Quotes from Michael Ball

You must never ask or expect anyone to do anything that you would not be prepared to do yourself.

The only thing I won't eat is swede - I can't bear it.

All you have to offer as a performer is yourself.

I spent my 40th birthday on the stage of the Palladium in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'

I used to bottle things up.

I can't properly explain it, but I don't mind admitting I suffered a breakdown.

Anyone who's suffered from panic attacks knows how frightening they are.

I've recorded a few Bacharach songs over the years and performed some in concert and always felt they suited me.

How many millions of times have I sung 'Love Changes Everything?' But when I see how it matters to people, it gives me the impetus to rediscover it and remember how lucky I am to have a song like that.

No-one has ever sung quite so beautifully as Karen Carpenter.

The bravery and pioneering of early Hollywood was absolutely incredible.

There's something about the security and warmth of knowing that one person who, whatever happens, will always be on your side.

You will never, ever catch me at the gym.

This was a seminal moment in my life - my dad took me to see the original production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at the Palace Theatre in 1973. I thought it was just amazing, so powerful. The idea of using rock music to tell the story of Jesus was incredible.

I'm really superstitious.

I love doing characters that surprise people and showing what I am, which is an actor, first and foremost.

Tapping therapy is absolutely brilliant. Stephen Gately from Boyzone, God rest his soul, told me about it. It's just a little tap that focuses the mind away from that wave of panic and adrenalin that shoots into your body.

Well, I try not to let people down in the work that I do or in how I conduct myself.

It is as polar opposite as it comes for the man who was Edna Turnblad in 'Hairspray' to come back as Sweeney Todd.

I never thought of myself as a particularly controversial figure.

If you've got someone fighting your corner, someone who loves you and you love, and is also really, really clever, the battle is so much easier.

The first time I encountered Stephen Sondheim was like everyone else: through snatches of old songs people performed in drama school, through 'Send in the Clowns,' which everyone knew. I wasn't aware at the time that he was the writing force behind 'West Side Story' and 'Gypsy.'

We've all sort of been there: It's coming on Christmas, all that preparation is going on, and you just want to escape. You don't want to buy into it. It's a time of year that brings up a lot of memories for people, and if you're missing somebody, it's hardest at this time of year.

I tap my fingers and cheekbones before going on stage to calm down. But nerves are necessary; if you ever lose them, it's a bad sign.