I'm Matt Cardle and I can't wait to bring & Juliet to the Blackpool Winter Gardens

Matt Cardle shot to fame after winning ITV’s The X Factor back in 2010, the same series which saw global boyband One Direction finish only in third place.

Since then, the 41-year-old has gone on to release four studio albums - one of which spawned the number 1 hit ‘When We Collide’-, host four UK wide tours and start a career in musical theatre with roles in shows such as Memphis and Jesus Christ Superstar.

In his latest venture, Matt is playing the icon that is Shakespeare in the smash hit musical & Juliet which comes to Winter Gardens between Tuesday, July 23 and Saturday, July 27.

Ahead of his shows in Blackpool, we were able to have an exclusive chat with him so take a look at what Matt had to say about the show, the town and his career below:

Q) Can you describe the play?

“One thing people need to know about the show is it's got nothing to do with Shakespeare. It’s also a jukebox musical so you will know every single song in the show off by heart - and if you don't, where have you been for the last sort of 15/20 years?

“The show starts with myself, William Shakespeare, explaining to his players and the audience the ending of Romeo and Juliet, and Anne Hathaway, my wife, crashes into the rehearsal room after a couple of rosés and just hits me with - what I think is one of the best lines of the show - “what if Juliet didn't kill herself just because Romeo did? I mean, let's face it, she's only ever had one boyfriend and they went out for like four days or something.” She makes a really good point and then convinces me, Shakespeare, to rewrite the end of Romeo and Juliet. 

“Juliet goes on this whole adventure without Romeo for a time and just all hilarity ensues after that. It is such a fun show, it's absolutely hilarious, start to finish, and it carries such an important message, which is love is love, you can be whoever you want to be, and you can love whoever you want to love. I think it's just so important that that message is spread. At the moment, it's never been more relevant, and, mixed in with the music from Max Martin - I mean  what shocked me the most about the show is how the songs are wound in so seamlessly to the scenes. They've adjusted the dialogue in the show to work so brilliantly alongside the songs so they'll come out of ‘I want it that way’ into some dialogue and then out of the scene into ‘I kissed the girl’ and, it's like the songs were written for the show, it is really something quite spectacular.”

What is your character, Shakespeare, like and do you relate to him?

“I do because, as an artist, you have other people's opinions about your work. Every time I've written an album, one thing that you might think is brilliant, someone else might not think is brilliant, be that part of your team or your record label and I’ve found myself in a position a few times where I've had to concede and go, ‘okay, let's re-write the ending of this song’ or ‘let's rethink the chorus’. So I can very much relate to the frustration that Shakespeare's feeling in having to rewrite what is, let's face it, an absolutely brilliant story that didn't need to change at all. But what they've done with it is absolutely wonderful. 

“At the start, he relinquishes control and let’s Anne do her thing and then Anne starts to get a little bit overexcited and her story becomes not Shakespearean anymore. It's something totally different, and he just has to fight throughout the show to regain control of the narrative and try to put his mark on it, which is lots of conflict, lots of complications and twists, and that's where the real fun is had between myself and Lara as Anne Hathaway because it's the back and forth of trying to grab the quill and do what they want with the story. 

“Look, Shakespeare wants to be a rock star, he's not really there hut he gives it a good go and he's just a bit of a tortured artist through this show.”

You mentioned Blackpool actress Lara Denning there, what has she been like to work with?

“Lara has been absolutely amazing. It’s so wonderful to play opposite her, her instincts are outstanding, her acting is amazing and her voice. I mean, this entire cast just humbles me every single show, there is just an incredible amount of fierce talent on the stage. We also have four people in the show that this is their professional debut, including Geraldine who plays Juliette, and you would just never believe that this is the first time that they've been in a professional show. They are just absolutely outstanding.”

And how are you feeling about coming to Blackpool with the show?

“I can't wait. I just need to get a place not too close to the pier because if you get me near the two pence  machines, you'll never get me back, I’m just obsessed with those things, I love them!”

Will you get up to anything else in Blackpool, other than the arcades?

“At the moment we're in rehearsal all day, even though the show has already started, so we haven't had a chance to get out and about during the day. But once we get to Blackpool we'll be off the clock during day so we can just explore and have a great time because it's a wonderful place to be.”

