Warbler Steve Brookstein fought off some stiff competition to win last year's X-Factor, and then shot to No 1 with his version of Phil Collins' hit song Against All Odds.
In-between helping girlfriend Eileen Hunter record her jazz album, he's in training for Sky One's The Match, which pits celebrities such as Jonathan Wilkes and Gary Lucy against former football legends like Paul Gascoigne and Ian Wright.
He tells us why Los Angeles is smoking (but not in a good way) and Corfu is his favourite holiday spot.
So how's the training for The Match going?
Well, I've just pulled a hamstring so I'm recovering from that. I might have to miss The Match because of injury. You never know, I might make a miraculous recovery - I'm going to see a physio tomorrow but the trials are in 10 days' time.
Who do you rate on the celeb side?
Well Ben Shepard's a useful player, so is Jonathan Wilkes, and they are both hoping to play this year.
Where did you go on your first holiday? Any special memories of that?
As a kid, we used to go to Cornwall - to Hale, Penzance or St Ives - which was great fun. We used to get a chalet down by the beach. I've got an older sister who I'm really close to now, although we'd fight like cat and dog as kids. My auntie isn't much older than me so she used to hang with my sister and I tried to hang with them but they'd run away so I used to spend a lot of time on my own, buying cornettos and walking down the beach. Arcades, looking for crabs, all the nonsense - it was great fun.
Where have you been this year?
We go up to Scotland quite a bit, Eileen more than me because her family is up in Aberdeen and she's got friends and family in Edinburgh. But this year we've been to Barcelona and then onto New York. Four days in each city. It was the first time I'd been to Barcelona and it was really nice. Park Guell is superb, with all the Gaudi designs. That's what I liked about it, and also the Barri Gothic area was lovely. Barcelona's architecture is amazing. The food there is hit and miss, you've got to find the right places. But one thing I would say is that you cannot fail to get good calamares. The best calamares in the world is in a restaurant called The Four Cats. But the rest of the meal wasn't great.
And New York?
New York was fantastic, there is so much brilliant live music there, I got up and sang with a band in this soul club and they were really surprised, asking who is this guy from London, but it went down a storm. We went to The Blue Note which is a famous jazz club not far from Soho. We went to Soho House by the pool where they filmed Sex And The City - it's on the roof of a hotel. It was quite chilled out there. We also went to a great comedy store and saw one of the funniest comedians ever.
Sounds like you're a fan of city breaks?
Yes, city breaks are more me, although having said that we have been saying we feel like a beach break.
Where do you think you might go?
I really liked Corfu, I thought it was a really lovely island, especially the northern part. The only part that is spoilt is around Kavos with all the Brits, whereas up north it's the Spanish, Italians and Germans and it's really picturesque, sedate and lovely. And Corfu Town is lovely as well. Corfu is a great place to hire bikes - you can go from the top to the bottom of the island in a day and stop off in little tavernas. The local life is really nice, you can get away from all the tourists, even now. I've been there about three times and I'd go back again.
Where's your favourite place?
I would have to say Corfu. I know it sounds boring, but I'm not that adventurous. If I like a place I'll go back. There's a little fishing village and harbour called Ipsos, which is really beautiful and picturesque and the food is fantastic, and it's special. I have really fond memories of it. I'd love to return.
Best ever holiday?
I'll always remember my first trip abroad, to Malta, it was the first time I'd flown and I was around 16 so I was at the age where we were going to clubs, not knowing what to do with women. Every night you go out thinking: 'Yeah, I'm going to pull.' And you never do. I went there and took about six different aftershaves, and each night I thought: 'This one's got to work.' But none of them did.
Worst trip?
My holiday from hell. I'd eradicated it from my mind. I went to Fuerteventura with my girlfriend at the time, and met up with her parents over there. It rained for the whole week, my girlfriend ended up adopting these two stray cats that kept coming into our apartment, I got ill and we argued all week - everything went wrong. The only night I had fun I got absolutely drunk, then I was sick and the cats were hissing at me and jumping on the bed as I was throwing up. It wasn't good.
Another bad holiday, we were going to Los Angeles, me and a guy I'm recording an album with. We'd done a production deal and we signed my ex (the same one from Fuerteventura) to Columbia Records and then flew to LA to do some recording. Our manager booked us on a flight but didn't tell us the right one so we missed our flight. We had to use our own credit card to book the next flight, which went via Chicago so it took 17 hours to get to LA.
Considering we'd just signed a massive record deal, the hotel smelt of urine. So while Livingstone went to sleep, me and my girlfriend went to the all-night bowling alley. All of a sudden, Livingstone turned up in his pyjamas with his bass in one hand saying the hotel's on fire, all the sprinklers have gone on. But unfortunately, our floor wasn't ruined so we couldn't move out.
We had to go back into the hotel, which was damp and smoky, and go back to our rooms. The only good thing to come out of it was that night we wrote one of the best ever songs, Then There Were None - which is going on my next album.
What do you never travel without?
Obviously you can't forget your toothbrush, but I must have some hair products. I sound so girly.
What about your six aftershaves?
No, I'm down to two now!
Is there anywhere you'd like to go but haven't yet been?
Nashville, and I did want to go to New Orleans but now isn't the right time obviously. And I'd like to go to the places where my parents are from - my mum's from Tallinn in Estonia and my Dad's from Durban in South Africa - and I haven't been to either.
Which famous person would you share a desert island with?
I know it sounds daft but in the '80s I was a Thatcher fan and I could easily have a chat with her about where it went right and where it went wrong.
What have your travels taught you?
With life I think, it's over in the twinkle of an eye, it's so sad. You've only got one life, you've got to live it to the full. And travelling just makes me realise that even more so - how insignificant we really are.
Teletext
I think he will survive, blagman.