Olly Alexander addresses Doctor Who rumours: ‘I’m definitely not doing it’

Olly Alexander has once again addressed rumours that he is the next star of Doctor Who.

Last summer, unverified reports claimed that the Years & Years musician, who drew rave reviews for his performance in It’s a Sin, was being lined up as the next Timelord.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Alexander said he was surprised to be announced as the new Doctor on the front page of The Sun. “It genuinely was news to me,” he said.

“I definitely am not Doctor Who, and I’m not going to be Doctor Who. Promise!”

He insisted: “It’s not happening! I can tell you I’m definitely not doing it.”

Last month, Alexander said he would like his It’s a Sin co-star Omari Douglas to play the lead part in Doctor Who.

Speculation about a member of the It’s a Sin cast taking on the Doctor title was first fuelled when it was confirmed that Russell T Davies – who wrote the Aids drama – would return to Doctor Who as showrunner to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2023.

See the list of stars who bookies think could be the next Doctor, from Michaela Coel to Michael Sheen, here.

In the same Guardian interview, Alexander discussed the splitting up of his band Years & Years last year.

“Bands are like marriages,” he said. “Any separation is difficult, and I think it went as well as it could, with us… They didn’t really have a singer. And I came in, and I was like, ‘No, I’m the singer, I’ll be writing songs.’ So you can see, over that trajectory, perhaps this was sort of inevitable.”

He added: “Early on, we were more or less on the same ship, trying to steer in the same direction, and then just clearly we weren’t any more. It was definitely the best thing for us, to go our separate ways, rather than try to make it work.”