We all know and love Jules Knight as Holby City’s very own Dr Love - aka handsome scoundrel Harry Tressler - but his character is currently bed bound and horrifically scarred following a terrible fall.
While we don’t know too much about what’s next for Harry, not to mention his love affair with Mary-Claire, we DO know that Jules is set to leave the show in April (sob).
Thankfully, however, he’s not disappearing from our lives entirely; in fact, quite the opposite.
He’s only left to pursue a solo singing career. And his album, ‘Change Of Heart’, is due to hit shelves on the 20th April.
Time to pin down the man himself for a chat, we think…
So Jules, is this it for you and Holby City? Do you ever plan on returning to the show?
Never say never. I don't know what’s going to happen in the future, or how I'm going to feel. I just think that, for now, it’s time for me to move on and do lots of other exciting things.
Does that mean it’s all over for you and Mary-Claire… or are you going to refuse to tell us?
Well, I can’t tell you what happens because I don’t want to! People already know I’m leaving the show and I don’t want to ruin the ending, but all I can say is… I can’t say whether it’s happy or sad… but it’s a good ending. I think people are really going to enjoy it.
Hmm, that’ll have to do. Have you ever, in real life, been mistaken for an actual doctor?
Well funnily enough I was in a hospital about six months ago with a friend of mine and I was sort of dealing with an unfolding situation in the emergency department with my friend and I was asking a few questions and they did say to me: “Sorry, are you a doctor?” I said: “No, no.”
They just said: “Sorry, it’s just you seem to sort of know what you’re talking about. You’ve got all the right lingo and stuff.” And I was like: “Oh…yeah.”
And then about five minutes later they all twigged and then I was in a hospital with loads of people who knew I was in Holby City. I sort of said things like: “Oh, sorry, this machine keeps beeping. Do you mind if you do something?” And they said: “Well, surely you know what you’re doing.”
It was a little bit embarrassing., to be honest.
Would you say your ‘Dr Love’ reputation is deserved off screen?
Haha no, I’m 33 years old now, my wild days are over. I was a bit of a hell-raiser in my youth, but no, I’m a little bit more settled now. I am single, but I’m pretty well behaved.
We bet you get loads of strange fanmail from your female fans. What’s the weirdest one you’ve ever received?
I get quite a few naked photos. Quite a few sets of underwear. I actually got a box of wine recently… well, a case of wine; twelve bottles of wine… champagne, even. And someone sent me a pencil case the other day so that was nice. It’s always nice to have a pencil case. You can never be too short of a pencil case.
It’s more useful than the underwear, surely?
Well I did wear that though, obviously… only on weekends.
Talking about your love life, have you got a number one celeb crush?
Well I’ve recently learned that Nicole Scherzinger’s become single.
Yup, she’s free and available!
She’s amazing. Also, Mollie King…she’s pretty beautiful.
They’re both blondes.
Are they?!
Yup, Nicole Scherzinger’s blonde now.
That’s crazy. I normally go for brunettes, but I’m open to suggestions. If you want to set me up with somebody then please do.
We’ll try. So what would your four qualities in your dream woman be?
I think it’s really important that they are kind - that's the most attractive thing. I’ve had experiences with some very beautiful women in the past who just haven’t been very nice people. I think one of the most attractive qualities is kindness and generosity and softness.
Good choices! Have you ever been hit on by any celebrities, other than Shirley Bassey?
Apart from Shirley…? I don’t think anyone can top Shirley. But no, I haven’t actually been going out that much so I haven’t been on the party scene. I’ve been working too hard, I need to get out more.
Well, would you consider ringing Shirley back?
I’m not sure if the Shirley proposition was a serious one. It may have been fuelled by several bottles of rosé, and it was her birthday, you know? But she’s amazing. She’s really a legend.
Would you say she’s one of your biggest musical inspirations?
Yeah, she’s definitely an inspiration. I think if you can carry on singing at that quality, at that age, then people like Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey… it’s the Welsh; they’ve got some serious vocal prowess. But, I’m a big fan of people like Sting as well who, you know, he’s no spring chicken, but oh my God he can sing and he’s incredibly musical. He’s my number one musical idol.
Do you think you could ever be as successful as him?
I wouldn’t… I couldn’t… I don’t think you can compare to Sting. I mean the quality of song writing and I’m not really a songwriter. I’ve co-written a couple of songs on this album, but actually I’ve done quite a few covers as well. And maybe I will write some more stuff, but I think you’ve got to be something pretty special to write the kind of song that becomes famous for eternity. Ed Sheeran’s got it. People like Gary Barlow… I think really good songwriters are few and far between.
