of girls around
(10:13):
and I was straight back then. So I thought, so, you know, there was a lot of girls, there
was a lot of, there was a lot of just temptation and mixed that with alcohol and fame and on
the road of being looked after. There was, there was some incidents, there were some
instances that had happened where we'd all end up potentially in the same kind of room
(10:35):
together and things would happen. So back in the day there was, there was some shenanigans
that happened, but I think most, you know, people in their twenties when you're experimenting
and you're, you know, you're having fun before you've really found yourself, they get up,
you get up to all sorts, don't you?
And going back on that, you know, you sort of say in better commas, thought you were
(10:56):
straight. At what point did you, did you always kind of know actually, you know, I am gay
or like what, when did you, when did you start to figure that all out?
So I was brought up as a, in a very strict Catholic family. So I was an altar boy at
church when I was at school. So I would have to serve the mass every Sunday because my
grandfather, he was a very strict Catholic. So it was my grandma and he played the organ
(11:19):
at the church. He played the, you know, the keyboard. So I was the altar boy, grandpa
was at the organ. It was very much a family affair thing. And every single Sunday I had
to go to church. So I think growing up in such a kind of strict way, I had a lot of
that Catholic guilt, couldn't allow myself to think about anything to do with sex or
(11:39):
anything like that. Cause you'd go straight to hell if you have those thoughts. So it
was just best to not even think about it. And I think growing up in that kind of way,
I was always really kind of frightened to even open up that kind of door to anything
sexual. I mean, I didn't lose my virginity until I was quite old. I was like, well, older,
I was 18, 19. So I was older to a lot of my friends. But that was more out of fear of
(12:06):
doing something wrong. Do you know what I mean? So again, it comes back down to that
Catholic guilt. So I think that went through work, working with my sexuality with not really
wanting to address the fact that I was probably gay and it was probably just best to keep
that door shut and not open it. And actually as I've got older and I've spoken to a lot
(12:27):
of, to a lot of gay people, they've gone through, it's a generational thing, I think they've
gone through very similar things where it's much easier to suppress that and to close
the door on it to not even open it up. And there's been a lot of guys I've met who I've
talked to who are much the older generation and they didn't come out until they were like
(12:49):
60, 70 years old. And they've spent their whole life being completely closeted and afraid.
It makes me so sad. It makes me sad. But I mean, I guess I was probably in the last of
that generation where now it's a lot more accepting, you know, kids are coming out of
the womb. You know what I mean? And it's like a lot more accepting these days.
And the boys in the band, like at what point did you tell them like you were travelling
(13:10):
around or like, how did you break that?
So I was really frightened to tell the guys because I thought, are they going to accept
me? Are they going to, are they going to want to still be my friend? I had all these question
marks in my head. And the first person I told was Simon.
Right.
Yeah. And I told Simon because I was in Los Angeles at the time and I had gone through
(13:32):
a breakup with a secret undercover boyfriend that I'd had, who was actually one of blues
dancers. And I was completely head over heels in love with this guy and also living a kind
of double life where nobody knew about him. And it was a completely secret relationship.
And I was so paranoid about anybody finding out. So it was just best to keep it all quiet.
(13:52):
And it got to the point where we'd broken up and I was just devastated. And I was just
needed to talk to somebody. And I remember raiding my mini bar in my hotel room in LA,
literally raiding the mini bar to get enough courage to be able to ring up Simon. And it
was, I thought I'm going to tell Simon because I know he's the most tight lipped of the group.
And if I tell him something, I know he's not going to say anything. And I rang him up and
(14:17):
I told him and he was just, he was incredible. He was like, what you want a best friend to
say? He was so incredible. And my mum was with me in LA. I remember him saying, he goes,
please do me a favour, go and talk to your mum because it's your mum and she's there
with you. I don't want you to be going through this on your own. Go and speak to your mum,
go and knock on the door on our room and talk to her. It was like one in the morning. So
(14:39):
I said, all right then. So I knocked on my mum's room and she answered the door. In a
hotel in LA. She opened the door. She was fast asleep. She was like, I've been crying,
floods of tears. Eyes were red. She was like, what's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong?
