BBC Radio 2 star Michael Ball opens up on his latest health battle, the tragic loss of his mum and ending his association with the show that made him famous â as he says âIâm doneâ
Michael Ball(Image: bbcradio2/Instagram)
Thereâs something in the old theatre adage that the show must go on. And when Michael Ball
Michael had suffered pain for three years but things came to a head during an eight-week tour of Les Misérables in Australia
âI didnât want to let people down,â he explains. âI decided I was just going to crack on with painkillers and try to get to the end of the tour. I had to have a crutch to get me to the side of the stage and I used the pain for my character. They cut the bits where I had to go up and down a barricade. I just got my head down and ploughed through it, but it was soul-destroying. I couldnât enjoy anything really.â
When the tour ended, Michael returned home and had a full hip replacement.
âIt was an utter game-changer,â he says. âYou realise that youâve been in chronic pain, getting worse for three years.â
Michael, 63, who combines his singing and musical theatre career with hosting the popular Love Songs show on Radio 2, says needing surgery has prompted an overhaul of his life.
 was told he needed an urgent hip replacement, he ignored the advice and insisted on continuing with his production, crutches and all. Now, a year on and showing he is nothing but a trouper, the West End star will be back on stage â with a brand-new left hip â for a UK tour to celebrate the release of his album, Glow.
Michael had suffered pain for three years but things came to a head during an eight-week tour of Les MisĂ©rables in Australia last year. The singer recalls: âI went for physio and it wasnât getting any better. I had a cortisone injection, which helped, but after two days I was in agony and really limping.
âThey took me for an MRI scan and the doctor said the ligament was completely ruptured and severed ,and Iâd got bone-on- bone on the joint and that my hip had to be replaced. He said, âYou must be in a really severe amount of painâ. I went, âWell, itâs nice to know Iâm not just being a drama queen!ââ The doctor advised Michael to fly back to England for surgery but he refused.
He reveals: âIâm going to the gym, oh, at least once every week. Iâm not wholeheartedly throwing myself into this. Itâs gradual, Iâm dipping my toe in. But Iâm out every day, I do long walks with the dogs and Iâm eating more healthily.â
He has always been someone who likes to see the positive side of life(Image: James Hole 2018)
Frank and warm and with a self-deprecating sense of humour, Michael has always been someone who likes to see the positive side of life â and this enthusiasm and drive may have helped to propel him to the top in the notoriously unstable world of showbiz.
âThe thing is, Iâve never been cool,â he muses. âIâve never been trendy or the in-thing. Iâve always just got on and done what Iâve done and itâs appealed to some people and some people canât stick it. But if youâre never in fashion, youâre never out of fashion. Iâve just kept going and the diversification has helped.â
Michael is certainly one of Britainâs most prolific entertainers. He has starred in a host of West End productions, from Les MisĂ©rables to Andrew Lloyd Webber shows such as Aspects of Love, alongside Ann Crumb.
He achieved a No1 single with a duet of Youâll Never Walk Alone alongside Second World War veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore, represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest and has been on Radio 2 for the past 16 years.
More recently he also turned his hand to writing, producing two best-selling novels.
And next up is Glow, his 23rd solo studio album. It is his first-ever album of entirely self-written material. So why has he waited so long to write his own songs?
âI wondered that as well,â he admits. âI think it was confidence and not understanding the art of writing. I donât read music, I donât write music, I donât play an instrument, Iâve only got my brain and my mouth.â
He met his partner, former Ready Steady Go! presenter Cathy McGowan, 37 years ago(Image: Getty Images Europe)
The albumâs first single is Vintage, a catchy tribute to the joys of growing older. He explains: âWeâve got to keep challenging ourselves, weâve got to keep finding new things to be excited about. And we also need to know when to stop, when something has had its time, which has happened this year.â
He is referring to his decision to call an end to his 40-year association with the big hit Les Misérables.
Michael first found fame when Cameron Mackintosh cast him as Marius in the original London cast in 1985. He reprised the role in 1995 and in 2019 and 2020 he returned as Inspector Javert.
But after last yearâs Australia tour, he turned down the opportunity to go to New York for a three-week run. He says: âI went, âno, Iâm done. It feels right that I stop on this. Letâs not over-egg the puddingâ.
âSo thatâs me and Les Mis finished. Itâs the end of an era. Itâs a pretty big decision, but it feels right. For me it was time.â
That new album contains some of Michaelâs most personal songs yet, including Remember to Remember, a poignant tribute to his 91-year-old father Tony and his mum Ruth, who died last year at the same age.
âIt was profound and rather beautiful,â Michael says. âShe was fully compos mentis â it was her heart. I stayed in the hospital with her and slept there and was with her the whole time. I was holding her hand to the very end and we talked and talked until she just drifted away.
âIt sounds weird, but it was the perfect ending. It wasnât a tragedy. It was sad, but if you are going to go, thatâs the way to do it.â
Michael has also enjoyed touring and recording with opera singer Alfie Boe(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Michael lives in South London with his partner, former Ready Steady Go! presenter Cathy McGowan. The pair met when she was a TV reporter and interviewed him for Aspects Of Love.
âItâs 37 years since we met, but I always say 35 is when it became proper,â he smiles. âIâm so immensely proud of my family. I know how lucky I am.
âIâm in a really good place in my 60s. I love that I still have this opportunity, that my voice works and that I can still haul myself up on the stage with a new hip.â
For the past decade, Michael has also enjoyed touring and recording with opera singer Alfie Boe. But he reveals that the partnership is now on hold, as next year he will be appearing in the West End.
With or without Alfie, one thing Michael can still count on is screaming fans. âI mean probably more out of pity than lust!â he laughs. âI always sing The Wonder of You and play it up to the hilt. So, thereâs always someone Iâll pick on in the front row â âYour kiss to me is worth a fortuneâ and weâll have a kiss. Itâs brilliant fun.
âThe trouble is, the stages now are quite high and so Iâve got to get right down and try to look elegant and my legs arenât what they were!âMichaelâs new album, Glow, is out on May 22. New single Vintage is out now and his UK tour starts in August. For tickets, visit michaelball.co.uk