So would you like to work with someone like Ed Sheeran in the future?
Sure, yeah, God I’d love to. I think he’s a real talent. Sam Smith has a fantastic voice. People like Jessie J who I remember I saw before she was famous preforming in Westfield several years ago and I said: “This girl is something special. She has unbelievable talent.” And then she went off suddenly and sky rocketed to success. I think the truth is that; hopefully, the really good people find success eventually because they’re just too good.
It was a big surprise to hear that you’ve gone back to your music roots, because you originally said the lifestyle was too stressful. How do you think you’re going to overcome that this time?
I think my experience in the music industry has been that when I was in Blake we were touring a lot… we were touring most of the year, actually, so we spent a lot of our time abroad. I think that’s fine when you’re in your 20s, but I think when you start to get into your 30s you don’t want to be away all of the time, otherwise you can’t have a normal life and it’s very difficult to have a relationship. It’s just difficult to have any sense of normality.
So I don’t envisage me touring abroad that much… the odd trip here and there, but I think everything’s about balance. I think that’s the key generally to life and you just have to do what you like doing and have everything in proportion.
Music is going to be a big part of my life going forward, but so will acting.
Does this mean you’d combine your two passions and try musical theatre?
I’m very interested in doing that and there’s been some interest from a few of the big shows in town. Maybe I could eventually go to Broadway. If I could find the right show, which is right for my voice, and a show that I like doing, then that would be great. I’d love to do that. I love musical theatre. In fact, there’s a song on the album from Blood Brothers, ‘Tell Me It’s Not True,’ which is one of the best tunes of the show and I decided to do it just because it’s a fantastic tune.
What about reality TV?
I’ve been asked to do quite a few different reality TV shows and I’ve said no to most of them. I’m not totally against it because I think some of them are really good. I’d quite like to go on Strictly. I can’t dance… that I know of, anyway, but I’d like to see whether that’s true. But I don’t think I could do I’m A Celebrity, because I hate creepy crawlies. I wouldn’t be able to eat a cockroach or anything like that because it just doesn’t appeal to me whatsoever. And Big Brother I’m not sure I would enjoy. I think it would be weird - and stressful.
Would you ever think of reforming with Blake for a special tour?
Again, never say never. I love performing with the boys. I like singing in harmony with them and I think we had something special and there was definitely something great about what we did musically and creatively. Yeah, maybe the one odd off thing if they wanted to I’d be up for it.
Sort of Robbie Williams re-joining Take That?
Exactly. I wouldn’t say no, but you know, it’s got to be the right thing.
Forget Blake for a moment; if you could join any boy band for a day, who would you join?
I’d probably join One Direction for a day because that’s got to be quite cool, right? Otherwise it would be Keane, I think. I’d like to join Keane permanently, in fact.
Shall we just put that out there now?
Yeah, just in case they’re thinking of changing their line up!
Honestly, there are some great bands out there, but the idea of being in a band that plays stadiums definitely appeals to me. I was listening to Dire Straights earlier and it must have been just unbelievable to play to 90,000 people.
But you must have sang to quite a few people before though?
I sang at the Sydney Opera House when I was twelve actually, and that was quite cool. Blake’s biggest gig was Wembley Stadium to 93,000 people. It’s a buzz: it’s great.
So you must have some great confidence tips for people afraid of getting up and speaking in public?
My only experience with it is that it is scary at the beginning. Try and talk from the heart. If you try and remember something that you don’t believe in, then it’s not going to come across well. So I always try and speak from the heart when I’m doing public speaking, just say what I mean and hopefully it makes some sense.
But also I just think it just gets better with time. You know, these things are scary until your body and mind get used to the idea. By the end of Blake we were performing on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall and I was no more nervous than I would be in my living room. But that happens because of the amount of gigs that you do and the muscle memory of the whole thing.
That’s much better than the old “imagine everyone’s naked” idea.
Definitely. That’s always really distracting!
While we're talking advice, do you have any wise words for other aspiring singers out there?
For years I thought I couldn’t do something solo because it’s too scary. I was in a group with three other guys [Blake] for six years and so I was sort of comfortable being with other people and it was a nice safety blanket.
But it’s only recently I thought that I would like to do something solo and I’ve done it because I wanted to do something fun and I wanted to make an album and just enjoy the whole process with no major expectations. I’m not in it for money, I’m in it to create something good and I felt that I had something good to offer.
I’m really proud of what we’ve made.
You can buy Jules Knight's Change Of Heart for £15 at his official website.**