I said, mum, I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you. For me, it was like a huge
thing. And I said, sit down, sit down, sit down. And I said, mum, I need you to know
that I think I'm gay or bisexual and I'm really confused with my sexuality. And she went,
(15:04):
oh, I thought you were going to tell me you had cancer. She gave me the biggest hunk.
Of course. Like, you know, you're a fan. But in my words, she thought you had...
She thought I was going to tell her something like really serious. But for me, it was a
really serious thing. But I think you magnify it in your own head because when it's
become like a secret for so many years and you're so frightened to come out, it becomes
(15:29):
that... It becomes a bigger thing than it really is. So when I come out, I was like,
oh, no one's bothered. No one gives a damn. But do you look back on that time? I think
that was one of your most turbulent times. Yeah. Yeah. I think for me, going through
the height of blue with all the fame at that time and all the public attention that we
were getting, especially from the red tops, the sun, the mirror, we were always in the
(15:53):
paper, always linked to girls. Jerry Halliwell, Martin McCutcheon, I was linked to all of
these. Tara, bless God rest her soul, Palmer Tomkinson. And so you kind of... The media
were running away with their own narrative, which was not the narrative that I was living.
So you kind of get caught up in this very mixed two-way world. So it's very hard to then find
(16:16):
the reality in it. So I was in Harley Street seeing psychiatrists. I was on a medicine
called Seroxat to try to help my anxiety with it all, because it was all a lot. And I didn't
really have a lot of people to talk to. But when I came out, Simon and my mum, honestly,
(16:36):
I felt that was great. So much better. So much better. And then a few years later,
I did the story for the News of the World and came out. And it was one of the most scariest,
but most liberating things I've ever done. Of course. Everyone loves you. I mean,
look at the career that you've had going on since then and that you're having now.
I know. We're still blessed to be working. I mean, I just got off doing a massive Italian
(17:02):
summer tour in front of thousands touring around Italy, where it's just like what it was back in
the day. Amazing. So favourite country? Do you think you've... Is that difficult question to answer?
Favourite country? It's difficult because I like countries that I like to escape to, to run away
where I'm not known and have a holiday without getting bothered or anything. And I like countries
(17:22):
that I like going to for work that I really enjoy with the boys where we love. So Italy has always
been probably the biggest country that supported blue outside the UK. Has it? Yeah. We had a number
one hit there for 16 weeks, which we sang a song in Italian. And what was that? It's called A Kimi
Di Cce. Right. Yeah. And it's like every single... What would that have been in... What's that...
(17:44):
Bredese in English. Okay. Bredese in English is translated to A Kimi Di Cce in Italian. 16 weeks
in number one. Number one, it was a long time. So it's become one of the countries, like anthems,
every single Italian person, you say A Kimi Di Cce, they're like, oh yes, we love A Kimi
Di Cce. And they know it and they all sing the words to it. So it's like a huge song. But Italy's got a kind of special place.
(18:07):
So Italy's a very... And also it is such a beautiful country. Yeah. I mean, it is stunning. We just got back from
Sicily, which I love as well. Sicily, the food is just... I'm a real foodie. Yeah. So the fish,
the seafood, the meat, it was just literally in heaven and the pasta, of course. So yeah. And what about
(18:28):
travel from an LGBTQ plus point of view? When you pick a destination to go to, is that kind of on
your mind where you think, right, well, I want to make sure that it's a place that's going to be...
Yeah. Because there are destinations that I've traveled to that I'm like, okay, there's quite a big culture of that.
People there or what? Does that kind of come into... Yeah. I think you've got to be really careful still,
(18:50):
which is really sad because there's certain countries you go to where you can't be seen to be gay at all.
