Follow-up to this post from last week….
Singing mobile phone salesman Paul Potts woke up £100,000 richer today after winning television show Britain’s Got Talent, and revealed that he will spend part of his prize money clearing debts and improving his teeth.
Paul Potts, 36, won over the nation with a performance of Nessun Dorma in the final of the hit ITV1 talent show, watched by 12.1 million viewers.
The former Tesco shelf-stacker from Port Talbot, South Wales, will now perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.
Potts said that his win had not yet sunk in but that he was planning to pay off his £30,000 debts – although he was not 100-per cent sure about giving up his day job.
Potts spent £12,000 on singing lessons before deciding his dream was not meant to be. He began stacking shelves in Tesco but had to quit work because of a spell of ill health.
Doctors treated him for appendicitis and removed a benign tumour, while Potts also broke his collarbone.
He landed a job at Carphone Warehouse after battling back to health and married a woman he met on the internet.
There’s been a little controversy over this guy, as some are claiming that he is not really all an "amateur". And it’s true — he has had a gig or two with the Bath Opera House, although that does not appears to be an amateur company.
More to the point, he gave up his career in 2003, after having broken his collarbone in a motorcycle accident, a tragedy which also put him in to debt.
He’s an amateur, and it’s a Cinderella story:
From an interview:
Speaking to The Observer, the singer denied the allegations. ‘I have never worked as a professional singer. I have poured everything I could earn into a few lessons, but everyone taking part in this television show has had some training,’ he said yesterday.
‘My four performances with Bath Opera a few years back were all amateur. I am angry about this because I have never earned anything, although I did get petrol expenses a couple of times.’ His story is confirmed this weekend by the singing teacher who gave him lessons until Potts was forced to give up in 2003 because of illness. Potts adds that he has always been open about a trip to Italy to improve his voice. He had saved up to sing for Luciano Pavarotti in a masterclass, but had no tuition from the great tenor.