Noel's Bio

More about Noel
Ask anyone about Noel and they'll tell you he is a brilliant mimic, always doing impressions. He is also refreshingly down to earth. And, when the wisecracks stop, there is a serious side to him. For years he has wanted to be a performer. Now that he has made it into the Popstars band he is on cloud Nine. What he is not so sure about is the inevitable overnight exposure that he and the others will face.
I'm really scared about the whole thing,' he admits. 'Basically, I want to sing and dance and that's about it. I'm not bothered about having my face in the papers. I suppose that's all part and parcel of it -you can't have one without the other.'
Just days after the band moved in together they had a taste of what was to come when
Nigel Lythgoe arranged for them to go to the recording of An Audience with Ricky Martin at the LWT studios. 'We were meant to be incognito and we weren't at all,' he recalls. 'We pulled up at the studios in a car together and all the paparazzi were there, so we were all photographed. We were escorted through the queue to our seats, right at the front, and you could just see people thinking, who are they?'
At the party after the show the five -posing as competition winners -mingled with celebrity guests. They were snapped with Emma Bunton and her cousin. '1 kept thinking that soon people are going to know who I am, what I look like when I get up in the morning, what I'm like when I lose my rag -all that kind of stuff,' he says.
'The most bizarre thing is they're talking about doing An Audience with us, so all those celebrities will be there to watch us!' He bursts out laughing. 'It's mad!' Since moving in with the others Noel has not only emerged as the joker - he has also proved himself a terrific cook. Sadly, none of his culinary exploits have been captured on camera (yet). 'They've missed it every time,' he says, laughing. ' They started to film me the other night and I just said, "G0 away!" It was 11 p.m. and I knew it was going to take me a couple of hours to cook and I just didn't want the whole thing on camera.'
At times, everyone has grown weary of the constant presence of the cameras. There has been the occasional mutiny when directors Danny Fildes and David O'Neill have met with resistance from all five. 'Sometimes we give them some grief, but that's to be expected.' They are all anxious that what ends up on camera is as spontaneous as it can be. 'You do something off the cuff which might be funny or interesting and the crew suddenly want to film it. They'll say, "Can you just do that again please?"' Noel says. 'That ruins it, 'cause we're not actors. It's meant to be fly on the wall, not Hamlet, so we say "NO!"'
Mainly, the relationship between the band and the production team is good. Again, it is based on respect. Danny Fildes, David O'Neill, Luke Dolan and Louise Cowmeadow, who take it in turns to stay at the house, are mates.
Noel is surprised at how well the five band members get along. .
'There's a mutual respect there, because we all know what we've been through to get here -and what we've been through personally as well.'
All have struggled for their big break. Noel has spent five years trying to break into the
music industry. For a year before Popstars came along he was working in Ibiza in a cabaret show. 'I was on stage dressed in black working under ultra violet light with something like 150 puppets. It was a really clever show.' After a year, it was time to move on. 'I just woke up one morning and decided to come home and go for every audition I could,' he says.
Personally, Noel has faced more than his share of tragedy. When he was six, his baby brother was a cot death victim. Three years later his baby sister died from a brain tumour at just nine days old. It all served to cement the close relationship he has with his Mum. 'That's why I'm doing this really,' he says. It's not for selfish reasons. I want to be able to look after her.'
Another factor is his eight-year-old cousin, Luke, who is suffering from cancer of the muscle and battling with bouts of serious illness. The pair are very close. 'I know how much it will mean for Luke to see me on TV. It's a huge thing for him, and that makes whatever else you have to go through on the way worthwhile.'