Noughties music star Noel Sullivan has revealed the struggles he was secretly dealing with behind the scenes on the top of his fame in one of many nation’s favorite pop bands.
Now aged 44, the Welsh singer rose to recognition in Hear’Say in 2001, having been created on the expertise present Popstars.
Together with bandmates Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Danny Foster, he broke chart data with their debut single, Pure and Easy, which stays simply as catchy right now.
Nonetheless, away from the intense lights of stardom, Noel was battling with having to remain quiet about who he actually was.
Simply 19 on the time he was thrust into the highlight, Noel has stated he was forbidden from discussing his sexuality, feeling as if he had been ‘chucked again into the closet’.
It wasn’t till 2017 that he publicly got here out as homosexual when he introduced he had married his accomplice.
Chatting with Warmth journal, he shared: ‘It was actually mad. It was a lifetime in the past. I can look again at it with fond reminiscences now, nevertheless it took some time to kind via the injury.’
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‘However I’m right here, and I survived,’ he declared proudly.
The performer mirrored on his late teenagers and early twenties, which should have been the time he might ‘discover who [he] is’.
‘To be boxed again up and chucked again within the closet was a dangerous expertise for me; it took a number of time to search out some decision to that and never really feel responsible or shameful due to it.’
Noel is now in a contented marriage with husband James and sometimes shares an perception into their relationship with social media snaps.
On his birthday a number of years in the past, he additionally reminisced on his pop band days and the way he sank into ‘melancholy’ when he was unable to return out.
He wrote: ‘As a 19 12 months outdated, I used to be instructed to close up about my sexuality. If I wished a profession, I needed to be one thing else. Silent. It ruined me.
‘Nobody was held accountable for the years of melancholy and self abuse that adopted. It obtained to the purpose the place I felt like I couldn’t communicate out anymore as a result of my time within the highlight had handed and I assumed nobody would care.
‘It was a turbulent time however I took solace in my household and in theatre. With out the loopy, stunning, supportive and proficient folks I labored with, lived with and carried out for, I might by no means have discovered myself.’
‘After years of self doubt I lastly be at liberty to say what I have to,’ Noel concluded. ‘Free to let go of the previous, free to like myself. However most significantly, free to like. Thanks [sic]’.
Whereas Noel now enjoys a a lot quieter, slower-paced life, he hasn’t turned his again on leisure fully.
A lover of theatre, he beforehand appeared in productions of Fame, Love Shack, and What a Feeling, in addition to taking part in male lead Danny Zuko in Grease on the West Finish within the late 2000s.
Noel additionally had a cameo in Gavin and Stacey, starred as Galileo Figaro within the UK tour of We Will Rock You, and shared the position of Tick/Mitzi with Jason Donovan in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
In newer years, he’s popped up in BBC’s Name the Midwife Christmas particular and performed Oscar Baxter in Docs.
As for Hear’Say, their glittering success was short-lived.
Issues began going downhill in January 2002, when Kym left resulting from conflicts with Noel and Myleene. She was changed by former Increase! member Johnny Shentall, they usually launched only one single, Lovin’ is Straightforward, as a part of this lineup.
In October 2002, Hear’Say introduced they’d be breaking apart, having didn’t make a business splash with their newest music.
On the time, they cited ‘abuse from the general public’ as the principle motive for the break up, whereas its members went on to realize success individually.
Kym, 49, loved a solo profession and famously starred as Michelle Connor in Coronation Avenue, has hosted Morning Dwell, and likewise starred in Waterloo Street.
Danny, 46, has had a quieter profession, however performs as a part of his personal soul and Motown group, Danny Foster & The Large Soul Company, and likewise auditioned for The Voice.
Suzanne, 43, is a longtime West Finish performer, gained collection 3 of Dancing On Ice and took half within the All Stars collection, and performed Eve Jenson in Emmerdale.
Lastly, Myleene, 47, was an iconic I’m A Movie star… Get Me Out Of Right here! campmate in 2006, and went on to win the All Stars collection in 2023. She additionally presents on TV and radio, and was awarded an MBE this 12 months for her ladies’s well being campaigning.
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