I remember going to a water park in Dubai with my ex-boyfriend at the time and we'd gone down the slide
together and it was one of those really drop fast ones. Yeah. And I remember getting out of the water
and he was there. Did you have underwear on? I was like, I was fine. I was like, oh my God, that was so
(19:13):
annoying. And I cuddled him and we were hugged, we embraced and security came over and said, no,
like really angry and like, you can't show that here. You get thrown out if you do that again. I
was like, oh my God, are you serious? So that was kind of a bit scary. Did that put you off? Has that
put you off going back to Dubai? I still love Dubai, but it just made me realize that's their rules,
(19:35):
their country. You have to respect their wishes in a way. So even if I don't agree with it personally,
but it is their country and their rules. So you have to kind of just respect it. Yeah.
Your partner now, you've got a partner. Rodrigo. Yeah. So we're going on holiday to Mykonos this year.
(19:55):
Mykonos is like the gay Greek Island, isn't it? So it's so fun. So you've been another time? I love
Mykonos. It's so expensive though now. I mean, it's ridiculously expensive, but it's beautiful.
You know, everything's all those like white villas. Yeah, blue and white. And it's just a really
lovely place. They've got a really fun kind of gay bar at outdoor by the beach called Jackie O's,
(20:18):
which is just fabulous. They have like a resident drag queen who hosts. And you know, you've got all
the boys, a big pool, all the boys and their little, in their little sungas. What do we call
them here? We call them, what are they called? Those little speedos. I mean, I'm in Brazilian
most. Sungas is the Brazilian name because obviously being with the Brazilian for six years.
(20:40):
Where did you meet? Belgium. Right. Interesting. How, why? We did a gig in Belgium and we got off
stage and we went to the hotel where we were staying in the hotel bar. And he was in the hotel
randomly with his friends having a drink before he was going out for dinner. And I'd got off stage,
me and the boys balled in. You know, we're quite loud and obviously he was looking at what's going
(21:03):
on and we ordered some drinks. And I saw him at the bar and I was like, oh, he's really cute.
And I said, do you want a drink? And he's like, okay. So I bought him a gin and tonic and he
came over and said, thank you. And then we started chatting and he, you know, he didn't have a clue
who I was or anything like that, which was really nice. And we just started chatting a lot and
talking, talking, talking. And yeah, that's how, that's how we met. It's been six years. Amazing.
(21:29):
Oh, he's mad. So what does the kind of future hold for the two of you? Is there kind of, do you think
you'll get married? Any like? We've had an argument this morning and I've turned my
final. So that's where we are this morning. Yeah, we had an argument. So a turbulent morning then?
A turbulent morning, yeah. The journey wasn't plain sailing. It wasn't. There was a lot of
texting, but we'll be fine later. We now interrupt your flight for a word from our advertisers.
(21:51):
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(22:16):
celebrity crushes? Do I have a celebrity crush? I've always had a little soft spot for Will Smith,
actually. I thought he's always. Yeah, I used to love Will Smith growing up as a kid. He's quite,
he's quite feisty though. He's been a bit feisty recently, hasn't he? Yeah. But from growing up,
watching him on from Fresh Prince and everything and seeing all his films that I wrote about, which
(22:38):
he was super high on. And he just, in interviews, I've seen him in the past. Charming. Very, very
charming. Yeah. So you'd like to join the Mile High Club with him, would you? My boyfriend is
watching this, so no, no, no. I only have eyes for my boyfriend, of course. No, we haven't actually
ever done the Mile High Club. Rodrigo, if you're watching. Yeah, there you go. You're watching.
(23:01):
That's a bucket list tick. On your way to Mykonos. Probably get caught and be cancelled and end up in
the papers. So travel, what does it mean to you? I love traveling. I think because I've lived
pretty much in a suitcase for the last 24 years, well, not lived in a suitcase, but lived out of a
suitcase, I'm just used to always traveling. So a lot of travel hacks I've got quite clued up with.
