BalanceMayIssue2017 - 30

American football. Nowadays, exercise is non
negotiable - Dermot plays five-a-side football every
Thursday in Brixton and works out twice a week.
Dermot is in good nick for his age, and easy on
the eye, but he's no Ken doll image of perfection.
There are laughter lines around his eyes and
creases in his brow, which may be one reason why
M&S invited him to launch some male grooming
products. He's a real man who real men buy into.
Ask Dermot if men fret about their looks as
much as women in the entertainment industry
and he tugs George Clooney into the conversation.
'When he started going grey and getting wrinkles,
no one went "this guy can't be cast any more".
The same thing just doesn't happen in a woman's
world and that's grossly unfair and by virtue of
that, men probably don't pay enough attention.'
Simon Cowell might, however, be a different
kettle of fish. 'He once gave me £1,000 worth of
Harrods vouchers and a contact at a Botox
specialist - 30 seconds before we went live on

TH E
S O UNDTR ACK
TO MY L IFE

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN,
THUNDER ROAD
'All killer, no filler.
Thunder Road and
Born To Run were
the two big songs
on Bruce's album
Born To Run. Bruce
Springsteen and that
whole album reminds
me of unrequited love
at aged 13 in small
town claustrophobia.'

air,' laughs Dermot, pointing out that he did not
book an appointment. 'I'm not that guy!'

HAVING FAITH

WHAM!, YOUNG GUNS
(GO FOR IT!)
'My first single. Nicola
swindled me out of my
pocket money, saying
"let's buy a single
together. We'll coown it". She bought
Wham!, Young Guns
(Go For It!), then only
played it on her record
player so I never
listened to it!
I was heartbroken but
not surprised when
I heard about George
Michael's death. I
met him after he
performed on The X
Factor. A lovely chap.'

30

For a job that consumes nine months of Dermot's
diary annually - auditions for the 14th series
began last month - it's intriguing to hear that he
credits The X Factor for encouraging balance in
his life by enforcing 'structure'. He's equally strict
about organising his home life.
'It's all about discipline. At home, I work very
well in the morning and I try to stop working in
the evening and give myself time to cook a nice
dinner. It's about finding down time, whether
that's reading, walking or exercise. It sounds
boring but it really is about time management.'
It wasn't always this way. In the early days, The
X Factor consumed Dermot's life and led him to
sacrifice beloved weekend games of rugby and

BALANCE May 2017

probably the right way of doing it,' he explains.
Finally, is on-stage Dermot different to the
Dermot chatting to us today? 'No and yes,' he
answers. 'I equate being on stage to when I've got
600 people around for a drink. That's when you
are the host of a party and you want to make sure
everyone's got a drink and is happy. Then when
those people leave, you become the other version
of you. On the outside you might seem different
but inside you're still the same person.'
Dermot introspection. It gets our vote... B
24.hr Grooming for Men by Dermot O'Leary
- launches 8 June exclusively for M&S,
visit marksandspencer.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: AJ NUMAN/CAMERA PRESS

THE POGUES,
STREAMS OF WHISKEY
'The Pogues were
my first live gig, in
Brixton, when I was
16. I was brought up
on Irish music and
The Pogues were the
quintessential second
generation Irish band
that truly spoke to me
when I was growing up.'

While some of Dermot's friends
FIND DOWN
following a series of presenter
have used therapy to combat
TIME IN YOUR
gaffes and plunging ratings,
addiction, he has never
LIFE, WHETHER
Simon asked him back and
turned to psychoanalysis
THAT'S READING,
Dermot signed a new four
and struggles to understand
WALKING OR
year deal reportedly worth
how it could benefit him.
EXERCISE. SOUNDS
£8million, making him the
'I'm not that introspective,'
highest paid solo presenter
he explains, adding his job is
BORING BUT IT'S
on British TV.
all
about being interested in
ABOUT TIME
'When you go back to
other
people. When he has
MANAGEMENT
somewhere, you feel a little
down time, he prefers to just 'be'. 
bit more valued. I definitely felt
But let's see. What traits does he
welcomed back,' says Dermot, who owns
most deplore in himself? He settles on
two homes abroad and lives in north London with
'impatience' and 'pride'. Has he ever questioned
his TV producer wife of five years, Dee Koppang, 38.
his Roman Catholic faith? Affirmative. 'That flies
against the notion of being brought up in a faith,
MAKING SACRIF IC E S
but me and my sister still go to mass so it was
http://www.24.hr http://www.marksandspencer.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BalanceMayIssue2017
