CRAIG DAVID has made a career out of turning suggestive lyrics about women into chart hits.
Yet, as he approaches two decades in the music industry, rumours surrounding his sexuality continue to grow.
In a revealing and emotional new edition of my Bizarre Life podcast — which you can subscribe to now on iTunes, Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast provider — the Brit superstar tackles the speculation head on while also questioning why fans are so desperate for a definitive answer.
Does he think all this speculation is unfair? Craig replies: “Nah, you know what? I leave it very open because at the end of the day it’s one of those things where I shouldn’t have to reinforce and state, ‘No, I’m a heterosexual’ — because that’s all nonsense.
“I think it’s very evident in the way my songs are and how I speak about relationships so I wouldn’t even go into it. It’s like if that’s what you feel it’s what you feel.
“The only person that it really matters is the relationship that I’m in and I know, I know.”
But Craig applauds the way the conversation surrounding sexuality has changed in this day and age.
He adds: “I feel in the sense that if you’re heterosexual, if you’re bisexual, if you’re gay, if you’re a lesbian, if you’re transgender, whatever the vibe is, that’s what you represent.
“I’ve always found it quite strange that we always like to try and define people and say this is how it is and this is how it should be.
“That’s one of the things that the internet and social media have really opened up and allowed.
People have got a voice now. We’ve got to stop the nonsense now and open it up.”
Apart from a short-lived romance with Colombian actress and model SOFIA VERGARA in 2003, Craig has been single for most of his career.
However, he is finally ready to settle down and start a family. And he hopes to pass down “words of wisdom” picked up during his roller-coaster career — which started with a bang in 2000 with No1 album Born To Do It.
He tells me: “It would be amazing to share my journey with somebody and that’s the big difference.
“I’d love to have kids. I think I’d be a very good dad and I think I’d have a lot of wisdom to share.
“But even with age you’ll just know, you’ll just be with someone and you won’t think about it. You’ll just be like, ‘I wanna have children with you and this just feels right’.”
But despite his new bid to find love, Craig revealed he won’t be getting on the “Tinder flex” any time soon.
He says: “It’s one of those things that I definitely would say that you need to show face — face time is important — and connect with people and never lose that connection.”
Craig comes across very differently to many of his R&B contemporaries who often boast about cash on their tracks.
You’ll never see the Southampton-born singer bragging about money. In fact, he refuses to overspend.
He says: “BIGGIE used it very well as a quote, ‘Mo money, mo problems’. In the sense that everything comes up, the £400 to sort the leak out in the little flat that you might have been in turns into £40,000 for the bigger place to £400,000 to £4million. Everything that moves up, the same thing runs with it.
“So never get fooled that you may have had success early on and financially it may be giving you something. You’ve still got bills to pay. But I’m very grateful that I’ve got good people around me and good management that have never allowed me to get to the position where I’ve overspent and I’ve put myself in a situation where if music wasn’t doing its thing for me then I wouldn’t be able to function.”
Craig credits his financial caution to his “working-class roots” and his dad’s words — “Do you really need this?” — embedded in the back of his mind. But given his recent success, surely even his dad would understand if he treated himself.
Craig is currently in the middle of a music renaissance.
His upcoming album The Time Is Now — out January 26 — includes collaborations with the likes of BASTILLE and JP COOPER, plus latest single Heartline.
It follows huge comeback album Following My Intuition in 2016, which came after a spell in the wilderness in Miami.
The garage legend admits he needed time away from the spotlight to rediscover himself and also write better music.
He suffered a dip in form towards the latter years of the Noughties, with his final two albums peaking at a disappointing No18 and No13. His downturn in chart fortunes coincided with him being turned into a novelty figure by comedian LEIGH FRANCIS in cult Channel 4 show Bo’ Selecta!
But Craig has no axe to grind with Leigh — now more familiar in the guise of Celebrity Juice host Keith Lemon — insisting his comedy portrayal only enhanced his view that his music needed to improve.
Craig says: “I think a lot of people felt that it did a lot more damage than actually it had done to me.
“It’s something that at the time it had its moment but musically, underlying that, that’s why I say I always take things on the chin, it’s like I’ve got to look at what is the lesson to be learnt from this, because if I was having No1 records at the time or selling millions of records at that time, that easily could have slipped under the radar because you’re top boy, you’re doing your thing.
“But if you’re not putting the music out and connecting with people at the right time then it’s easy for it to become that mockery at that time. So that’s where people’s eyes were shining on to.
