‘Gary is a big part of my career’

Marcus Collins on his close friendship with Gary Barlow and X Factor memories

He came second on The X Factor in 2011 and Marcus Collins hasn’t forgotten his roots.
Marcus and his mentor, Gary Barlow, have been writing songs together and the Liverpool native said it won’t be long before we can all hear them.
He told U magazine: “I’ve been in the studio, I’ve been writing and working with a couple of different producers and I’m constantly with pen to paper doing things when I’m on a tour bus, when I’m anywhere. I’m trying to keep all my material together and bring that out as a collective or as an EP. I’m really looking forward to do that.
“Last year I worked on a couple of tracks with Gary. It’s been a dream come true, I can’t wait for people to hear the music. At the minute there’s still a couple of things with question marks over it so we’ve just got to cross the is and dot the ts and be ready to move forward when the time is right.
“Gary is a big part of my career and I always turn to him when I need advice. Obviously I spoke to him about doing my last contract which was Hairspray and he was so happy and pushed for me to do that, and obviously I’ve told him about Kinky Boots which I’m going into in the West End. I’m just so excited to be a part of it and Gary kind of pushes me into where my strengths are and I believe that’s in musical theatre,” he added.
Before coming second on The X Factor Marcus was a hairdresser, so his life completely changed after the show.
“It was a complete 360,” he explained, “I went from being a hairdresser to signing an album contract and touring the country. My album was top ten, I got to perform in front of the Royal family and go to some amazing, amazing things but X Factor, if it’s given me one thing, it’s the best platform I could have used at the time and it really has set me up for a career I never dreamt would be possible so I’m very grateful to the show.”
Marcus is coming to Dublin for The West End Men at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on Sunday 7 June, along with Glenn Carter, James Bisp and Alexis Gerred.
(Nadia Forde will be appearing as a special guest on the night too!)
He explained: “Dublin is my favourite place to tour. I’ve got a couple of friends over there and I’m making a couple of days of it, I’m so excited. I love Dublin.
“Temple Bar and The Dragon… I just love it, I love the people, I love the atmosphere, I love the music, I love Dublin, it’s gorgeous.
“So basically we’re going to be performing songs from the West End. The West End Men is four guys who have played leads or stand up parts in UK musical and theatre production and we come together and sing in four part harmony. When we’re not doing that we’re also standing as soloists… We’ve got such a mixed bag of music and genres we go across, there really is something for everyone,” he added.
“Being on tour is very, very difficult but we become a family on tour and it sounds cliché and really cringe but we do look out for each other. The same group of guys that have just done the Asia tour we’ve basically lived together. We’ve been there for one another when it’s been somebody’s son’s first birthday or they’re missing their girlfriends or their boyfriends, so we are a unit, we’re a team now and this is definitely the best mix of West End Men that there’s ever been,” Marcus said.

* West End Men hits Bórd Gáis Energy Theatre on 7 June, www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie