Dorset Echo - News, Sport, Homes, Jobs, Cars and Local Information in Weymouth, Portland

Back in the real world again

From the Echo, first published Tuesday 29th Oct 2002.

HE'S spent a fortnight waking up next to television cameras, sung live in front of an audience of millions and watched nervously as his peers voted on his future.

Little wonder that Fame Academy contestant Chris Manning admits he is "happy to be back in the real world" after leaving the BBC One reality game show.

With just a three-minute phone call to his parents every week and no idea how he was being perceived by viewers, life in the Academy was a disorientating experience.

"They kept you in that bubble and you have no idea what's going on in the outside world. You just have to hope for the best," he said.

"It was a unique and special experience and I've made a couple of good friends out of it but I'm enjoying my freedom now.

"It made me appreciate how important my close friends and family are to me. It's not until you are in a vulnerable and exposed position that you realise how much you need them."

Chris, of Goldfinch Road in Creekmoor, has been whisked from one press interview to another since being voted out of the Academy on Friday, October 18, featuring on Radio One, Liquid News, CBBC and BBC Choice.

But the 23-year-old is now hoping to concentrate on his music and will be working with musicians in Bournemouth and Poole and cutting some demos before Christmas.

"There are quite a few different avenues that I can go down like musical theatre but I'm going to carry on with the music because that's what my passion is.

"There are things in the pipeline, some very exciting things."

Chris was controversially voted out of the Academy by a margin of just one vote, despite the singing and dancing coaches' recommendation that he stay.

His departure sparked a barrage of complaints to the Fame Academy website and Chris has since been stopped in the street by people telling him he was the victim of an injustice.

But such is the fickle nature of showbusiness and Chris has no complaints, saying that even with the benefit of hindsight he would audition for the show again.

He said: "I loved performing on the Friday, having all my supporters down the front waving banners.

"It was one of the best moments of my life and I can't draw any negatives from that."

Archive Home