Yahoo News Matt Goss Shares Personal Reason He Signed Up For Strictly: 'I'd Become Very Reclusive'
Matt Goss (Photo: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Matt Goss has opened up about the personal circumstances that led to him signing up for this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The chart-topping star is best known for as part of Bros, who racked up a string of hits in the late 80s early 90s with songs like When Will I Be Famous?, Too Much and I Owe You Nothing.
In recent years, Matt appeared in the Bafta-winning documentary After The Screaming Stops alongside his twin brother and bandmate Luke Goss, and also had his own Las Vegas residency for more than a decade.
However, he has admitted that he “wasn’t happy” by the end of his Vegas show.
Matt Goss performing in Las Vegas in 2019 (Photo: Denise Truscello via Getty Images)
Speaking to HuffPost UK and other media outlets in the lead-up to this year’s Strictly launch, Matt explained: “The 11 years in Vegas was an incredible experience, and to be a headliner there is an honour, but I wasn’t happy at the end. And I found myself just doing shows, and on the way home I’d be feeling really empty.
“As a singer, it’s very hard to say that, because singing is my joy. It’s my peace. And I felt disconnected, and I knew that I’d become very reclusive.”
He continued: “It just so happened that I made the decision, after the success of my last record, to come back to the UK. Strictly called, and I thought, ‘if I don’t do this, in a way, I’m just going to go back to my comfort zone of just working…’.
“I’ve gone through grief, and I just wanted to live a bit more and be happy. And Strictly… it’s a joy.”
The Bros singer is one of 15 celebrities currently in training for the new series of Strictly (Photo: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Matt also insisted that his decades performing on stage could turn out to be more of a hindrance to him than giving him an advantage.
Referring to fellow Strictly contestant and pop singer Fleur East, he claimed: “The very thing that’s going to be a hindrance to us is the fact we’re not told, ‘you must put your foot there, leave it there, you must move this way, you must do this…’
“The reason we didn’t want proper jobs is because we don’t like to be told what to do on stage. And when you do it for so long, it is a hard habit to break.”
Matt is one of 15 stars who’ll be competing on Strictly this year. Joining him on the series this year are Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds, Loose Women panellist Kaye Adams, actor Will Mellor and radio presenter Richie Anderson.
Strictly Come Dancing returns for its landmark 20th series on Friday 23 September, with the first live show of the season airing the following night.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.
