Yahoo News Britain's Got Talent star to spend Christmas apart from his wife for special reason
Tom Ball will be singing in the Caribbean while his NHS wife works in the UK
Britain’s Got Talent star Tom Ball will spend Christmas apart from his wife Hannah for a heartwarming reason as he praised her for being an "incredible" NHS nurse while he flies to the Caribbean for work.
Now as a full time singer, Ball is living out his dreams and he will be singing in the Caribbean on Christmas Day after releasing Winter Song written by Elliot Kennedy and Take That’s Gary Barlow. However, sadly, he won’t be able to share the moment with his wife but he revealed the special reason that he remains in total awe of her.
Speaking from the heart, the America's Got Talent star told Yahoo: "My wife is unable to join me, she is an incredible NHS nurse. She works with very, very sick children. I'm incredibly proud of her and she's got to work during Christmas. It's not a time that the nurses can take time off. Of course she's there, but I'm taking my best man with me."
Instead, the couple - who got married in October 2022 - will celebrate Christmas on the 20 December together, just five days before the big day. He added: "I’m celebrating Christmas on the 20th of this year because I'm away working for Christmas Day. I’m in the Caribbean. I'm not complaining. It's gonna be a lovely Christmas, but I'll probably be singing on Christmas Day, out in the Caribbean.” But he admitted: “Last time I was in the Caribbean, it rained."
Before he goes out on stage in the Caribbean he already knows what his wife is going to say to him. His wife says the same three words to him every time before he performs and it's become a ritual. "I don't think I've told anyone this before," he admitted. The singer revealed his wife, his mum and his manager will text him: "Don't be s***."
He explained: "It's a nice way for me to stay grounded, but also to give me the fire in the belly to go out there and do well. So since BGT, before every single performance, I get a message from mum that says DBS, a message from my wife that says DBS and now my manager says it to me as well before going on stage. It’s that little ritual to going on stage. Don’t be s*** Tom. It brings me a level of comfort."
Behind the scenes, his wife has given him immense support as the teacher chases his singing ambitions and dreams. Their love story began six years ago and has continued to go from strength to strength. "She’s incredible," he gushed. "I genuinely couldn’t do this job without her for both the moral and emotional support. But also I don’t think I’d end up anywhere on time or at the right place. She is one of the most organised people I’ve known and subsequently she organises me! Sometimes it’s more about the personal life, things that I forget: like doctors appointments, and dentists."
Christmas music: Winter Song
Christmas will always be a wonderful time of year for the TV star but having released a Christmas song, it certainly makes it extra special. "On a personal level, I love Christmas, it's my favourite time of year," he said. "And Christmas music is a massive part of that. My childhood memories are full of putting up the Christmas tree and choosing the album that we're gonna listen to when we do that and then sitting around the table and again, choosing the music that we're gonna to have that day."
When Kennedy offered him the chance of singing Winter Song, he grasped the opportunity saying: "I fell in love with it straight away." He further explained: "It was a song that encapsulated Christmas for me, in every sense of the word, the lyrics, the melody, the very Christmas feel of it... I sung it the whole way home."
Ball embarked on a full time singing career and has set his sights on stardom. He added: "I'm so grateful to be releasing music, I've been doing this for a year. To have a Christmas song out there written by Gary Barlow and Elliot Kennedy, it really is a dream come true. I want to release as much music as I can to build my following, to continue to have these amazing experiences that I've had. And I feel this was a step in the right direction. It's a beautiful song, I'm so happy to have released it."
Tom Ball won't quit teaching
Despite his success with his singing career, Ball has vowed never to give up teaching completely. So he set up The Dreams Project where he goes into schools across the UK to deliver workshops and assemblies to inspire students with his story and other people's stories. He said: "One thing I saw after Britain's Got Talent that I wasn't expecting was so many students thanking me and saying that I was a bit of an inspiration for them which really, really touched me. It was lovely to see that.I had an impact on the students about following their dreams."
Juggling everything, the singer admitted he has "no days off". He said: "I'm very, very, very busy with singing and I'm so lucky to be so busy, but if I've got a week and I've got one day off in that week, I will see if there's a school I can go into. I have no days off." He added: "I will always consider myself an educator. I'm very, very passionate about education."
At the heart of it, teaching remains incredibly rewarding for him. "I can have an impact on students and on the youth of today, make them resilient, make them creative, make them cooperative," he said. "I have a part in that and to be a part of that is rewarding."
New career move
While he plans to keep up with teaching, he has set his sights on some new career avenues. The singing star revealed how music mogul and TV judge Simon Cowell has inspired him. He said: "Simon's comment, 'You'll be a leading man in the West End at some point.' I want to focus on musical theatre as well. It's another element I would love to be a part of."
Next year will be an exciting time for the America's Got Talent star. The songwriter is on the lookout for the UK's rising star choir to feature on his debut album Curtain Call which is out in the new year. The star would also love for the choir to join him on his 14-date UK tour which starts in March. Inspired by a fellow America's Got Talent star, he vowed to "grab every opportunity" possible.
Finding fame
His success all goes back to Britain's Got Talent which changed his life overnight. The singer rocketed to fame on the reality series in 2022 and he came third in the competition - changing his world as he knows it forever. Revealing how it had changed everything, he said: "It really did change overnight. I remember watching the first episode - obviously, the first episode is pre-recorded. And so I knew what I did on stage but I didn't know what they were gonna show and how it was going to be presented in a program. And so I watched it and my phone blew up, absolutely blew up!"
Ball was overwhelmed by the response he received at the time. He added: "I tried to make a promise to myself that I'd reply to every single Instagram. I probably naively thought in my head maybe it'll be 100, maybe 200. I can do that. No, not a chance. I couldn't reply quick enough, I was getting so many. So that completely blew me away." Plus, he could no longer walk down the street without being recognised. The day after appearing on the show, he found: "People were stopping me every two minutes. Again, definitely not complaining! I absolutely adore meeting people. No, but it changed overnight."
Now a star in his own right, Ball lifted the lid on the difference between starring on America's Got Talent this year and the show that made him famous Britain's Got Talent in 2022. He said: "To be a part of it is a bit surreal because what you see on TV is exactly what you expect. You can be there and it's a fast paced machine that cares about you - at least that's how I felt. They genuinely cared that I succeeded. Simon Cowell is a lovely man.
"And then you go over to America where it's the All Star program where they've invited 60 acts from all across the world, from past winners to fan favourites. So in that sense, there's less to prove and more just to go on there and do well because you've been invited there. It's more of a case of 'I want to go out there and do the best performance I can surrounded by all this incredible talent'."
Tom Ball released his Christmas single ‘Winter’s Song’ which was written by Gary Barlow and legendary Grammy-winning producer Elliot Kennedy, available here https://slinky.to/WinterSong
His debut album ‘Curtain Call’ is out 29th March 2024 and available for pre-order here: https://tomball.tmstor.es/product/116858