(23:26):
Oh, can you share? Always, always, always, always collect your points, whether you're, you know, your
avios or your hotel points, because they come in super handy. Yep. And you never know when you're
going to, you know, need them. And obviously you get certain perks for collecting like your avios
and say your Hilton hotels or whatever, because you can get free night stays and it all really helps.
(23:47):
So even you, in your, you know, you kind of like to, you're savvy. Oh, I'm really savvy. Yeah. I
was devastated. I was gold member at BA for like three years in a row. And then last year we didn't
fly enough. So I went back down to silver, which was devastating. So I've made it my mission this
year and I'm about literally about to go gold next week, my next flight. So at least I've got that
for another year. And I know that sounds like really like arrogant, but honestly, it means,
(24:11):
it means that it takes away so much stress when you get to the airport. So if you throw, if you're a
gold member, they've got their own separate wing, which you go through. So you don't have to go
through the whole security with everybody. You go through your own private little entrance, which
is just so nice. And then you go, it takes you straight into the lounge. So you just sit in a
(24:32):
nice lounge. Do you, do you find that's like a massive perk for you as well? Because obviously
you are who you are and you're traveling through airports. Do you constantly get recognized,
people coming up to you? Because for me, being at an airport is probably one of the most places that
I get recognized on a plane. Yeah. I mean, obviously people now have camera phones, but there's a lot
of international people flying. We're quite an international band. So people know is not just
(24:52):
the Brits, but obviously Italians and stuff like that. So it can get a little bit like when you're
at the airport, you just want to just, you know, get on that plane. Don't you? And a lot of the
time you're tired if it's an early morning flight. So for me, the lounges are really, really helpful
and really useful. And it's just a place to chill, isn't it? Before you get on a flight, especially
if you're going on a long haul or whatever, you just grab a little bit to eat. And I sometimes
(25:15):
eat in the lounge and like get on the plane and just sleep. Yeah. Cause that's great. But I mean,
for me, airports, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with, because I don't know if you've
noticed nowadays, well, obviously you would have noticed, but there's more and more delays. It seems
like there's more and more problems with flights. There's more people camping outside the whole,
outside the airports because they've missed their flight or their flights were canceled or whatever.
(25:41):
So airports are becoming more and more and more just masses of people and more stressful places
to be in. I think different times of year for me, like it kind of varies massively. Obviously that
summer months, school holidays. Yes. It's crazy busy, but obviously we had like an IT kind of thing.
I was stuck in that. Were you? I was stuck in the IT, the Microsoft. What do you do when you're stuck
(26:05):
on a plane and you're delayed? We had a nightmare because we were in Catania and thankfully my flight
was in the evening. Where's Catania? Catania in Sicily. Oh, okay. So luckily my flight was in the evening and this
computer crash happened in the morning. So the boys had early morning flights and I'd booked a flight
to come home that night, which was great. So I literally spent the whole day by the pool and I
(26:26):
could see that my flight was delayed. So I just thought, well, I'm not going to rush to the airport
and be there on time because the flight hasn't even taken off from London yet to come to collect me.
So I was monitoring it on flight radar. Another good travel hack. So I could see when the plane,
where the plane was, how far away it was before it was landed, before I went to the airport.
And then I got to the airport and we were delayed even more because of something to do with air
(26:50):
traffic control issues. I got on the plane, we missed the slot, had to wait 50 minutes for the slot
to come back up. And eventually when we got on the way and we landed at Gatwick, we'd landed at
nighttime and there'd been a lot of planes landing at the same time because a lot of them were
delayed. So it was at midnight, loads of planes came in at once, not enough baggage handlers.
(27:16):
And it was midnight, so all the baggage handlers had clocked out. So they were going home because
they're like, well, I'm not getting paid any extra. I'm going home. It's my shift. Shift initiative.
So there was probably about two and a half thousand people in Gatwick waiting for their bags. And I
think I waited two hours for my bags to come. After we were delayed, yeah, we were just sat there
waiting for the bags to come. And it was funny because every conveyor belt, when the bags came,
(27:39):
everybody was cheering because they were really pleased their bags came. So. But despite of the
delays, despite of, you know, hanging around for luggage, you still love travel. I still love,
I do love travel, even though it can do your head right in. Do you know what I mean? It can do your
head in, especially when you're caught on a delay or whatever. Do you turn right? I like to turn left.
I bet you do. If it's short haul, I can do it right. But long haul nowadays, I've got a bad
(28:02):
back, Laura, and I need a comfortable bed. I've had discs removed. Have you? Yeah. It's very difficult
sitting up for me and for all those hours with when you've had discs removed out your back. I mean,
when you have kind of done it once, it is nice, isn't it? To turn left. But it is a massive
pressure. But if you can be savvy with your points, collecting your aviaries, actually,
you can often do the buy one, get one free, can't you? And also you can upgrade yourself. Yeah.
(28:26):
Yeah. Which is great. And you can use your aviaries to upgrade. But what I was saying is,
you know, you're sitting there and it's all waiting to go. And then you get that dreaded
announcement by the captain who says there's a technical problem with the plane and you're
like, but we aren't getting it fixed. And you just think, oh no. And that for me sends me off because
it's like my head will start spiralling. Well, what, what technical problem? What's happened? And I'm,
(28:47):
I will go straight up to the cabin crew and I'll want to know all the information. So I'll,
I'll talk to them and I say, oh, what's happened? And they'll be like, oh, it's,
you know, whatever's happened on the wheel or there's been a light that's come up on the
dashboard. They have to check. You want to know what's going on. Of course you do with
your plane spotting book. My plane spotting book. I want to know. What flight? Have you ever been on
any flights and there's been like, you know, a bit of drama, anything going on that? I remember me
(29:10):
and the boys were on a, on a cafe Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London. And we were delayed for
hours in Hong Kong because of really bad weather. And we actually had to have a plane swap last
minute. So we were due to fly back on a Boeing and we got swapped last minute to an airbus.
(29:31):
Now we took off from Hong Kong airport and normally the plane, obviously it starts climbing
till it gets to its cruising destination, cruising altitude. Sorry. So we started to,
we took off, we got to about 8,000 feet and then the plane leveled off. And I'm thinking,
this isn't normal. We should be climbing. What's going on? And I looked out the window
(29:54):
and we were in thick black cloud. Like we were in a storm cloud and the plane was, you know,
doing the whole thing. And I just remember looking out the window and seeing lightning bolts
hitting the wing and electric blue going all the way up the wing. And I was like, close that window.
Anthony was over there literally, you know, having a heart attack blessing. So I was like, okay,
this is really scary. We're not climbing. What's going on? What's going on? And about five minutes
(30:16):
later, we actually started to, to climb again. And the captain came on and said, we're really
sorry about that, but we were caught in a thunderstorm as you might've seen. And we were
told to hold a certain flight because there was lots of planes around. So we were just told to
hold at that height. And he was said, but the good news is we don't have to return back to the
(30:39):
airport because we swapped this plane out and you're now in an Airbus and not a Boeing. And if you
were in a Boeing with the lightning that was struck, it would have been backed out. And you
were like, yeah, well I know that because I know my planes. Because Boeing is all cabled and
Airbuses are all mini computers. So if it gets struck by lightning, the computer shuts down.
(30:59):
Shuts off and reboots. Yeah. So, but Boeing is all cabled. So lightning goes along the cables and it
short something out. So that's why I was, we were able to carry on flying home back to London.
I want to talk a little bit more about your, your career actually, cause you have had, I mean,
you're not just a pop star. You've performed in the West End. You've done Eurovision. Where was
(31:21):
Eurovision? Dusseldorf, 2011. You're on Gogglebox, TV presenter, radio presenter. Is there, do you
have a, like what's your favourite thing to do or do you just love it all? I'm very lucky. I like
to have a little dabble at everything. I've been very blessed. I've had the opportunity to do lots
of stuff. But I've got to say, I do love musical theatre. I started off, Rocky Horror was the show
(31:48):
I did. Were you in Greece as well? No, I didn't do Greece. I did Legally Blonde, the original cast.
