Singer Olly Alexander ‘knew' he would not win Eurovision in 2024
He said: 'Everyone said, 'you're going to bring it home, Olly', I knew I wouldn't.
'Now that I've had a bit of time away, I'm so proud I got to do it, but it was also very stressful, it can be very vulnerable and isolating.'
Alexander added: 'I've never had so much pressure put on a song. People are brutal anyway, but because we're in a competition, people are really going for you. I was like, 'God, I'm just trying to give people a fun time'.'
During the interview, Alexander went on to speak about how a media adviser told him not to 'come out' as gay during his 20s due to the impact it would have on his career.
He said: 'You'd never give that advice now, and it was terrible advice then. I knew it was never really going to be an option for me, but it did feel like a fork-in-the-road moment.'
But the former Years And Years singer said he had received much better advice from Dame Judi Dench, who he made his West End debut alongside in Peter And Alice.
Alexander said: 'The best thing Judi Dench taught me was that you can be a legendary star and still be the most chill diva ever.
'She's always down for a laugh, she loves a naughty joke.'
The singer released his debut solo album Polari in February this year, and has had a UK number one single with Years And Years in King, along with four other top 10 singles, while the pop band also had two number one albums.
Alexander has also embarked on an acting career that has seen him appear in Channel 4 drama It's A Sin, make a cameo appearance in EastEnders, and perform in a number of stage roles.
He will play idle gentleman Algernon Moncrieff in the National Theatre's production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End from September.
The role was played by Doctor Who and Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa during a recent successful run at the Lyttelton Theatre.
The full interview can be read in the September issue of Tatler, available by digital download and on newsstands from August 7.
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Yet, at the behest of her eldest son Bertie - poised to become Edward VII - the Palace began systematically wiping John from history. Victoria's diaries were transcribed and altered, with the originals being destroyed. Bertie, who had frequently feuded with Brown, also commanded that the statues and private monuments Victoria had erected in his honour be demolished. Angela's grandfather passed away when she was in primary school, but she recalls him being distressed about the Browns' erasure from history. "My understanding from my Mum was that he was just really upset and bitter about it," she shared. "He didn't like to talk about it. Now, having both my parents and my aunt gone, we don't have those resources any more. So the bulk of the story I have been learning from Fern, which is amazing, and I'm so grateful." Angela remains hopeful that the Royals will eventually have to acknowledge the legitimacy of the claims made about her ancestors, as highlighted in a Channel 4 documentary aired on Thursday. "My gut says it's going to have to get acknowledged at some point," she suggests. "Scandals are always very exciting so I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions for them to answer. If they don't say anything, that's their choice. But I'd like them to acknowledge the truth of this love, to recognise that it wasn't cool to cover up and destroy evidence of the relationship they shared. Let's be real, Bertie was a bit of a d**k to the Browns. "That story deserves to be known, to have its own breath out there in the world. You don't get that kind of romance every day. It's what you'd hope for anybody, that you would find another chance at love. So I don't see why we should look down on that. It's like an opportunity presented itself and they embraced it, and I think that is beautiful." Angela is hopeful of undergoing a DNA test to confirm her lineage, but has been cautioned that it might take a while due to the necessity for impeccable source material for testing across four generations. "I'll let the scientists do the science," she says with a smile. "I'm a supporting character in this journey, and so I will follow wherever the story leads me. I'm totally open to it. So far it's been so exciting, so cool. I'm just really stoked." The tattooed American, sporting a nose-ring, firmly denies that she's merely attempting to profit from the Royal family's wealth. "Money is the furthest thing from my goal in telling this family story. It has always been to get Queen Victoria and John Brown's story the truth it deserves." She can't fathom any other reason why her family would possess valuable keepsakes from Victoria and John, including a brooch and a lock of hair. "Their relationship was authentic and genuine. They obviously had feelings for each other. It went well beyond a queen and man servant situation." There was a fair amount of speculation at the time about the duo, portrayed by Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly in the 1997 film Mrs Brown. In 1865, after Victoria requested John's transfer to the Royal Household at Windsor, two of her daughters, Helena and Louise, openly referred to him as 'Mamma's lover'. And the following year a Swiss newspaper published a story claiming Victoria, then aged 46, had privately married John and become pregnant. Angela would be delighted regardless of whether Mary Ann proves to be John or Hugh's daughter. "Either John Brown is my great, great uncle or he is my great, great grandpa. My family still played a key role in history with their friendship and closeness to Queen Victoria. I'm proud of their steadfastness in keeping the legacy of John Brown alive and their word to holding the secret close. It's still a beautiful romance that deserves its moment of recognition in history." With her Scottish heritage through her mother's lineage, Angela adores visiting the UK at every opportunity and confesses she occasionally feels more British than American. "I've always felt a little disconnected in the sense that I feel more at home over there. Scotland is my happy place. I would move there if I could, for sure."
