Collabro star comes home

Three years after Collabro won Britain's Got Talent , Matt is living with his parents in the St Ann's area of the city and looking for a place of his own.

"We're touring a lot," he says of the musical theatre boy band. "It was pointless to live in London. I love being in Carlisle. I like walking around and just chilling out at home and having time to go to the Lake District."

Another reason to return is the recent end of Matt's relationship with singer and actress Samantha Neil. They had become engaged last year. "We just called it a day," is all he says about the split.

He suggests the Carlisle branch of Starbucks for the interview. At an upstairs table the smile that's seen in many band photographs launches frequent takeovers of his face, especially when recalling some highlights of the past three years.

Collabro came together in January 2014 and auditioned for Britain's Got Talent a month later. Their repertoire of songs from shows like Les Miserables swept the band to victory on a wave of tearful standing ovations. Debut album Stars knocked Ed Sheeran off the top of the charts.

Collabro performed at that year's Royal Variety Performance. There were no hard feelings from Mr Sheeran.

"We went into his dressing room. There's us five, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles. Ed's saying how much he likes our shoes. You've got to come across like 'Yeah, no problem, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles.' Then you get outside and look at each other.

"Meeting stars is one of my favourite parts of all this. We've met everybody from Shirley Bassey, Bette Midler, Frankie Valli."

Matt, 24, moved to London during the later stages of Britain's Got Talent . "The first few months was interview after interview. No sleep. But it was just great. We made the first album. I had to record it in two days because I'd had laryngitis. It was crazy.

"We performed in the curtain call of Les Mis . The cast parted, we walked through and sang two songs.

"We sang Abide With Me at Soccer Aid at Old Trafford, performing in front of Pelé. Singing at Wembley Stadium [before the Rugby League Challenge Cup final], supporting Take That at Wembley Arena.

"You get a huge adrenaline rush with the stadiums. You always get nervous. When you work in such tight harmonies there's so much that can go wrong - it hasn't yet. You're just a bit shaky. You get a dry mouth. Fortunately we've got Haribos and wine gums!

"We love doing the smaller theatres. The kind of music we do, you get to see everyone's faces and reactions. That's what it's about."

His audience today consists of Matt's dad Tony, sitting quietly opposite his son. They have been a team for a long time - long before the fame.

Matt says: "Every time Collabro turn up at a gig we do a soundcheck, we have a rider. Everything is set up for us. Before Collabro me and my dad used to go out on the road. My dad would set it up.

"We did three years starting in 2009, virtually every weekend. It was really tough. All the pubs and clubs in Cumbria. That's some of the best training you can have. You're singing to the backs of people's heads. They're not there to watch you. They're there to have a drink. It was good fun. But it's a really tough industry to be in. I've had plenty of knockbacks for years. You just move on."

How does Tony feel about having Matt back at home?

"He's a good buddy. A good friend."

Matt trained at StagedRight Youth Theatre, and was a salesman at Andersons kitchen showroom in Denton Holme. He left there in spring 2013 after landing a job performing at a hotel in Spain for six months.

He came back, played the Prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Sands Centre, then came Collabro.

The band lost Richard Hadfield last year after a series of disagreements.

"This time last year with Richard leaving, it was hard," says Matt. "I think we are very, very strong as a four-piece. We've always been close. I think it's brought us closer. When he left we sat down and discussed whether we should carry on. We said 'Is this it?' Then we decided to set up our own record label."

Collabro's third album, Home , reached number seven in the charts last March. "Three Top 10 albums in three years - it's really overwhelming. We've got one of the best fan bases in the world. We've had people travelling thousands of miles to see us in the UK. It's really humbling. We've been given presents: yo-yos, trinkets. They shouldn't. But it's really nice.

"In Japan we have lots of people waiting for us at the airport. They give us everything to do with green tea - green tea KitKats!

"It's one of my favourite places to go. Everything is so different. They're so polite. They wait for you to completely stop singing before they applaud. They wait for the music to stop.

"The first time we sang Stars ... there's a massive note at the end. We finished, and there was silence. I thought 'Have we done something wrong?' Then the music stopped and they went crazy."

Collabro's UK tour calls at the Sands Centre on November 23. Before that they will perform at Cumbria Pride in Carlisle city centre on Saturday September 16.

Matt sang at last year's event by himself. "That was scary. I've been in a boy band for three years. I hadn't got the back up of the other boys.

"We've sung at other Pride events. Stuff like that, we absolutely love. Everybody's there for the same reason. The whole meaning is to be proud of who you are, no matter where you're from or what your background is. Whether you're straight or gay, it doesn't matter. Everybody is there as one.

"Everyone should come down and have some fun. Pride's such a feelgood event. We'll be doing some songs from the shows, a bit of Whitney."

Collabro finish their UK tour on December 2. Next day Matt begins rehearsing for his role in panto at Newcastle's Tyne Theatre, opposite Michelle Heaton of Liberty X.

He's the Prince in Snow White - the same role he played at the Sands Centre four years ago. "I can't wait," he says. "It's so much fun. It's the same production company that it was at the Sands so it will be the same costume. I'm hoping it still fits me!"

Another Christmas memory comes back: singing with Collabro at Carlisle's 2015 lights switch-on. "There's people shouting your name. It's overwhelming. There's a lot more pressure when you're performing in your home town. But it's a good pressure. You just want to make everyone proud.

"One of the biggest things is seeing the reaction of everybody. If we sing Bring Him Home and there's someone crying, you know you're doing it right. The first tour we did, we were singing With You , from Ghost . I've had tears come down my face. You get that much into it."

Collabro often dedicate songs to people. Recently they have been dedicating one to each other: For Good , from the musical Wicked . It includes the line 'Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.'

"The first time we sang that, we cried," says Matt.

Right now, surrounded by chattering teenagers at Starbucks' tables, the places he and his band mates take their audience seem like a different world in every sense.

"From being on a private jet with the band to being back in Carlisle... it's really crazy. I'm really happy and chuffed to be back home."

* For Collabro tour dates and tickets visit officialcollabro.com