Elwoods. It's my Elwoods reference to you when I saw you. Yeah. Give me Elwoods today. I got to play
Warner, which was El's boyfriend, their dumpster to go to Harvard. And Sheridan Smith was my Elwoods.
Oh, amazing. I've done Chicago, the musical many, many times in the West End, which was incredible
(32:14):
getting to play Bitty Flynn. And I got to play my first ever drag role in Priscilla Queen of the
Desert. Did you? I love that. That show's great. I got to just, yeah, I loved it because I love a bit
of drag. I love RuPaul's Drag Race. I love anything to do with the whole kind of artistry of drag.
So to get to play such an iconic part in such an iconic musical from an iconic film was like a dream
(32:42):
come true for me. And it was just incredible. Who's your favorite drag queen then? Who is my
favorite drag queen? This is such a difficult question for me because I love so many drag queens,
but I think from the British, Brits, I've got a very special place for Cheryl Hall because she's
a very good friend of mine. And I love the Vivienne and I love Baguette Chips. Oh, okay. I love those
(33:05):
queens and Kitty Scott Claus. We need to get them on. We need to find out if they're part of the
They would. Drag queen, of course there's a drag queen on a mile high club. Is there?
Sure. Oh, you need to, you need to. I'll do some investigating for you. Definitely. But American drag queens.
Alyssa Edwards is up there. Bianca Del Rio, love her. A bit more of the old school ones. You're
(33:31):
probably thinking, who are you talking about? The modern day ones. But do you know what I love is,
like, you know, obviously you have had like, you went through that turbulence of being able to come
out and tell Simon and your mom and whatever. And now you really feel at ease and comfortable with
who you are. And not giving a crap what anyone else thinks. You know, not worrying what anyone else.
I'm still waiting for Ru Paul to ring me up and ask me to be a judge on the show, but you know,
(33:54):
the phone call never comes. Yeah, to hear first. You never know. Sort of how Ru. You are incredible.
You've gone through it. What advice would you give to anybody that was kind of struggling right now?
Well, I think, you know, it's still, there's still a lot of stigma attached to coming out. It's still
not easy, even though it's a lot better now than it was back in the day. It's a lot more accepting,
(34:16):
I guess. But, you know, religion pays a really big part. People's family, they're scared of,
of, you know, what the reaction is going to be from family members. And it's really difficult.
And, you know, we are not, we don't choose to be this way. You know, you are born, I believe you
are born that way. And obviously we make choices along the way, but I think that it's really
(34:42):
important to have somebody that you can talk to. Don't suffer in silence. That is the number one
thing I would say. Try to find, you know, somebody that you can talk to because so much mental health
problems are out there nowadays. So many people are bottling things up and they don't have an
outlet. They don't find that they can talk to somebody. And I've heard some horror stories
of people taking their lives because they, they, they were frightened to ever tell somebody.
(35:07):
And I think that is such a travesty. That's so sad. You know, it's really important to be able to
talk to people and to just offload. There's so many help lines out there. If you, if you didn't want
to speak to a family member or a friend, there's so many discrete help lines that you can ring,
that you can talk to people. So I just, yeah, it's talking, getting it out is half the battle. I
(35:31):
think it really does help finding that special person that you can confide in and trust. She's
really important. Oh, great advice. And I'm sure, I'm sure it will help a lot of people. I hope so.
I want to talk a little bit about your daughter, Tierney. Tierney, yes. I've seen Tierney, like
she's an incredible ballet dancer. I know. You must be so proud. I'm so proud. Proud, Dad. Yeah,
(35:53):
we're proud of our kids, aren't we? But I mean, the fact that she's gone through literally her
whole life at the Royal Ballet School and she's just progressed from white lodge to upper school.
