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| Friday Night With Jonathan Ross...And Alex |
| Alex Parks appeared tonight on BBC1's 'Friday Night With Jonathan Ross'. Mixing it in the Green Room with Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Forsyth and Radiohead. She was promoting her new single 'Maybe That's What It Takes' and also taking time out to chat with Jonathan on the sofa. |
 | Jonathan had already declared himself a huge fan of Alex when he sat in on the panel for the final of the show. Tonight during the introductions he humbly reminded Alex "...in a very small part your success is entirely down to me"! It was an entertaining and good humoured interview, with Jonathan peppering the frivolity with plenty of genuine interest. Alex answered with the straightforwardness and honesty that is so much part of her appeal |
| They discussed quite a bit: The change in her life, the constant filming, David Sneddon's retirement and concerns for Peter. Oh and of course, the single, which after all she was on the show to plug. |
| Unfortunately Alex only had time for an abbreviated performance of the song, however it was good to hear her talking at length, so very much a worthwhile sacrifice. Here is a full account of the interview... |
| 07.11.2003: Friday Night With Jonathan Ross - Interview With Alex Parks |
| Jonathan: here she is, I'm delighted she on the show, its Alex Parks ladies and gentlemen. (Claps) Alex Parks ladies and gentlemen... how nice to have you on... thank you so much the coming on. |
| Alex: thank you for inviting me. |
| Jonathan: erm, let's start with some congratulations... |
| Jonathan: I'm thrilled you won, I think you very much deserved to win. |
| Jonathan: I know the voting was very close at the end of the evening. Is it strange for you coming out now and finding yourself invited on a show like this, sitting next to Radiohead who presumably I would have thought you were a fan of, knowing the sort of music you like. It must be quite a change in your life. |
| Alex: yes completely. I couldn't have changed it more I think. And I think the nature of the show was the fact that we went in as almost no-one really and came out as someone. So... hard to get to grips with. |
| Jonathan: yeah, in which way has it changed, I mean how do you notice it most ? |
| Alex: erm, people recognising you, people wanting things off you like just a small signature, I find that quite mad...that people just want you to write on something or want something of yours. It's a compliment but it's quite hard to understand. |
| Jonathan: did you ever ask people for autographs when you were a kid? |
| Alex: I haven't and I think that's maybe why I find it quite weird. |
| Jonathan: that's probably why. I once asked one of the Starsky and Hutch for an autograph... |
| Jonathan: and now I can't remember which one, which just goes to show how fickle fame can be. Er, but you seem reasonably comfortable with it. When you were in the Academy did they help prepare you for what was waiting outside? |
| Alex: erm, they did. They did at the beginning, they prepared us before we went in and erm, obviously we had small glimpses of it when we were in there going out and doing gigs and things... but again that was a very unreal situation so we didn't really take it in I don't think. Erm, but I don't think anything can prepare you for when you come out. |
| Jonathan: yeah...one of the things I think which was the most charming about your story in a way the fact that you didn't really push yourself forward initially. It was your dad who entered you for the competition. What were you... you were about to go and do something else with your life weren't you before this came up? |
| Alex: yeah, I was about to runaway to Amsterdam and Spain to kind of do some clowning courses and go travelling and just have some time out really. |
| Jonathan: So you were going to be a clown... a juggler or... |
| Alex: well I was going to kind of try and train to be a clown. Not a party clown but more a miming kind of clown. |
| Jonathan: well we have a ... that's a picture of you in your clown gear there... erm at least I'm assuming that's in your clown gear... maybe it's just a night out in Cornwall, I don't know (Alex laughs). Erm, well that's kind of, I would have thought... it's a relief for us that you didn't do that because you've clearly got a talent. You must have known that you could sing, that you could perform. I mean was it not an ambition in a clear cut away like that, did you not think 'well I should try and persue this side of my talent'? |
| Alex: I wouldn't say it was an ambition I think it was a dream and I don't think people really believe that they can ever make their dream come true, so therefore I never went for it, I never tried to do it. |
| Jonathan: now whereabouts in Cornwall are you from? |
| Alex: erm a small little village called Mount Hawke which is on the south. |
| Jonathan: erm it's beautiful down there, have you been back since you won the Fame Academy thing? |
| Alex: I went back for a few hours...on the Monday after the show and I went back for like four hours on... |
| Jonathan: that was just to pack your bags and say 'see you suckers, I'm in London now!' (Alex laughs) |
| Jonathan: now in the Academy itself was it is strange being filmed that much? Because I'm always curious when I see people in reality shows, thinking well at what point, or is there a point when you suddenly stop thinking about the cameras? |
| Alex: I think it's not... obviously it's not on your mind the whole time, you're not thinking 'I'm being watched, I'm being watched', but erm you're aware of it 90% of the time... and you can hear them as well, they're like little animals stuck on the wall. And they kind of... you can even here the zoom like 'urrrrrrr' and you're like 'right, ok', erm very discreet! |
| Jonathan: and now you're in the new flat do you still hear those noises or have they left you alone? |
| Jonathan: wouldn't that be terrible, put them in the flat for you without telling you and it's a different reality show? |
| Alex: can you believe it? (laughing) I actually checked the know when I went in, as soon as I got in I looked... paranoid! |
| Jonathan: erm, David Sneddon who won last year of cause has now announced that he's kind of retiring from the performing a side of things. You know, it hasn't even been a year really, it's just under a year. |
| Jonathan: did that scare you? Is that a cautionary tale? |
| Alex: it does scare me yes. I'm going to do everything I can to not let that happen. And I'd be very gutted if I stopped loving it as much as I am now, in less than a year. I want to go on for years and years.
