Quotes from Gareth Gates

If I get a bad review, I don't take it personally because everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I live for my daughter. Every decision I make is about her and for her. It's great. She's perfect.

I had a meal in Pizza Hut and the waitress told me I didn't need to pay. So I decided to be a bit cheeky and ask for more pizza and garlic bread.

I've stammered all my life, and it's fair to say that my stammer has shaped my life. It's made me make some decisions that I'm sure I wouldn't have if I didn't suffer with this affliction.

In the music business, I found it was much more about interviews, photo shoots and appearances rather than actual performing, which I do best.

The last thing I wanted was to be with someone who's the same age as me and wanted the limelight, wanted the attention. There's lots of girls out there who do.

At the age of 13, I felt it was up to me to decide whether I wanted to go to church or be with my mates, and I chose to go to church.

I was always used to being centre stage - something that had its good and bad points.

Living with a stammer is difficult. It's a daily uphill struggle with emotional baggage weighing you down. You can't be the person you want to be.

Musical theatre is something that I always wanted to be a part of, and my first ever role on the West End as Joseph in 'Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat' gave me a taste for it.

On the McGuire course, there's a technique called 'cancellation' where negative experiences are replaced with positive ones.

Sharing the stage while singing my songs was a bit of a daunting prospect.

Finally having the freedom to speak is a really liberating feeling.

I'm very driven, and I always have been. So I'd like to release a successful album, continue in musical theatre, and be more involved in business.

I'm part of a speech therapy programme called the McGuire Programme. It teaches you a new way to breathe, a new way to speak, a brand new way of tackling the mind-sets that come with having a speech impediment. Mainly, it teaches you how to slow things down, and that has really helped me.

I'm part of a speech therapy course called the Maguire Programme. It isn't a cure; it's something you need to maintain and work on. I get days where I find things more difficult than others.

I've got my feet firmly on the ground, I can't see life changing too much. I reckon more girls will talk to me at college and more people will look at me, but they know me for who I am.

I like to have quiet evenings and relax.

I really love it in Belfast. I always stay in the most bombed hotel, the Europa!

I do find my speech difficult at times, but it's getting so much better as my confidence grows and that's thanks to the position I'm now in, which is totally due to my fans.

I was terrible when I first started skating and was clinging onto the side for dear life, but it's something I'll always have now, and the tour is always so much fun.

Having my first number one single and being able to travel to places I've never been before has been amazing. The tour was also fantastic. There are so many things which I've experienced this year which I never even dreamed of.

The moment an athlete doesn't train, things start to get a bit rusty.

I love musical theatre because I love doing a live performance eight times a week.