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Oh boy! X Factor star was shy

X-FACTOR singing sensation Rhydian Roberts was a shy, quiet boy who had no interest in going into music, according to one of his former teachers.

Rhydian, 25, made it through to the TV talent show’s final five last week after his emotional performance of Somewhere from the musical West Side Story reduced mentor Dannii Minogue to tears.

He is now the bookies’ favourite to win the whole competition and grab the £1m recording contract with pop supremo Simon Cowell.

But according to Huw Thomas, who taught Rhydian rugby during his second year at prestigious public school Llandovery College, the youngster showed no signs of his blossoming music career during his teenage years.

Mr Williams said Rhydian was more interested in playing rugby than singing the ballads – and didn’t even join the school’s choir until he had been there for a few years.

He said: “Rhydian was mad on rugby. Whenever you saw him he had a rugby ball in his hands. He didn’t even join the choir until he was around 15 or 16. In his formative years it was all about rugby.

“You would never associate him now with the confidence that he shows on the screen. Never in a month of Sundays did I think he would end up doing this.

“As far as I could see he was sports mad – his interest in music came far later in his life.

“He was quite a quiet lad, and reasonably shy. He didn’t stand out from the group. He was just a normal guy who mucked in with everyone else.”

But although Rhydian, from Sennybridge, Powys, was a good rugby player, Mr Thomas didn’t think he could go on to play for Wales.

He recalled: “His rugby was very promising for his age. He was a bustling centre – he was quite heavy in those days and he was a strong, hard-running player.

“But I wouldn’t have predicted that he was going to go on and be a big rugby star. I wouldn’t say that he was good enough to play for Wales.”

And even as Rhydian’s musical talent improved as he got older, his singing teacher Vivienne Couch said that the boy was still not sure he wanted to be a singer when he left the school at the age of 18.

Mrs Couch, who taught Rhydian for three years, said: “I could see there was potential for him to go on and be a star, but at that stage I don’t think young people know what they want to do.

“I think by the time he left school he had an idea that he wanted to sing, but I don’t think he had totally made up his mind at that point.

“But I knew that if he worked hard he certainly had the chance to reach the top. He had a very powerful, controlled voice.

“He had to divide himself between rugby, drama, singing and music – so he spread himself out between all the things he had to do, really.

“He was a very focussed student, he worked extremely hard. He was one of the best pupils I had. He was disciplined and focussed – it was a pleasure to teach him. All the musicals he performed in were amazing and I loved listening to his voice.

“He was a rugby boy and, therefore, quite popular. But he was always concerned about the underdog and the young kids at school – he’d really look after them and kept an eye on everything.”

Mrs Couch added that she had kept in constant contact with Rhydian during his time on X Factor – and said she expected him to return to the school after the competition finished.

She said: “I’ve been on the phone, encouraging him during the X Factor and we’ve been texting. If he wins I hope he will come back and perform at school, and I’m sure he would.

“He’s come back already and we’ve had a long chat, and caught up on everything that’s been going on.”

During his time at Llandovery College, Rhydian became head boy as well as gaining four A grades at A-level.

School bursar Tim Williams said that Rhydian had always been one of the school’s star pupils. He also rejected allegations that appeared in a tabloid newspaper, suggesting

Rhydian had been involved in bullying.

He said: “That would be so out of character for him and out of character for the school.

To get to that stage of being head boy would have meant he would have been impeccable all the way through his time at the school.

“Rhydian was a product of what the school was all about. When he stood in front of a crowd he was quite at home – and that comes across on the X Factor.

“He’s only got to step on the stage and he loves it.”

Source: icWales