One Chance (19 page)

Singing in a church in Ontario, Canada, 2001.

From left; Fulvia, Elisa, and me in Italy.

Our traditional wedding photo outside the church with both sets of parents, plus best man, Mark, standing behind me.

Julz and I cutting the cake—I am sure there are times when she'd like to use that knife on me!

Julz and me at an awards ceremony in Swansea in 2010.

The performance that changed my life—I had no idea where it would lead. (
Fremantle Media
)

Have I really won? Smiling in disbelief after the announcement that I had won in 2007. (
Fremantle Media
)

Simon Cowell and I outside the ITV studios after my performance on
Britain's Got Talent
in 2009. (
Vibica Auld
)

A bit of fun with my orchestra at the end of my first UK tour at Hammersmith Apollo in February 2008.

Natasha Marsh was great fun to have on tour with me—she is a great sport and a wonderful singer, London 2008.

The A Team: Julz, me, my manager Vibica, and Jake Duncan, my tour manager, at the UNESCO gala in Dusseldorf, 2009.

On the set of
One Chance
, 2012. Left to right: Julz, Mackenzie Crook, me, James Corden, and Alexandra Roach. (
Liam Daniel
©
2013 The Weinstein Company. All Rights Reserved
.)

The events galvanized something within me. The next day, I asked Julz if she would like to start looking at rings. To my relief and joy, she didn't look too shocked and just said, “Okay.”

We went into Swansea, and it didn't take long to find the perfect ring: we instinctively knew it was the right one the moment it went onto Julz's finger. It was an eighteen-carat gold with a twist and a quarter-carat diamond. As she placed it on her left ring finger, I saw the joy in Julz's eyes. I knew she didn't want to give the ring up. As far as she was concerned, it was already hers. Julz told me that taking the ring off was one of the most difficult things she'd ever had to do.

But I didn't have much money left after the trip to Italy, so I had to put a deposit on the ring instead of buying it outright. I would go to the store every month and pay a little more towards it. I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to have such a beautiful, funny, and intelligent girlfriend, who by Christmas would be my fiancée. I wanted to tell it to the world, but I needed to start saving up money first, not just for the ring but for the wedding itself.

I proposed to Julz on the seafront at Mumbles. It had only been ten months since we had met and come here on our first date, but this did not feel rushed. Our union felt like it had always been intended. Already, Julz was a great foil for me, and I was delighted when she said yes.

Julz and I decided to tell our families about the engagement at Christmas. Right from the start, I had got on well with Julz's family. On first meeting them, I remarked with surprise on meeting someone who was one of eighteen children. Her dad, Dave, turned and said, “What of it?” The penny dropped: Julz had already told me that her mum was one of seventeen, and I had forgotten this. That was the first of many laughs at my expense, and they still continue. I immediately felt confident that I would be welcomed as one of them. Her mum reminded me of my own mum, and I sensed that her dad and I would become friends. Her grancha reminded me of my own—the fact that he had been in the same pits as my grancha intrigued both Dave and me.