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| Jonathan: now what about Peter in the Academy, because when you were in there for a while you were friendly with Carolynne, I mean you were pretty friendly with most of the people in there. But at one stage you seemed very friendly with Peter who kind of really won me over as well. My wife, my kids, we all thought he was great. He had a real star talent, he was the kind of Indie type performer in there I guess... and then he got close with Carolynne and that seemed to... you know make you feel a bit left out. Am I right in that? |
| Alex: I think generally the thing with Pete was that I think he changed a lot in the Academy. He wasn't really the guy that I met when I went in. Erm, but the thing with him and Carolynne was I didn't really agree with what was happening. Erm, Pete had a girlfriend outside, it's a completely bizarre situation to be in, to start anything like that. And also I knew how it would be portrayed by the programme, because it's big news and that's exactly what they wanted. And I think they were waiting for something like that to happen, and I just knew it would blow up out of proportion. |
| Jonathan: now that he's out he seems to have er, of all the people in the Academy he seems to still have people interested in him but he er, he seems to have gone a bit crazy. I'm a bit worried about him I'll be honest with you. |
| Jonathan: you in touch with him at the moment? |
| Alex: erm no I haven't spoken to him. |
| Jonathan: we should... me, you and Bruce Forsyth... go out after the show, find him, talk some sense to him. (Alex laughs) Actually Bruce is a...you know we could all learn from Bruce, he is a real survivor, he's been in show business as I've said for many hundreds of years (laughter)... and er he's really you know, really we can learn from him. Have you read his book? |
| Jonathan: I have a copy. I'm going to give you a copy of Bruce's autobiography because I read it, it's a fantastic read, you could... it's well thumbed there are pages in there which I've looked at more than, well more than once. Erm, get him to sign it, you want to have a read. |
| Jonathan:... 'cos that's how you'll stay at the top. And you know what you need Alex, if you don't mind me saying so... a catchphrase. |
| Jonathan: how about 'I'm not a hedgehog' ? (laughter) |
| Alex: I'm not a hedgehog... |
| Jonathan: no you don't have to do that, I'm not going to force you to. Erm you know what erm... I mean really when I was watching the show it was apparent that you had something special. You know you had a real talent. I mean you know the single that you've written, which I've played on my radio show last week... you wrote it when you were in the Academy or performed it in... did you write it when you were in there? |
| Alex: yeah, I co-wrote it, erm at the piano in the dance studio. |
| Jonathan: and it's out... |
| Jonathan: it's out the 17th of November and you're going to perform a little bit for us now. You're not going to perform the whole song are you? |
| Jonathan: which is kind of what they do in the Fame Academy, which I can understand why, it's a time thing, but it also mildly frustrating because you get to do like a minute and a half... |
| Alex: it is, it is frustrating. |
| Jonathan: erm Alex is going to perform for us now. Who's going to perform this with you, someone's helping you out here? |
| Alex: a lady called Helen Boulding who I wrote it with. |
| Jonathan: Helen Boulding on the piano, Alex Parks on the vocal department and er this is the single, what's it called again? |
| Alex: Maybe That's What It Takes. |
| Jonathan: okay, well it's really been nice having you on the show. Thank you so much the coming on and I wish you every success this coming year and for years to come. Ladies and gentlemen it's Alex Parks!
Alex: thank you. (Applause) |
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