Steve Brookstein - from X-Factor to Our House

3:52pm Tuesday 15th July 2008

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Sharon Osborne may have infamously claimed Steve Brookstein wasn't half as nice as he seemed, ahead of him taking the title in the first series of X-Factor, but there was no evidence of an ulterior motive when I interviewed the singer about his latest venture into musical theatre last week.

I don't want to clash with the Princess of Darkness, and will miss her during the next series of X-Factor, but I found Steve to be funny, frank and, well, very nice. Taking over from Suggs as Joe's Dad in the award-winning musical Our House - transferring from the West End for a national tour, playing in Bromley this week - Steve (who once worked as an estate agent in Beckenham) tells me why and how he landed his first acting job.

"I was a bit surprised," he said. "I got an email from the producers of the show, via a major casting agency in London, saying, Would I be interested in playing the part of Joe's dad in Our House?' "Acting was something I thought maybe if something comes along' and something came along." Steve admits his age and profile helped, but he impressed director Matthew Warchus with one audition and had the job offer waiting for him on the answering machine by the time he arrived home.

From his enthusiasm, it's clear he is pleased and proud to be involved in the show, which tells the tale of two young lovers and a father-son relationship to a backdrop of Madness songs.

"It's not what people expect it to be," said Steve when I ask him if Our House is as mad as Madness. "The image of Madness and the song Our House makes you think of something a bit nutty and a bit crazy, when it's a really sensitive and poignant romantic comedy.

"The songs weren't shoehorned in to fit. Someone doesn't say Oh yeah, I've just bought a pair of baggy trousers' and here's a cue for a song. It's so natural." While Steve is unsure what Madness and former Joe's dad Suggs feel about his casting, the team behind the scenes are pleased with their new leading man. He said: "I've been told I do a good job from the writers, producers and directors, who are all pleased with what I'm doing.

"I fell out with Simon Cowell over creativity and the fact I wasn't too pleased with the direction he wanted to take my career, but this I'm pleased with." Since distancing himself from what he calls "the X-Factor brand" and parting company from Simon, Steve felt the force of the A&R boss and X-Factor judge's influence.

"When I was an X-Factor brand, ITV, GMTV and This Morning, I was on their shows virtually every week, I'd been on there half a dozen times and rightly so because six million people voted for me and it was their core audience.

"When my second album came out and we wanted to promote it to the same audience, they didn't want me on the show because I was no longer an X-Factor brand.

"This was all about Simon Cowell not wanting to promote me because I didn't want to do it his way. So, I must be seen as a failure. "It's quite funny, even Chico had more singles released than I did. I think that is a total disregard for their audience."

Describing the experience as "like having a great relationship with a girlfriend and finding out afterwards she'd been sleeping with your mate", he can't view the opportunity with gratitude.

"It's difficult to thank someone who has tried to put you down over the past three years for any further success you have," he said. "I have a great analogy for this, it's like if I fell in love with a nurse in hospital, having been run over by a car and the driver wants me to thank him because if it wasn't for him I'd never have met the nurse.

"Now I'm doing Our House people say you must be thankful for the X-Factor' well no, they tried to break my legs'."

Did you really fall out with Simon that badly?

"Yes, it was horrendous," said Steve. "If people knew the truth about what he offered me to go away. He offered me £12,500 to go away. Which considering it was the first series of X-Factor, where they were saying it's a £1m record deal and they will spend a minimum of a £1m and they don't spend anywhere near £1m. They're lying to the public.

He said many times, only the winner will get a record deal'. They've had four series of the X Factor and they've had over 12 acts which have had record deals. So it's not about the winner, it's not about making a career for them it's just about making money and getting people to vote.

"But people don't want to hear that.

"It's not nice to be branded this and that when you're just trying to do good stuff. Luckily it didn't to the people that matter in the industry, for me, like directors of these sort of shows."

And although Steve has more than his fair share of negative press - stories about him performing in pubs and on ferries but nothing about his Our House role - he's relieved it didn't matter to the people behind the show .

"I'm really grateful they did look for what I can do and hopefully I've repaid them. I've really taken it seriously, my acting and learning the craft, so I don't deliver anything but a good performance.

"You're going to love this show. When I saw it, I'll tell you now, I cried, it's sad. It is sad.

"Funnily enough, the songs which really shine in the show are the ones that aren't the biggest hits. The Sun and the Rain and Tomorrow's Just Another Day, which weren't huge hits, are the hits of the show. They stand out.

"It gets a little bit camp, it's really fun and the lighting and the choreography on those particular songs is ridiculously good, a real high standard.

"It's just an amazing bit of theatre."

Our House until July 19 at The Churchill, Bromley.