So have you been to Blackpool before?

“I have lots of times, yes. I've played there before, even in the same venue, but I was asked about this the other day, and I have to admit, I can't remember whether it was my show or part of another thing. I've played so many venues over this country now, they get forgotten sometimes but I know that I definitely played this venue before.“

Can you remember what the audiences in Blackpool are like?

“To be honest with you, as soon as you get halfway up the country, the audiences improve. It's just a thing, it has been for years. The further north you go, the better the crowds get. It's a fact and I am sure we're not going to be let down by Blackpool!”

How did your time on the X Factor prepare you for musical theatre shows like &Juliet?

“Experience is everything. You need to have wide ranging stage experiences to be able to deal with all sorts of venues. If I use venues as the thing here, sound changes from venue to venue, atmosphere changes, the stage changes and if you sit in one theatre in the West End for a year, then you get very comfy in that and then the next time you're in a different venue, things can get tricky. My experience over the last sort of 14 years, since X Factor, and the 10 years previous when I was in a band, writing music and playing shows, is the more diverse a venue you can play, the more used to change you get and that's something that will really help with this tour.”

And how different does it feel being on the stage as Matt Cardle or as a different character?

“I was actually talking to Jack last night about this, the guy who plays Romeo who's also absolutely incredible. I guess there are certain things that you'd like to be able to do in real life that you can't, for example, be a complete idiot or come off arrogant -not that I would ever want to do that - but there are certain points of the show where I have to show a level of arrogance and dismissiveness of my wife and these are things that I would never do in real life, but it's actually quite fun to do!”

Are you more nervous either way?

“I'm way more nervous when I'm doing a show like this because so much more can go wrong. There are so many layers to the tech, to the staging, to the scenery, to the choreography, to the music, to the harmony to the dialogue. There's just so much that can go awry and you feel part of a team. When I'm touring an album, I've got management and label and band and fans but if I mess up, it's more enjoyable than anything else. People are like ‘ah he’s human you know, we all make mistakes’ but in a show, it really matters if you make a mistake because you're going to put someone else off, or you're going to delay a piece of scenery coming on at the right time, or the scene can stop in the worst cases. So, there's a lot more to go wrong and there's a lot more at stake, I find.”

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Is & Juliet your biggest musical theatre role so far?

“In terms of my stage time, no, like the first one I did was probably the biggest - Memphis alongside Beverley Knight back in 2015. I was driving that show, I was only offstage for about eight minutes and those eight minutes were filled with running underneath the stage to get to somewhere else, or doing a very, very quick change. I had so much to do in that show so it was really abaptism of fire. But this show has been so massive so in terms of the success of the show, this is the biggest theatre show that I've been in. It's won all the awards that it can, it was in the West End for five years, and it's been an absolute smash all over the world.”

You’ve hinted at it there, but why did you audition for &Juliet?

“I had heard so many good things about the show and Shakespeare is such an iconic figure that, when you get the opportunity to play him, you say yes. It really was that simple. The only reason I wouldn't have done it is if I hadn't  succeeded in the audition but luckily, I did.”

And how would you encourage the people of Lancashire to come see you in & Juliet?

“If you like joy, then come, and if you don't like joy, have a think about why you don't like joy. It is the most joyous, fun, hilarious show set to the music that has defined pop for the last 20 years. If you like pop music and you like fun, and you like theatre, and you like comedy, then this has everything that you're ever going to need, and waymore. That's why it was in the West End for five years because it was full all the time.

“This show has an amazing, hardcore fan base - we had people flying in from Australia for our opening night! I mean, that says it all, I've never been in a theatre show that has a following the way that &Juliet has. I met some people outside the show last night who had been to 56 shows -it really is just that good.”

Finally, is there anything else in the pipeline that that you're looking forward?

“Well my fifth studio album is coming out on the 10th of January 2025. It's been a long time in the making, It's been four years writing this album. I'm sitting on it at the moment, while we do the tour, and then January the 10th it will be out. The album's called The Great Escape and it's the best thing I've ever done. I just can't wait to release it and see what people think.

“For those out there that have been supporting me over all these years, thank you so much and for the people that are waiting for the album, that have been waiting for a long time, thank you very much for your patience. These things take time and this new album won't let you down.”