| TOTP: What's been your most memorable recent night then?
Michelle: Children in Need. An obvious choice, simple because we're the official song, which was amazing and we shared a stage with some absolutely amazing acts - Madonna, Pussycat Dolls, Michael Buble - who I'm now in love with, Rod Stewart. Yeah, it was amazing.
TOTP: Any juicy backstage gossip?
Kelli: We didn't really get behind the scenes much, because we were so involved in everything, running around from one place to another. So we didn't really have much chance to be in on any of the goss.
Tony: I saw Pudsey necking a bottle of JD...
Jessica: That's scandal!

TOTP: He's obviously a bit of a dark horse. Or would that be 'dark bear'? How did you get involved with doing the official single?
Tony: There's been some contact every year, really, through either the record company or our management. And we'd done gigs in Hull, or was it Huddersfield - It begins with 'H' anyway. This year we wanted to do something again. Children in Need hadn't decided what the single should be and were considering a couple of acts, so we got our tuppance worth in and suggested this particular track - so I think that's what did it.
TOTP: What would be the most memorable night of your life?
Tony: Memorable 'night'? (laughs).
TOTP: Keep it clean!
Jessica: Maybe the Brits?
Tony: Yeah, that was definitely in contention. We won the award for Best Single, and then partied our arses off! But it definitely felt like we'd made it that night.
TOTP: Do you remember the first night that you officially became Liberty X?
Kelli: What had happened was that ITV had asked us to come on London to promote Pop Idol on GMTV. Not everyone lived in London, but I did, and I invited everyone around to my house to catch up and stuff. We order takeaway, and then Tony had an interview scheduled with Irish radio and he mentioned to them that we were all in a room together. They were all like, "Ooh, can you sing a song?" So we sang a song, and that's where the idea came from, because it sounded good. All the vocal parts were there... and it sounded really good, even though we hadn't seen each other for ages. So we thought "Why don't we try it out as a band." The next morning we went on GMTV and said we'd been thinking about becoming a group - and then the phone didn't stop ringing after that!
TOTP: What do you remember about the first time you sang live in front of an audience?
Jessica: Mine was with the school choir. I was about eleven, in my first year of High School. I sang 'Once in Royal David's City' on my own.
Kevin: You sang "Once in Royal David's City"?
Jessica: Yeah, at a carol concert.

TOTP: Was it thrilling or terrifying?
Jessica: Both, really. I loved it from that age really.
Kevin: I sung at my Christmas concert - in my very last year. It was a bit of a dare to go for it - I had no experience whatsoever, but I sang 'Rocket Man' by Elton John. I remember being really scared, but I got a good reaction so it's what made me carry on singing.
TOTP: Is starting at school the best way for kids?
Kevin: It's a really tough question to answer. I went to see my sister in a singing competition last night, and some of the kids there had been blatantly pushed by their parents to do stuff. They're too young to make their mind up about whether they want to sing or not. So I'd say wait. It's got to be you that wants to do it. It's definitely good to get into it an early age, but it's definitely got to be for you.
TOTP: Have you all got good or bad memories? Do you forget your keys, each other's birthdays etc.?
Tony: I forget every birthday for everyone, except my sister's. She's the 3rd of August, but everyone else just goes. My mate came over to stay with me in London two weeks ago. I picked him up from the airport, brought him back to the flat, we're all sitting around having a drink, and she was kind of looking at me like (pulls a sad face). I thought she was acting really strange, and she had a tear in her eye when she was leaving and I thought she was upset because I don't see her that much. Then I remembered the week after as I thought about what I should get her for Christmas, and then I thought, "Oh, fu-"
Jessica: You thought, "Oh, NO!"
Tony: I thought, "Oh, no".

TOTP: Will she remember yours after that, do you think?
Tony: She always remembers mine. It made me feel awful. When I rang her up, she said, "To be honest, I've come to expect it from you."
TOTP: What was your most memorable Christmas?
Kevin: What really stood out for me was that I had a pet Doberman, and it mysteriously went missing on Christmas morning. But it had really died, and my dad didn't tell us until a week afterwards - and then he said it went away. I didn't find out for years that it had died, but he hadn't wanted to upset us. But I got a motorbike, so I was well happy!
Tony: The one that stands out for me was when we moved house. We'd only ever moved house once, and my dad had got his dream house. We all moved up there the week before Christmas. Everything was still in boxes - we were all on camp beds and stuff - but we had the tree up and all the presents and decorations, so that was special. It was a new home, which is kind of the biggest present you can get really when you're a kid.
TOTP: Finally, can you remember your first kiss?
Michelle: Mine was with a boy who was three years younger than me, because guys my age wouldn't! And I had to make him. It was Catchy Kissy, and I caught him and wouldn't let him go!
Tony: Mine was in a graveyard.
TOTP: With someone living, I hope?
Tony: Oh yes, the person was definitely alive! We were both 13, and she was trying to go out with me for ages, and I thought, "Well, I've never snogged anyone, so I may as well." So I snogged her, and then broke it off with her straight afterwards.
Jessica: Why, was it rubbish?
Tony: I didn't really like her - I just wanted to see what it was like.
Kelli: She'll be mortified.
Kevin: Mine was on a school trip to the Lake District, playing Spin The Bottle. I was about 11 or something, and I just remember it being the worst experience ever, just because I didn't know how to kiss, and she did. I was probably just going (wiggles tongue and lips in alarming way). I just remembered that I wanted to die, and it wasn't very nice.
|