Britain's Got Talent champion Paul Potts is set to make his return to music 15 years after winning the popular ITV talent show.
The opera singer, 51, has released a double album called Musica Non Proibita and plans to go on tour in February and March 2023 as he makes an astonishing comeback to the music industry.
Paul won the first ever edition of Britain's Got Talent in 2007 as the then manager at Carphone Warehouse stunned the judges and viewers with his stunning rendition of Nessun Dorma to claim the £100,000 prize money and a place at the Royal Variety Performance.
The talent show has seen stars such George Sampson, Diversity, Ashleigh and Pudsey and Collabro become household names in their craft, with Paul still living out his dream of being a professional singer since winning back in 2007.
Speaking to The Sun, the tenor revealed that he is still friends with judge Simon Cowell, 63, after all these years.
Paul said: "I had a good long chat with him [Simon Cowell] at the final of America’s Got Talent: The Champions, and it is gratifying to have so much respect from him.
"I don’t think I would change anything. I would tell myself to have a little more faith in myself, relax more."
Paul's forthcoming Song in my Heart tour was described as "very personal" as he paid tribute to singers in Italy who struggled during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: "Their lockdown was much stricter than our own and much was prohibited, but people found a way to ensure that music wasn’t one of them."
Although Paul may have appeared to have ditched the limelight in the UK, he has not necessarily stepped back completely from the public. The Port Talbot native has performed around the globe in places like Sydney, Australia, New York, the Philippines and Barcelona.
It is estimated that the tenor has a net worth of around $10 million (£9.02 million) and has made further talent show appearances in recent years.
In 2019, he appeared on America's Got Talent: The Champions. There, he beat off other former BGT winners like Ashleigh and Pudsey, Lost Voice Guy and Tokio Myers as well as global hits Tape Face and Piff the Magic Dragon to make the top 12.
Earlier in 2022, he appeared on the German edition of The Masked Singer. Donning a giant Koala suit, Paul made it to the third show before being found out by the judges. He was the UK's only representative in the competition.
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