He was once the glimmering winner of The X Factor, but now, in 2019, the lovely Joe will be taking to the stage in brand new 80s musical Club Tropicana.
Joe plays Garry – a hilarious club rep. “He’s camp, he’s witty, very flamboyant and quite sassy,” he says about his theatrical alter ego. “There’s no rules with Garry, he’s probably me after four or five vodkas.”
But despite Joe’s experience on the stage, this is a new challenge for him. “I’ve never played a comedy role before, but it’s been really fun. At first I was really nervous but I’m excited by it now.”
“Club Tropicana has a great story line. It’s a great fun, family-friendly show that you can come along to – and sing-a-long to. It’s feel-good and I’ve realised that 80s music is still massively relevant… and that I know most of the songs.
“I don’t remember them being played over the radio but subconsciously I must have heard them many, many times – because when we first had a read-through of the show, I found I knew the not just the tunes, but the lyrics, to nearly all of them.
“That’s the impact 80s music has had on me even though I wasn’t even born.”
Joe’s certainly kept busy in the last 10 years, since winning The X Factor back in 2009.
“It’s mad because when I first started in the industry I was looking for some sort of longevity.
“People always used to ask us what I wanted to do and I always used to say I want to still be doing this in 10 years time… the fact that I am is crazy.
“It feels like yesterday, yet I feel like a completely different person now – it’s been a huge learning curve but I’ve had a good time and grown up a lot.
“If you ask most 18 year olds, they will say they haven’t really worked out who they are yet or where they fit in.
“I was really self-aware for the first three years of my career until I realised I just had to be a good person and trust that.
“There were times people would pick apart the most ridiculous things and I didn’t know how to react, so I gave myself a bit of a pep talk and said: ‘you know Joe, you’re a nice person, just enjoy your job and have fun’. Show business is supposed to be lights cameras, fun. So I learned to take it for what it was and not take things too seriously.”
Joe continued to talk about how he’s grown into the performer he is today.
“I didn’t trust my own ability as much as I do now. I was a bit unsure of myself.
“There was that pressure of being thrust into the public eye with lots of different people with different opinions behind the scenes telling me to do this or do that. I had to learn how to navigate a way through that, but I was lucky, I had a really strong tight-knit family behind us, and still do.”
“I cope under pressure better than when I am not under pressure,” he laughs. “I think that comes from the boiling pot that is X Factor, it’s so intense you had no choice but to get your head down and get on with it.
“So now something really big won’t phase us out, but something you might think would not freak us out does. Little things like everyday worries I find a much bigger deal than preparing for a two-hour musical. It’s really weird.”
Despite winning The X Factor back in 2009, it was 2015 when his musical theatre career really took off – when he donned the famous multi-coloured coat in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
“Joseph was a challenge because I was stepping into an iconic role that lots of very famous people have become very loved for playing: Philip Schofield, Jason Donovan, Donny Osmond and the rest.
“I’d seen them and grew up with them playing Joseph so I realised the weight of the role I was taking on. I didn’t want to be the worst person to play it.
“Coming from a show like X Factor I wanted people to come to the show and say: ‘He deserves to be in that role and isn’t there because he was in X Factor’. I didn’t want to be one of those people just put in the job to sell tickets. So I felt the pressure to be good and worked really hard.
“I don’t think that stigma ever goes but in a way you can use it to your advantage because if people do come with that expectation and you’ve grafted really hard to produce something really good, they go away happy and with a new appreciation of what you can do.”
You’d probably expect someone with such a high-profile career to live and work in London – however Joe’s stuck to his roots by continuing to reside in Newcastle.
“I’ve always fought living in London because I love it in Newcastle. People in the industry come up to you and say, ‘What you still live in Newcastle?’ But I’m very lucky because the work I do fits around my schedule and people incorporate my commuting into theirs.
“For me, Newcastle is where me sanity is. I do all the crazy work and everything that comes with it, then I go back to normality where I’m not immersed in the industry.
“All me childhood friends are there and me family. It’s important to understand that although we work in a wonderful industry it’s not the be all and end all of life. I don’t want to be lost so much that I lose perspective on real life – going back to Newcastle, that’s me real life and this is the fun job I step in and out of.”
Back to Club Tropicana and Joe’s reflecting on the sight of himself in large posters for the show.
“It’s always a very humbling thing to see yourself on a huge poster outside a venue. I’ll never get used to that. It makes me appreciate that not everybody gets to do what they love and I feel lucky to have experienced that as much as I have. I feel blessed.”
Club Tropicana runs from 18th-23rd March at the Grand Opera House York, with matinees and an audio-described performance. Click here to book.
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