CityLife

Why I'm blessed to be in Blue

SIMON WEBBE is the kind of bloke it would be easy to dislike. The Moss Side-born star of boyband Blue is young, gifted, good-looking and rich. Everywhere he goes, crowds of women swoon in his wake.

But the 24-year old singer is surprisingly good-natured, charmingly down-to-earth and impressively articulate. In other words, he is too likable to dislike, no matter how much you might want to.

By rights, he should have an ego the size of a small planet. But even though he is a member of Britain's hottest pop act, success has not gone to his head.

Perhaps this is because he is so used to it. From a young age he has excelled at almost everything he has ever tried his hand at.

He could have become a professional footballer, and was offered the chance to train with the Liverpool youth team alongside Michael Owen.

But he turned them down in favour of Stoke City, where he suffered a leg injury that ended his chances of making it big.

But football was only one of several sports for which he displayed a natural talent. He ran at county level, was asked to train with the England gymnastics team, and showed huge potential as a young tennis player.

He even tried martial arts and, after his first session, the instructor told Simon's mother he could be a world champion.

"Sport was always my passion. It was what I lived for," he says. "I decided to focus on football because I thought that was my best option financially and I loved the game. I was devastated when I had to quit."

Career

AFTER his career fell through, he signed up to a model agency, where he found work posing for magazines and appearing on TV shows.

He joined the boy band having never sung professionally before. Within months, they were signed to a major record label and soon had a hit single on their hands.

Two number one albums followed and they won Best British Breakthrough act at the 2002 Brit Awards. They are currently promoting their third album, Guilty, with a national stadium tour, which arrives at the M.E.N. Arena on Friday.

Simon says: "I left school with absolutely no qualifications at all and didn't know what I could do. Music became an important part of my life, and suddenly that began to take off professionally."

It is no surprise to hear him say during the interview: "It sounds strange, but I feel blessed."

"I have always known that I could achieve whatever I want to, as long as I was prepared to work at it," he says. "It is a feeling I have had since I was a kid. I've always thought I can do anything."

Now based in London, he has never forgotten his roots. He says: "I know that for a kid from Moss Side I am very lucky to be doing what I am.

"A lot of the people I knew at school have gone down very different paths and not been so lucky. I avoided getting into trouble because I always had football.

"I still have loads of family and friends in Moss Side. It is a great place, full of good people, but has been tarnished by events of the past."

Simon now uses his position in the music industry to help young artists get their big break. He has his own talent agency and is helping two young singers from Moss Side.

"I feel now I am in a position to help people get into the industry it is only right that I do so.

"It would be wrong for me not to use this privilege for the benefit of others. I want to help new talent get through," he says with evident passion and determination.

How disappointingly likeable he is.

Blue perform at the M.E.N. Arena on Friday and Saturday. To book call 0870 060 1768 or click here.

To win tickets to see Blue in concert and go to the after show party, click here.