Michael Ball

Michael Ball's passion for music was evident at an early age. Born in Worchester to an English father and Welsh mother, he taught himself to sing by trilling along to his parent's Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald records. After his businessman father took him along to see theatre shows in the school holidays, he decided he also wanted to act. After joining a local theatre group, he studied drama at the Guildford School of Acting, from which he graduated in 1984. He got his big break shortly after when he was chosen from 600 hopefuls to star in a Manchester Opera House production of The Pirates Of Penzance. Since then he's appeared in numerous shows in the US and in Britain, including The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Hairspray. The latter earned him a Laurence Olivier Award. Michael has also enjoyed chart success his version of Love Changes Everything reached number two and tried his hand at TV and radio presenting. He's been living with former Ready Steady Go presenter Cathy McGowan since 1992.