'I always call Bradford home' - Gareth Gates

With Bradford City of Culture launching this weekend, many of the city's famous sons and daughters are returning home for the celebrations, among them is singer and campaigner Gareth Gates.

Gates, who was born in West Bowling, said the city still feels like home and added he hoped the City of Culture year would make a difference for Bradford.

"I try to get back as often as I can. I've always had a place here and I always call Bradford and Yorkshire home," he said.

"I grew up here, it's a great city. I've been very fortunate to travel the world and I don't think I've been to a more culturally diverse place. It gave me everything that I needed as a child."

Despite moving to London aged 17 to compete in Pop Idol, Gates said Bradford still holds many fond memories for him.

While in the city recording a piece for the City of Culture celebrations he said he had been visiting some of his old haunts.

"I went back to my old school [and] back to Bradford Cathedral, where I was the head boy for many years," he said.

"I sang for the Queen there, which was a great experience, and I came back to see my family."

Gates, whose first UK number one was a cover of Unchained Melody, is about to start a UK tour called Gareth Gates sings Love Songs from the Movies.

Away from singing, he is also known for his work campaigning for people with stammers, after his own stammer became a key part of his story while on Pop Idol.

"Growing up was hard for me because of my stammer," he said,

"I found it very hard at school, I was quite badly bullied, but fortunately my teachers recognised my talent and nurtured that as best they could and that gave me a way to express myself."

In 2020, he presented the BBC Lifeline Appeal for the British Stammering Association and has worked with the charity since.

"One of my greatest achievements was heightening the awareness of stammering," he said.

"I found it so hard as a child, and there was no one in the public eye that I could say to people 'look, I'm like them', so as soon as I was given that platform to talk about that, I did.

"And I think I helped a lot of stammerers and people who have any form of affliction that holds them back, to not let it define who you are – you can be whatever you want to be if you put your mind to it and I try to fly that flag as often as I can."

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