And now she's 19, starting her life. Just, just before you talk a little bit about,
bit more about her, you, you actually told your mum, didn't you, that you were, were gay. And then
(36:13):
you went on and had your daughter. So how did that? So I came out to my mum and I remember my mum,
when she processed it all, she said, well, does that mean I'm not going to have grandchildren? And
literally a few weeks after that, I'd found out that Claire, Tierney's mummy, who was an ex-girlfriend
of mine, she, she got pregnant. And yeah, I remember, I remember thinking at the time,
(36:36):
this is so bizarre. I just told my mum I might be gay and now I'm going to tell my mum, I'm actually
going to have a child. So bless my mum. My head must've been all over the place, but I guess it
shows that my head was all over the place back then as well. I really didn't know, I hadn't really
found myself, you know, I didn't know if I was gay straight by what I was really, but I'm very blessed
(36:57):
I had a beautiful, healthy daughter who I absolutely adore. And me and her mum, you know, we, we are
just so proud of her because she's just done incredible things with her ballet. She's such a
talented ballerina. Do you ever go on holiday with the boys outside of touring with the boys?
We've got a gig coming up actually next month in Bali, which is amazing. So we've all decided,
(37:23):
so we stay for a couple of extra days. We go a couple of days before. So we're going to have a
couple of days. Have you been to Bali before? I've never done it. We actually got stuck in Bali in
the beginning of lockdown. So when, so lockdown happened, first of all, in obviously China and,
and it spread through to Asia very quickly. We were touring around that part of the world and
(37:46):
we were, we were in Bali and we had a gig to, I think it was Indonesia, but the flights were
canceled because they went, that country went into lockdown. So we were then stuck in Bali.
Oh my word.
Because we couldn't get flights home because all the flights were grounded because
How long was that there for?
We had two weeks.
Did you?
Yeah, we had two weeks in Bali on a beach whilst the rest of the world was going into lockdown.
(38:06):
And we were having a fabulous time in Bali. We didn't know the severity of it at the time.
And then of course we flew, got back into London and everything went straight into lockdown.
Crazy times. So come on, I need to then know a bit about the mile high club.
When that happened, the Virgin flight.
So that was back in the day.
Are we talking full blown, went to the top? What happened? Did you fly first class?
(38:30):
No, so it was, I shouldn't really say this.
Yeah, you can come on, dish the dirt.
They don't work there for Virgin anymore, but there was a girl who was on the Virgin Atlantic flight.
She was cabin crew.
We'd gone out to LA and we had partied with all the cabin crew and she was on another flight and
(38:53):
she was quite, quite naughty, I think. Anyway, she said to me, oh, I have to show you the crew
restroom. And it was in the days when you could, you were allowed to go in, you know, before 9-11,
you know, post 9-11. So it was pre-9-11. So she took me to the back of the plane where there was
a little door that led you downstairs.
(39:15):
Did you know what was going on?
Into the crew room. And there was like a crew where there's bunk beds. So we had a little,
you know, a little play in the crew because you could get into the little bunk bed and close the
curtain. So me and her got in there and had a little, it wasn't full on, you know, but we...
You still joined it.
I still joined it.
You had a little dabble.
Had a little bit of fun. And I was like, okay, I'm kind of like, I'm in the Mile High Club.
(39:39):
You are in the Mile High Club. You're also in the Mile Fly Club.
Mile Fly Club, yes.
Thank you.
Yes.
Oh Duncan.
And I'm the Virgin, the first woman.
You are, you are the Virgin.
I popped the Virgin cherry for the Mile Fly Club.
I've popped the Virgin cherry.
Join the Mile High Club on the way to Mykonos.
Yeah, I'll make a little video and send it to you.
Fam, for fun. Thank you so much. It's been amazing having you as our first guest.
(40:03):
You were my Virgin.
I'd like to be a Virgin again. It's been lovely to be reborn.
And I've popped your Virgin cherry as well.
You have indeed. Safe travel.
And thanks to all the listeners out there.
We love having you all as members of the Mile Fly Club.
So stay tuned for more fantastic episodes coming soon.
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