From Pop Idol to Public Speaker: Gareth Gates on Finding Strength in His Stammer An exclusive interview with Gareth Gates was conducted by Chris Tompkins of The Motivational Speakers Agency. 21 July 2025 Gareth Gates is a chart-topping singer, West End star, and one of the UK's most inspiring voices in the realms of Diversity & Inclusion and Mental Health. Gareth Gates Rising to fame on Pop Idol while navigating the challenges of a severe stammer, Gareth has turned personal adversity into a powerful platform-championing difference, resilience, and the importance of speaking up. In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Gareth shares how growing up with a speech impediment shaped his identity, how music became his lifeline, and why he now uses his story to encourage others to embrace their uniqueness, face their fears, and prioritise emotional wellbeing. Q: You've spoken openly about living with a stammer. How did navigating that challenge throughout your youth shape your identity and resilience? Gareth Gates: "Well, for as long as I can remember, I've had a stammer. As a child at school, I could barely get one word out of my mouth. Reading aloud in class was traumatic. Answering a register was hell, and I once peed myself in front of the entire class because I couldn't ask the teacher to go to the toilet-quite humorous now, but pretty mortifying in the moment. "Lads would hold me down in the playground and beat the words out of me, as they'd say. Life was pretty tough. All my childhood and into adolescence, having a stammer was a real burden for me-right up until that first audition on Pop Idol, which was actually 22 years ago now. I feel very old. "But my stammer was always a negative up until that moment. I was badly bullied at school because of it. It caused me constant pain and upset and embarrassment. But the very thing that caused me all that hurt actually became the one thing that made me stand out from the crowd. "Up until that moment, being different was a very negative thing. I tried so desperately to fit in and to not cause a fuss, to not stand out from the crowd for all the wrong reasons. Actually, for the first time, being different was a good thing. Having a stammer was a positive thing because it got me noticed. It created a story that people could latch on to. I was the boy that couldn't speak but could sing amazingly. "And I'm sure there's things that you are going through, or maybe you have an affliction that holds you back. But maybe that's the very thing that makes you-the thing that sets you apart from everybody else. Although it's hard to recognise when you're going through that hurt, I encourage you to persevere and to push on, because these things make us stronger and make us the people we are." Q: Your ability to sing fluently despite having a stammer is remarkable. At what point did music become your outlet for self-expression, and how did it change your life? Gareth Gates: "At the age of eight, my first school was producing a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I was a very shy boy with a stammer, but somehow I decided to go along to the auditions with my friends-again, probably just to try and fit in with them. "Part of the audition process was the school asking us to sing a small section of music. Now, up until that point in my life, I could barely get one word out of my mouth, so nobody-especially me-was expecting much from me being able to sing. But when they did ask me to sing, all of a sudden these words just came flooding out of my mouth-fluently, effortlessly, without any struggle or tension. "This completely changed my world. Finally, I could express myself. I could get out of me what was in me, and I absolutely loved it. So much so that I began to learn to express myself on several musical instruments-the guitar, the piano, and the drums. I mean, my poor parents had to endure hours of me creating a racket on all of my instruments. "But, you know, I was dealt a difficult hand in life: the inability to speak and the inability to communicate. I could have just settled for that and let my affliction dictate the life I was to lead and to live. But as soon as I found that something I could excel at, I knew I had to put my all into that. I had to switch my energy from what I couldn't do to what I was able to do and what I did well-what I excelled at. "And I think we all have things in life that we struggle with, but we also all have things that we're good at. I urge you today to find your thing-to find that trait or that gift that you're good at. It may take some time to find your calling or your path, but persevere, because once you do, everything changes. "My life certainly changed in an instant. I went from being a shy boy that couldn't speak to people applauding me when I sang fluently. I could very easily have given up, but I knew from a young age that I wasn't going to accept what I was given in life. I knew I was destined fo