Nervy Britain’s Got Talent star Jamie Pugh revealed yesterday that the thought of winning the TV contest fills him with sheer terror.
Panicking pizza delivery man Jamie, 38, was all set to walk out before his audition but loyal partner Donna Davies, 35, persuaded him to stay.
“I wanted to go home,” says Jamie. “I didn’t sleep for three days before and I’m now on 40 fags a day.
“This is going to sound really weird – I fear success but I don’t fear failure. I’ve failed at a lot of things and I fear success because I’m Jamie. I’ve got to appear on a TV show and I’m dreading it.
“I’m a wreck – I’m not a star.”
But we’ve got bad news for Jamie – unfortunately, he IS a star.
More than 12 million viewers saw the South Wales valleys singer stun judge Simon Cowell and earn a standing ovation with a spellbinding version of Bring Him Home from Les Miserables.
“If you had asked me to sing any other song I wouldn’t be able to, because I don’t know many songs,” says Jamie.
“But Bring Him Home comes from my heart. It’s about what I might have lost through choices I’ve made.
“Believe me – if I’d not sung that song I would have gone to pieces.”
And modest Jamie wasn’t prepared for the reaction of his mates after his electrifying performance was screened on Saturday night.
“After watching the show on telly I wanted some cigarettes but didn’t want to meet any of my pals down at the local constitutional club,” he says.
“But Donna was in her pyjamas so I had to go myself. I thought they would all be drinking in the bar so I walked into the lounge and about 20 people saw me and started clapping me – I was so embarrassed I turned red.
“Most of my friends don’t even know I sing. I got a text from my mate Mogsy saying, ‘Jesus, fatty, you’re in all the papers’. Apparently I made them all cry. I once tried to sing in front of my football mates in a hotel – it was an Elvis song called My Boy.
“I sang two lines and walked off stage and fell apart. I buried my head in Donna’s lap – I didn’t want people to look at me.”
Incredibly, Jamie reckons his voice isn’t that great.
“What you have to realise is that I personally don’t feel I can sing,” he says.
“Now if there’s an expectation I can sing, it makes things even worse. If I think about my next performance I will get a head full of broken toys.”
Jamie suffered heartbreak 10 years ago when wife Tracey died from a brain tumour, aged just 27.
He was left to bring up their young son Callum with the help of parents Wyndham and Doreen. Then he met Donna and for the last four years they have been living together in her cottage near Blackwood with their son Ethan, three, Callum, now 13, and Donna’s daughter Jordan, 17.
And Jamie said: “Donna is the only person I never fear being me in front of – without her I could never have come this far. I could never have gone on that show a year ago. “She knows everything about my past. She knows what makes me tick and what winds me up. I absolutely love her.”
Jamie may be a bag of nerves these days but growing up he was a real show-off. “When I was a kid you couldn’t have met a bigger showman,” he recalls.
“I used to do Michael Jackson impressions – with all the spins and grabbing the crotch and everything.
“But kids are fearless and can climb trees with no problem – now I wouldn’t get three steps up a ladder.”
Jamie is hoping to conquer his stage fright seven years after his first singing lesson. He said: “If I don’t overcome the stage fright I’m in trouble, aren’t I?
“But I’m not materialistic and being rich or famous is not something that drives me. The most important thing in my life is Donna and our three children.”
As for Donna, she is fully behind Jamie – and could be his secret weapon in the battle with hot favourite Susan Boyle.
Donna says: “When Jamie wanted to walk out of the audition I threatened him with divorce – well not quite because we aren’t married. But I said, ‘You have to do it. Go for the ride and see what happens’. “I gave him a lot of smiles and positive thinking. Jamie is a fabulous guy. He is my best friend, a good listener and very supportive. We have our ups and downs but overall we get on really well.”
Jamie’s mum Doreen, 70, said yesterday: “I thought he was fabulous. Jamie’s a real raw talent because he only knows three songs – the one he sang on the show, an Elvis number and The River by Garth Brooks. “But he has blossomed lately and I think he can overcome his stage fright.”
Bookmaker William Hill is offering 6/1 that the terrified singer fails to get a single word out in the semi-final. A spokesman said: “I cannot see Susan Boyle getting beaten but if Jamie Pugh can get the words out he could be in with a chance.”
Last night Jamie was waiting for the new rotas to find out when he is next out delivering pizzas in the Blackwood area.
He said: “It’s a brilliant job because you get to meet people and give them pizza. Times are hard but people give you a £1 tip or 50p and sometimes you get a fiver.”
[Bring Him Home 가사 - Jamie 가 부른 노래 부분]
- God on high, Hear my prayer, In my need
You have always been there,
He is young, He's afraid
Let him rest, Heaven blessed.
If I die, let me die, Let him live
Bring him home, Bring him home, Bring him home. ---------------
He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die, one by one
How soon they fly, on and on
And I am old, And will be gone.
Bring him peace, Bring him joy
He is young, He is only a boy
You can take, You can give
Let him be, Let him live
If I die, let me die, Let him live
Bring him home, Bring him home, Bring him home.................................................