LEAVING London and coming home to Glasgow six years after winning Pop Idol saved Michelle McManus's life.

 

The £2m prize money and the recording contract were all gone and Michelle, from Baillieston, was struggling to earn a living.

"I was too scared to tell anyone that thing weren't going OK," she remembers." My parents were just so proud of me and even though I'd been dropped by my record label I was telling them it was a huge success and I was so busy, which wasn't true.

"Finally I phoned my sister crying and said, 'It's a lie, I'm here on my own and didn't know what to do.'

" Lindsay just said, 'Come home.' I got a job immediately with Radio Clyde, then Radio Scotland took me on and the job offers were just pouring in. I managed to get my life back together again.

"When The Hour came along that changed everything again because that was TV, every single night you were in people's homes.

The best thing I even did was come back to Scotland. I will never leave Glasgow again. Scotland gave me the biggest hug and said, 'It's all right, come back home, you're fine.' It saved my life in a way."

This is why the 34-year-old, who admits her life has been a rollercoaster since winning the Simon Cowell-backed television talent show, is delighted to be performing in Glasgow this month.

The singer and Evening Times columnist brings an extended version of her sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show to Glasgow International Comedy Festival on March 24 and says: "It's home turf and it's a way to say thanks to everyone for their support."

She says she has never considered herself a comedian but anyone who has seen her compere a live show and her instant rapport with the audience knows she can entertain.

There will be plenty of singing at the King's , from the audience as well as herself, she hopes, but also plenty of anecdotes, and they're all true.

"It's a real variety show, it's me paying homage to Dorothy Paul and Elaine C Smith and all these amazing women. I'll be telling real stories," says Michelle when we meet to talk at her new South Side favourite haunt, the Butterfly and the Pig.

"Winning something like Pop Idol is a big deal and it doesn't happen to that many people and subsequently in the life I've had there have been some hilarious things that have happened to me and apparently that's funny.

"It just dawned on me a couple of years ago when one of my mates said, 'You should do this as a show.' I never thought it would ever get to this stage."

The one hour and 10-minute Fringe show has been extended to two hours for the Glasgow. As well as talking about her Pop Idol experiences, and comments on Simon Cowell, there is an insight into her own life, from her single girl Bridget Jones experiences, to singing for the Pope on his last visit to Glasgow and touring the Far East.

Interesting celeb insights aside - "It is funny how a girl from Baillieston was sitting with Ant and Dec while they were performing their new album in their own home and Robbie Williams was there with Kerry Katona in the corner" - it's all about the music for Michelle.

There will be a live band, and a 50-person gospel choir at one point, on stage belting out hits from Erasure, Nina Simone and Gloria Gaynor, among others.

"This show is a party. I want people to laugh, I want them to sing, I want them to come along and hear a bit of gossip about the famous people I've met," she laughs.

"It has been so organic, on one hand it has been really nice that people are even interested in my life.

"It's one thing telling stories to your mates because they know you but what has been really unbelievable for this experience is that other people, strangers, love the stories as well."

Michelle admits she abandoned her singing career after Pop Idol.

"It was the most wonderful experience but it was so traumatic because I had to take a couple of years to get over the humiliation," she reveals.

"Outwardly I was very smiley about being dropped by my record label by psychologically it has taken me years to even think about singing in public."

Pop Idol attracted 16.5m viewers with 10m votes cast in the final - yet Michelle says she was left to feel a failure. Apart from singing in pantomime and at corporate events, her own show is the first time she has performed in public.

"I was 23 when I was in Pop Idol. I worked in hospitality, I wanted to be a general manager by the time I was 30 and singing was just a hobby," she says.

"Pop Idol was the closest thing to a magic wand I had ever seen for making someone famous. It absolutely changed the course of my life forever.

"As I've got older folk have said, 'She might not be our cup of tea but give her her due, she's worked hard, she's got a career for herself.' Even my harshest critics have laid off me.

"I suppose I've got to a stage in my career where even the people who don't like me respect the fact I'm still here. For those folk who do like me I've turned a corner in my career where I'm now going back to what I suppose the plan was at the start - to perform.

"I have done everything I could ever have dreamed of and more. My life is in such an amazing place. I don't have any worries, I just love my life."

It sounds like a pretty good place to be.

Michelle McManus's Reality - Reloaded, King's Theatre, Glasgow, March 24. Visit www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com.