WOE SELECTA Craig David replaces Ellie Goulding as the star most likely to give you a VIRUS
He adds: “I understood that at the time so it was just that little nudge to be like, ‘Do you know what? You’ve got to get your music right here. You’ve got to get back in the studio’.”
And Craig’s clear proof you can build yourself back up if you work at it.
bizmeter: Craig's most bizarre
Story: IT probably has to be the conspiracy theory last year that I’d died and been replaced by a body double.
I mean, yeah, it’s nice to have been able to come back round again twice.
But, I mean, I’m ready man, I’m ready.
Party: I’D have to say it was probably a TS5 club night party when I was throwing them in Miami. We’ll do another one at some point but if it wasn’t AFRO JACK and DIDDY coming through... because it was right in the middle of South Beach.
Celeb dream: THE weird one is that he’s not even about any more but it was like my MICHAEL JACKSON thing. Just the amount of times that I was thinking that I would have loved to work with him and DAVID BOWIE.
Gift: I’VE had a really beautiful, elaborate cake made for me, which is like attention to detail. I was just like: “Wow!” And someone came up to me and gave it to me. I did have a little bit of the cake – everyone’s like: “Oh, I’m not sure if you should have it.”
Gig: WHEN we first started TS5 it was me, maybe four or five of my friends, drinking tequila and talking about, ‘Man, let’s play some tunes’ and everyone’s sort of playing music on my iTunes playlist because I haven’t even had a DJ set up. They were playing, one minute BIGGIE and some kind of, like, Juicy. The next they’d go into Macarena, and I was, ‘Guys, this can’t happen.’
Read on for the rest of Dan Wootton's Bizarre column
Toko is Stormzying it
TOKIO MYERS has come a long way since winning Britain’s Got Talent back in June.
Now I can reveal the London-born pianist will release his debut album Our Generation on November 17 through SIMON COWELL’s label Syco – and is being chased by STORMZY for a collaboration.
But in an unexpected twist, it’s Stormzy who wants Tokio to help out with his album. Tokio said: “I met him when we did the Grenfell song and he was a big fan of what I was doing. We talked about me possibly producing an album. I don’t know what’s going to happen but Stormzy is a f***ing legend.”
Tokio has opted against teaming up with loads of chart-toppers for his own upcoming album. In an exclusive chat, he said: “I’ve kept it like DISCLOSURE did at the start with their debut album – no big names.”
With his eye for talent, there could be some future stars, though.
Tom now so Keane on Xmas
A WHITE Christmas used to have a very different meaning for former KEANE frontman TOM CHAPLIN. But after beating his cocaine addiction, he is now gunning for this year’s Christmas No1 by releasing his first-ever festive album.
In Twelve Tales of Christmas, produced by David Krostene, he has laid down his incredible vocal on eight brilliant new alternative Chrimbo tracks and four covers, including a heartfelt rendition of ALED JONES’ Walking In The Air.
A turning point was seeing in last Christmas, clean, through the eyes of young daughter Freya.
He said: “During my drug addiction, Christmas was an incredibly dangerous time – always an excuse for a party.
“And 2014 was a pretty awful Christmas. I don’t think I was using on Christmas Day – I can’t remember – but it would have been a rare day off in the deepest, darkest depths. My daughter’s revitalised my love of Christmas, when she charges down to open her stocking.”
But a festive No1 is not Tom’s only goal – he’s also hoping for another child with wife Natalie.
In an exclusive chat, he said: “Freya’s going to be four in March and being an only child is beginning to become apparent.”
Now I know what’s top of Tom’s Christmas list.
bizbit
LOUIS WALSH has landed a job away from The X Factor. He’s making his stage debut in Nativity! The Musical, based on the movie, and will star as “the Hollywood producer” at London’s Eventim Apollo from December 13 to 17.
Split was Terry-ble
IT’S more than 12 months since MATT TERRY and girlfriend Jasmine Avis split, but the 2016 X Factor champ says the pain is still so raw that it has inspired his entire upcoming debut album.
He said: “We ended it over a year ago now. The whole album is around when I was in a three-year relationship.”
Discussing his song Sucker For You, out today, he added: “It’s about that point in a relationship where it’s going downhill but you love them so much that no matter how much wrong they do, you still stick around. We’ve all been in that moment where we realise we love whoever we are with more than they love us, but you overlook if they’re not pulling their weight and they can’t really do anything wrong because you’re always going to be there. I sound like a little bit of a loser.”
The millions who voted Matt to victory on X Factor last year would disagree.
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