Paul Potts fights shy to find a comfort zone

4:59pm Thursday 26th July 2007

When Paul Potts shuffled awkwardly on to a Cardiff stage to face the Britain's Got Talent firing squad, headed by Simon Cowell, it didn't look good.

The shy, overweight Welshman with crooked teeth, wearing a £35 Tesco suit, told the judging panel he was going to sing Nessum Dorma and nervous giggles rippled across the audience.

Cowell, flanked by fellow judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, braced themselves for yet another cringe-inducingly awful act, deluded enough to blag themselves a slot on the TV talent show.

But out of Paul Potts' mouth came a pitch-perfect, emotional rendition of the opera classic that instantly brought the nation out in collective goose bumps.

Simon Cowell's jaw dropped, Amanda Holden cried and Piers Morgan said, simply: "Incredible." The camera cut to grown men in the audience mopping their eyes. "We were not expecting that," admitted Simon.

Mobile phone salesman Paul, 36, went on to win Britain's Got Talent, earning himself a £100,000 prize and an appearance at this year's Royal Variety Show, performing for the Queen. His debut album One Chance went to number one this week and he launches a national tour early next year, with an appearance in Harrogate in January. "I keep waiting for someone to pinch me and say Wake up, Paul, it's time for work - you're late again'," he says. "I feel like I'm on a white knuckle ride into the unknown. And I don't want to get off!"

Paul's story melted the nation's hearts. Bullied at school, he has spent his life feeling insignificant'.

Singing was his escape, he'd lose himself in a world where the taunts of playground bullies were replaced by melodies that lifted his spirit.

One of four children born to a bus driver and a supermarket cashier, Paul was singing from the moment he could talk. "My mother recalls me listening to the ET theme and conducting an imaginary orchestra with sticks," he laughs. As a child he joined a church choir but it wasn't until he was 16 that his love of opera took hold.

"I bought a cheap recording of Carreras," he recalls. "It was the first time I'd heard Che Gelida Manina (Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen) and I was so moved by it. To this day La Boheme remains my favourite opera."

Although Paul performed at amateur level his talent was largely undiscovered, due to a chronic lack of self-confidence. "As I saw it, if I never put myself out there I'd never get told No.' It was safer that way," he shrugs.

He carried on with the day job but knew it wasn't what he wanted. "When I was selling I was putting on an act. When I sang, I felt I was myself."

Eventually Paul spent his savings on a summer school in Italy, where he learned the language and even sang in a masterclass for his idol, Pavarotti. But he was about to be dealt a cruel blow. In 2003 he suffered a burst appendix, then doctors discovered a benign tumour on his adrenal gland.

It was successfully removed but while recovering Paul was knocked off his bike and broke his collarbone. "Of all my health problems, that was the most painful. It took months to recover," says Paul. "I got very low and for once singing was the last thing on my mind."

He might have given up forever had it not been for Britain's Got Talent, the ITV talent show created by Simon Cowell. More than 13 million viewers saw Paul win it.

"I was so nervous I was shaking like a jelly, but when I watch that audition back I can see in my eyes that when I start to sing I go to a totally different place. The nerves vanish," says Paul. "When I stopped singing my heart was racing because I had no idea what the judges were going to say."

Since his triumph Paul has won fans worldwide, largely thanks to his performance becoming a hit on YouTube. "I used to feel so insignificant but now I know I am someone. I am Paul Potts and this is what I do," he beams.

There's talk of Paul getting his teeth straightened, and he wears more expensive suits these days, but there's no fear of him becoming a diva. "I'm not going to change. Whatever happens, I'm keeping that Tesco suit. It's a reminder of where I was and where I attempt to remain - except in better clothes!"

• Paul Potts is at Harrogate Internat-ional Centre on January 23. For tickets ring (01423) 537 230.

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