LIFE is good, says singer, rapper, DJ and Strictly finalist Fleur East, happily, as she releases a new single, announces a live gig, and prepares to take to the stage in Glasgow this weekend.
However, had it not been for the famous Saturday night TV dance show - in which she dazzled viewers and judges alike with professional partner Vito Coppola - that may not have been the case.
“I’d written some music, but I’d been sitting on it for a while,” she explains. “I was actually playing some of it to Vito during rehearsals for Strictly and he was just – ‘you’ve got to get this out there'.
“I’d had a hard time with my last album, Fearless, which was my first solo album.
“I lost my dad just days before it was released, and then everything shut down because of the pandemic so I had to cancel all the live shows, all the promos…
“It had taken so much courage just to release music on my own, so it was a huge confidence knock.”
She adds: “But then doing Strictly, and just having that buzz of performing every Saturday night to a live audience, made me want to get out there again. I was ready to do it.”
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Fleur, whose big break came on The X Factor in 2014 (she became the first contestant to reach Number 1 on the UK iTunes Store chart during the competition with her performance of Uptown Funk) is a singer-songwriter and Hits Radio presenter, but she is probably best known for her recent stint on Strictly.
She is coming to the Hydro this weekend (from February 10 to 12) with Strictly’s sensational Live Tour.
“This show is a lot of fun – much less stressful than the TV show,” she says. “I can’t wait to come to Glasgow – I’ve been before, with The X Factor tour, but I’ve only ever come to perform and go away again. I’m looking forward to actually exploring the city.
“And I’ve heard from the professionals that the further north you go, the louder the audiences get.”
Fleur “grew up surrounded by music”, she says.
“My parents played everything in the house – Stevie Wonder, the Jacksons – and from the age of about two I was singing,” she adds.
“But my mum always insisted I should get a degree, so I had something ‘to fall back on’. I did journalism and history, got a 2:1 and the day I graduated I remember thinking 'yes! Now I can pursue my music career'.”
Fleur’s new single, Count The Ways, is a “tongue in cheek” break-up song, she says.
“It’s about putting a spin on listing the things that you love about a person,” she explains. “It flips that narrative and becomes about the ways that person lost you. I love it because it's a lot more mature and is very musical.
“I always feel quite vulnerable sharing my music with everybody because it's really a deep part of me. So I always feel a bit exposed when I share music with everybody, but I just feel like I'm in a place now where I'm ready for everyone to hear it.”
After Strictly Live ends, Fleur will be playing a gig in London and fans are hoping for more. So is a tour on the cards?
“I’d love to do more – I was absolutely gutted when I had to cancel the last lot,” she says. “And now I have some dance skills to throw in.”
She adds, with a laugh: “You never know, maybe I’ll break into the odd samba…”
Strictly Come Dancing Live is at the Hydro from February 10 to 12.
Fleur's single Count the Ways is out now.
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