Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Tuesday, June 14, to Saturday, June 18

Tickets £21-£46 plus booking, Tuesday to Thursday evenings 7.30pm, Wednesday and Thursday matinees at 2.30pm, Friday 5pm and 8pm, Saturday 2pm, 5pm and 8pm, call 0844 871 7650 or visit atgtickets.com/brighton

JOE MCELDERRY was just 18 when he won the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009. After soaring to number one in the UK singles charts with his rendition of Miley Cyrus’s The Climb his first album Wide Awake peaked at number three. Despite a difference in outlook leading to him being dropped by Simon Cowell's label Syco, McElderry bounced back to release two more top-ten albums while also making forays into stage work.

Here, McElderry, originally from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, tells ADRIAN IMMS about his first major theatrical appearance as the title figure in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Joseph is a classic production. Did you have any concerns about doing justice to its songs?

Yeah 100 per cent. Joseph has been played some really famous people - Jason Donovan, Phillip Schofield, Donny Osmond - there have been lots who have done it. I did look at performances they had done but at the same time I wanted to make it my own. And I didn't want to scare myself thinking, "Oh my God, I've got to live up to that." So I just thought, "Do the best you can with it and enjoy it."

How has the tour been so far? How do you reckon it will go down in Brighton?

We have about five weeks left and it has been wonderful. The audience have been incredible and I've had amazing feedback. I have always loved coming down to Brighton. I've been down two or three times and they are always such a great crowd.

Do you regard winning The X Factor as your most important success?

I think maintaining a career has been my most important success but winning The X Factor was the initial success. It was the start of everything. It wasn't the be-all and end-all but it was an amazing experience I will never forget.

You turn 25 halfway through the Theatre Royal run. As a child what did you think you would be doing at 25?

Oh my god – I didn't think I would be doing this. I didn't even think I would be a singer; it took me by surprise. I wanted to be a paramedic originally, working in the medical profession. I wanted to be a doctor but I wasn't clever enough.

As for turning 25, my past couple of birthdays have coincided with being on stage. This time Brighton is a brilliant place to be having your birthday. We are on a bit of a schedule, though, and you've got to take care of yourself. Sleep is very important. Having said that I'm sure we'll go out and do something so if you have any suggestions...

Go to the Colonnade bar – it's right next to the theatre and looks the business. But you might get swamped by the masses. Do you get that as much nowadays?

I do, but y'know what, when people want to see you it means they are interested in what you're doing so I take it as a compliment. It's really nice. It's all part of the job and it's lovely.

You were 16 when you first auditioned for The X Factor in 2007. Did you walk away from bootcamp because you thought you were too young to compete or too young to win?

To be honest it wasn't even about winning or competing, I just felt I couldn't cope with the whole process. I found it quite intense. When I got to bootcamp it was so alien to me and I felt like I didn't have the confidence. As I left I said to myself I would never do something like that again and I thought it had put me off performing on a big scale. But I think it was just an age thing - as I became an adult it didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. Being in that environment I just adjusted to it instead of being scared of it.

As you progressed during your ultimately victorious stint did you think then you might be too young to win?

Pop Idol was around when I was a kid and then we had The X Factor. I used to watch them during my childhood and was so interested in everyone performing and the judges. Then, when you become a part of it and you're on it every week, it becomes so surreal. You think, "This isn't real life, I'll get voted out at some point and it'll all end because things like this don't happen to me." You think like that all the time. But at the same time I kept in my head, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if I was able to win it," so I worked really hard. You tell yourself it isn't possible but you still put the work in.

You said after leaving Syco (the label you were with under The X Factor) that you would like to do more ballads. Is that a direction you want to continue in?

I said a lot of the things when I left Syco - it was a huge part of my life and I was still learning a lot about the industry. Now I'm really open about my career. I always love trying new and different material. I enjoy the variety and trying things that make people feel happy or sad, music is supposed to make you feel all kinds of different emotions. When you have a record label and people helping you, there are others to respect rather than saying, "This is what I want to do."

How do you hope to balance up stage work with your own original material work?

I just work on what's coming up next. For me it's about balancing the two - I would never pick one over the other - and obviously it's a work in progress.

What was the strangest thing you were offered after The X Factor?

When you leave The X Factor you get offered lots of amazing things. I'm sure at one point there was some kind of request about horse racing. I thought it would be fun but it was a bit of a random request. It might have been to do with my height because jockeys are quite small and so am I.

Other people in your position probably see queues around the block for their shows and it's second nature to them. Do you still pinch yourself?

It certainly becomes part of your life but I still get those moments where I'm standing in front of an audience and think, "Oh my God, I dreamt of doing this and I'm actually doing it." And it happens randomly where you're on stage having a great time and you get this overwhelming moment that takes over for a few minutes. I think it's important to acknowledge your success and being grateful for what you're doing. I've met so many people in the industry who just complain about how bad it is and I think, "Well if it's that bad don't do it." Of course, I would be a blatant liar if I denied there were times where I was really tired and had to pull it out of the bag. But, and this is no word of a lie, when you go on stage and the audience start clapping and singing along you forget about that and go into a different world. It's amazing what adrenaline can do. I can't describe it.

It's almost like a drug in itself. That's probably why people like The Rolling Stones keep going for so long. Do you reckon you've got it in you?

I hope I'm lucky enough to do that. It's always been about creating some longevity but it depends if people still enjoy my music...