Michelle McManus “These have been the best 10 years of my life”

The Pop Idol star discusses her ‘amazing’ decade in the spotlight.

A decade ago, Michelle McManus had one of the best years of her life. She was crowned the winner of Pop Idol, signed a £1 million recording contract, moved to London and her debut single shot straight to No 1.

For the girl who began singing as soon as she could speak, it was a dream come true. But within three months, Michelle got the call that said it could all be over.

Standing on the bank of the Thames, she had to fight back the tears after being told Simon Cowell was pulling the Pop Idol show and her recording deal was going with it.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she says. One minute I was having the time of my life, the next someone was pulling the rug from under my feet.

“I didn’t fail, but I wasn’t being given a chance to go forward. After winning Pop Idol, I thought my life was complete, that I’d move to Beverly Hills and marry Brad Pitt. I honestly believed I’d made it. To not get that chance was heartbreaking.

“However, I quickly realised I had two options. I could cry and hide myself away or I could try to salvage what was left and make the most of it. It was like starting from scratch again, but that’s what I had to do.”

What Michelle, 33, didn’t realise was that her life was just beginning. In fact, it turns out being dropped is one of the best things that could ever have happened to her. Since then, the bubbly Glasgow girl has diversified and become one of Scotland’s best known celebrities. She has worked in TV and radio, performed in panto, written a newspaper column and sung for the Pope and the Queen. In all that time she lost weight, put weight back on and then lost weight again.

“I can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years,” she laughs. “And I can’t believe everything that’s happened in my life since then. But what I do know is that I’ve had an amazing time. In fact, I think these have been the best 10 years of my life!”

It was December 2003, when Michelle confounded the critics by taking the coveted crown in the Pop Idol final. Then just 23, she beat 20,000 other hopefuls to win the singing contest with more than five million phone votes. Michelle was the people’s champion, the girl next door with the amazing vocals and a dream of becoming a pop star. The controversial part, though, was her weight. At the time she auditioned Michelle was 23 stone. It’s an issue that had haunted her from her childhood days.

Michelle’s amazing vocal talent was spotted and nurtured by Val Moyes, her high school music teacher. But bullying from other children about her weight knocked her confidence. And when she left school intent on pursuing her dreams of becoming a singer, time after time, she failed auditions because of her size.

However, Pop Idol gave Michelle a platform to sing and let people make up their own minds whether she was good enough to win. And she did.

Her debut single, All This Time, was a huge hit and earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the first Scottish female ever to debut at No 1, a huge achievement considering some of the artists that had gone before her such as Annie Lennox, Lulu and Sharleen Spiteri. Her life was to become very different. Michelle changed management and started all over again. And she decided to tackle her weight, losing a whopping 10 stone under the watchful eye of Scots nutritionist Gillian McKeith.

“It was great to lose the weight, but between then and last year, I’ve managed to put seven of those stones back on!” Michelle smiles. It’s only in the last couple of months I’ve started to lose weight again. I’ve always struggled with my weight I think I always will.

“People often ask if it’s a medical problem, but I’ll be quite honest and say no it’s because I eat and drink too much. “It doesn’t really bother me. It’s never stopped me doing anything. I’m comfortable with it.

“But Pop Idol and people’s reaction to my size made me realise I was massively overweight and just how critical people can be. Since then, I’ve yo-yoed, but I’m conscious of when I need to rein it back in and I’m realistic enough to start looking after myself. I’d say now I’m a bit more in control.”

A year after her weight plummeted, Michelle landed a job presenting STV chat show The Hour with Stephen Jardine and later Tam Cowan.

“It was the best job in the world,” she says. “I absolutely loved it. I think it was the real turning point for me. I went from being the fat girl from Glasgow who won the singing contest to being on prime time telly every day. I couldn’t go anywhere in Scotland without being recognised.”

But after three years, the show was axed, to Michelle’s disappointment. Once again, she picked herself up, dusted herself down, and found some new projects. One of the biggest highlights of her career came in 2010 when she sang for 70,000 people during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI at Bellahouston Park and a global audience close to one billion. At the moment, Michelle is back singing as she prepares for her one-woman show at the Edinburgh Festival, Michelle McManus @ The Musicals.

“It’s basically me singing hits from the West End and Broadway,” she says. It will be great to get back to singing. It’s something I’ve always thought about, but the experience after Pop Idol left me with my fingers burnt so it’s taken a while to get my confidence back. But one day I may return to it full-time. You never know!”

For the moment, Michelle is happy with life.

“I’m having an absolute blast,” she says. “Life’s never been better. Of course, I’m at an age where I should probably be settling down, getting married and having babies, but I’m still a bit of a party girl and I’m still single. I have a beautiful home, I’m financially secure, I have a great family and amazing friends and I don’t need a man in my life unless I feel he’s ‘The One’.

“Also, my dad is the main man in my life, so any potential suitor would have some serious competition on their hands! The fact I’m still here making a career out of being Michelle McManus 10 years on is fantastic. I feel very, very lucky. I get to live and work in Scotland and be surrounded by my family and that keeps me grounded.

“I’d like to think that in 10 years’ time I might have settled down. After all, time is running out and, as I come from a big family with four sisters, I want that too. And with any luck I’ll still be able to sing! I remember belting out tunes with my gran and that’s what I want to be like at her age.

“She was one of the biggest influences on my life and if I can be anything like her, I’ll be a happy lady!”