Making her debut at the Sunderland Empire as the headliner in The Bodyguard is the cherry on top of the tree for 2016, North-East singer Zoe Birkett tells Viv Hardwick

ZOE Birkett laughs about being described as having reached the top of the tree at Christmas by taking the lead role in the touring version of West End hit The Bodyguard.

“I may have a few more branches to climb,” she jokes. “But, it’s been a wonderful year so far and being asked to be part of the show last year and I was absolutely over the moon because Whitney Houston has been a massive idol of mine since I was a kid. Being part of the show has completely changed me as a performer, as an actress and a singer.

“Making my debut at the Sunderland Empire as the headliner is the cherry on top of the tree for 2016. I’m definitely not the kind of person who people say this was lucky. I find that quite offensive. I’ve never relied on luck and literally scraped and grafted since I was 13 years old.

“I needed to get together the money for singing and dancing lessons and then the costs of Pop Idol and moving to London. It’s been constant and luck is when hard work and determination meets opportunity. That’s a phrase I love to use,” says Birkett, who has added playing the saxophone to her list of achievements.

“You can never stop adding more strings to your bow. I’m more than a triple-threat... back off,” she says.

Birkett was offered the second national tour of The Bodyguard in October having been Alexandra Burke’s alternate for the role of Rachel Marron in the spring. The man behind the show is Wallsend-born producer Michael Harrison, who is enjoying great reviews for Gypsy in the West End and ten years of success in charge of Newcastle Theatre Royal’s pantomime.

“I’ve worked for Michael a few years ago in the Darlington pantomime and he’s a wonderful man to work for. He’s grounded and can pick talent.

“I couldn’t wait to tell my family that I was touring and I wanted to tell the whole world. I asked Michael, ‘When can I put it on Facebook?’ I sang Whitney Houston songs throughout Pop Idol on TV and so many people have said that One Moment In Time is part of my journey. Whitney Houston songs got me into the final ten of Pop Idol and this show brings back so many memories,” she says.

She was in the top four of the legendary 2001-2002 series that launched the likes of X Factor and it shows the quality of the finalists that winner Will Young, runner-up Gareth Gates, third place Darius Campbell (who used the name Danesh at that time) and Birkett are all busy with shows at the moment.

“I think because it was the first series like this, I remember buying The Stage newspaper on a Thursday from WH Smith which was the only place to get information. There was no social media and the only way you knew about the auditions was by being a The Stage buyer, and the only way you knew about The Stage was because you wanted to have a career in performance. I would say that the final ten have all pretty much had a career. The X Factor I saw a couple of years ago I wouldn’t remember the last five. The fact that people remember our final four – and people still know names like Jessica Garlick and Rosie Ribbons from the last ten – a lot of people who applied were already performing or training. It wasn’t people saying, ‘I’ll give this a crack and see what happens’. We were walking that path anyway.”

Birkett recently bumped into Young on tour at a service station and realised that it’s now 13 years since the singing contestants made TV headlines.

“It was a bloody awful decade but we’ve made the most of those 13 years. We’re still reaching new personal goals and it seems to have gone full circle. We all went our separate ways, but myself, Will and Darius all got signed to Simon Fuller’s 19 Management and I saw them for five years after the show, then we split again. It’s crazy we’re doing the same kind of thing again,” she says.

Birkett still isn’t standing still as an entertainer. She’s just got her US green card and will be taking time out after performing in The Bodyguard in Manchester over Christmas to try to land an American opportunity.

“I will take a trip to New York in February before coming back to The Bodyguard in Sunderland, in March. While I’m away I know there’s so many more people in New York with talent and that I’m taking on the bigger fish but I’ve told people, ‘There’s no other Cherokee Indian from the North-East like me, so I’ll be all right’. People in America love the British, but I’m hoping they’ll love a Northerner even more,” she says.

“I’ve got no immediate plans. I just applied for a green card two years ago and I thought I’d love to do Broadway and was delighted to get approved in September. I’ve got no friends or business contacts out there, but it was the same when I came to London and it doesn’t scare me. I just want to see what happens. I’m not saying goodbye to the UK because so much is happening with my career. It would be stupid to walk away when I’ve got such a big break this year. I just need to see what the scene is like out there. I might get there and hate it,” Birkett says.

  • The Bodyguard, Sunderland Empire, March 1 to 12. Box Office on High Street West. Ticket Centre: 0844-871-3022 or online ATGtickets.com/Sunderland