[James]

60 Seconds: Donny Tourette

Sunday, March 18, 2007
Donny Tourette

Singer Donny Tourette is frontman with rock band Towers Of London. He's best known for a short-lived stint in the Celebrity Big Brother house before he called Jade Goody a '*******ing moron' and jumped over the wall. He's also a fixture in gossip columns thanks to his drunken antics and on-off romance with Peaches Geldof. The band's new single I'm A Rat is out now - see the video here.

How’s the tour going? Do fans still beat you up onstage?

No, not onstage. You get a couple of knobheads shouting stuff in the street but there’s no trouble at the gigs. It was in the early days when we’d get d***heads just turning up to abuse us. Now we get people who are actually interested in the music.

Who would be your dream celebrity date?

Victoria Silvstedt. Not for the conversation, though. Ha ha.

Are you feuding with Simon Amstell after he was rude to you on Never Mind The Buzzcocks?

He wasn’t that bad. It was filmed over two hours and he wasn’t being a d***head the entire time. I was drunk as a skunk, which didn’t help. I’d had a bottle of vodka before I went on, which explains why I decided to take on the comedians. I shouldn’t have bothered.

When was the last time you got so drunk you threw up?

When I was 12 and had drunk a load of cider. It was my first drinking experience. I don’t throw up when I drink, I just pass out. I’ve got all day to sleep it off.

You’ve got a reputation for being stroppy. What’s pissed you off today?

I get angry about the same things as everyone else – rude people and bad manners. I was walking through Sheffield today and was getting a load of d***heads shouting abuse at me. What can you do, though? If you rise to it and give them a clip round the ear, you end up in the nick.

When was your last brush with the law?

Last year. I went through a phase of throwing the microphone stand into the crowd. They’d catch it, play it with it for a bit and then throw it back. Unfortunately, when I did it at a gig in Loughborough, a guy in the audience wasn’t paying attention and it hit him in the head. He ended up pressing charges against me for assault and I ended up with a big fine. It was an accident but I still got done for it. I’ve learned my lesson now, though: there’s no more microphone stand-throwing for me.

On a scale of one to ten, how good a frontman are you?

An 11 and a half. I *******ing rock the crowd. It doesn’t matter how big the gig is, I can make people feel like they are the only person in the room. My heroes are Freddy Mercury – he’s the best frontman of all time – Johnny Rotten and Elvis Presley. I model myself on them.

Who did you get on best with on Celebrity Big Brother?

Jermaine Jackson was nice. So was Cleo Rocos and Ken Russell was really interesting. I’ve spoken to him since about him potentially doing our new video. Great ideas are more important than the budget and he’s thinking of some stuff for us now.

Do you regret doing the show?

No, I left at the right time. I didn’t have to dress up like a d***head and didn’t do anything I didn’t want to. About 10million more people know about the band now than they did before I went on the programme, so I’m glad about that.

Are you going to copy Preston and marry a D-list celeb to prolong your career?

No, I’ll be writing and recording a great second album and playing some amazing shows.

What advice would you give Britney Spears?

I don’t think she’s in a state to take any advice onboard. She’s a bit incoherent right now, isn’t she? I feel sorry for her.

Do you think you’ll ever end up in rehab?

No, I’m strong-willed. If I want to give something up, I’ll do it.

Have you ever been attacked by a wild animal?

If you class my brother as a wild animal, then yes. I’ve never been attacked by anything with four legs. I’ve got a little dog called Toto. He’s a long-haired Jack Russell terrier. He’s a lovely, mild-mannered dog and he’s not about to attack me.

Why did you choose your name? Do you admire any famous Donnys?

Dunno, I just liked the sound of it. Tourette comes from the old band I was in. My real name is Patrick Bannan and I’m not ashamed of that. I might go back to using it or I might just use a symbol, like Prince, and be called ‘the artist formerly known as Donny Tourette’.

http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/intervie...&in_page_id=11