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Post by carol on Feb 4, 2013 20:09:16 GMT
Seeing as I started this thread, I will be the first to answer those questions. I became a Gareth fan quite by chance, thanks to my son Phil. Back in 2001 when POP IDOL first came on tv, Keith and I, being on the wrong side of 50, decided that it wasn't for us, so we didn't watch it. When I look back now, I wonder how, with all the publicity, it just went over my head. But one weekend my son Phil came to stay. Phil has special needs, he loves music, and it is a very important part of his life. He was a bit restless, so just before his bath, I put on the tv to see if there was anything that would hold his attention. Before the screen even lit up, a beautiful voice filled the room singing YESTERDAY. Phil smiled with pleasure, and I saw this incredibly beautiful young man, singing right from his heart. Keith was not in the room, but he called out. " Whoever that is, what a voice they have. He sings it better than Macca!" From that moment I was captured by the voice, the man, the sincerity of his voice, and everything about him. I found out at the end of the show that he had a stammer, and my admiration of him grew, and it hasn't stopped growing since! I don't have to tell you the rest, I spent 2 years buying teenage mags to read about this phenonemon that was GARETH GATES, pretending they were for my grand daughter, who was one year old at the time. Do you remember the free sparkly bracelets, pencils, earrrings? ;D My family thought I had gone mad, and I can't tell you what a relief it was when I joined the official forum and found out there were lots of mature fans like myself.  But time has gone on, some 12 years now, Gareth has achieved so much, and will continue to. He has so many talents, I am proud to be his fan, and even my own family have been won over. ;D I would love to hear from some of you, on this thread, when and why you became a Gareth fan, I am sure we will all enjoy reading and sharing our experiences. ;D Thank you love carol xxx |
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Post by helpinghands on Feb 4, 2013 20:51:44 GMT
Hello Carol and all of you lovely Gareth fans I am going to follow this thread with great interest. I was coerced with all the wiles that ladies possess by my lovely Deborah to help on this site. Although she had been a Gareth fan for many moons, I am afraid i had never taken much interest.  Well I am glad to say that having posted up google alerts, listened to videos, read reports from the shows, seen the pics of ever willing Gareth to pose with the fans, I have to admit huge respect for the guy. He's a great role model, amazing singer, in fact is there anything this guy can't do? GARETH RULES OK! LOVE H XX |
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sue
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Post by sue on Feb 4, 2013 21:36:46 GMT
YOU ARE SO RIGHT H, GARETH DEFINITELY RULES OK WAS VERY TOUCHED READING YOUR POST ON HERE CAROL. I SEEMED TO COME IN ON POP IDOL QUITE LATE ON TOO, AND REMEMBER FOLLOWING AVIDLY DURING THE LAST TEN CONTESTANTS ONWARDS. GARETH STOOD OUT TO ME SO MUCH, AND I WAS ALWAYS EAGERLY WAITING FOR HIM TO COME ON TO SING, HE BECAME THE ONE I WAS LOOKING OUT FOR. HE WAS THE VOICE; THERE WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT HIM. HE DISAPPEARED FOR A WHILE IN LATER YEARS AND I ALWAYS LOOKED OUT FOR HIM TO REAPPEAR IN THE HOPE THAT ONE DAY HE WOULD. OF COURSE, HE DID. AND HE NEVER HAS DISAPPOINTED, HE JUST GREW IN HIS PROFESSION AND CONVINCED ME WHAT AN EXTREMELY LOVELY GUY HE WAS AND STILL IS. HE TAKES THE KNOCKS IN LIFE AND STILL HAS SO MUCH TO GIVE TO OTHERS. I HAVE NOTICED THAT ON THESE BOARDS HE HAS GIVEN US A SENSE OF COMMUNITY, MAYBE BECAUSE WE CAN ALL SEE THAT SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT HIM AND WE FEEL WE CAN ALL TOGETHER APPRECIATE HIM FOR ALL THAT HE IS TO US.  |
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Post by blanka on Feb 4, 2013 22:15:13 GMT
Hello all, what an interesting thread you have created, Carol! I love it and I love your story and stories of H and Sue too! Hope many more fans will also tell their stories about how they became Gareth´s fans. Here´s my story: I come from the Czech Republic (with the capital Prague) and I must say that Gareth Gates is completely unknown here. You must be wondering how I heard about him. Well, it came from two different ways really, and now I´m not quite sure which of them was the first one. We were on holiday with my family last summer, sitting in a restaurant waiting for our dinner and suddenly I heard on the radio a catchy song Anyone of us. I was quite mesmerized by the beautiful voice, so I said to myself that I had to google the song asap, but, as usual, I forgot about it. Then after some time we were driving to see our parents and on the radio - Anyone of us - they play it quite a lot here even now. Now I was persistant because I just loved the song and the voice and I found that it was sung by a handsome English singer Gareth. I watched a few live performances of his and his gorgeous looks, his smile and his lovely dimples caught me forever. The second way: I´ve been a huge fan of Robbie Williams, so I knew about Johnny Wilkes and his dance schools - and here the name - Gareth Gates - appeared again. Then I started to explore, it was a few months ago, and since then I´ve found about his stutter (Stop my stutter doc), Pop Idol, Dancing on Ice, and the role of Marius in my beloved Les Mis (which I saw in London in 1994) - and I fell in love with Gareth completely. So I´m still in the process of exploration and every single day I play a few of his songs, he has become part of my everyday life indeed. My husband has seen a few videos with him and he agrees he´s kind of sweet  But most of all I´m really impressed by all his achievements in his life, he´s still so young and he has succeeded in such a lot of challenges, so I have a huge respect to Gareth and I sincerely hope I´ll have a chance to see him live some day. So, I hope you like my story and I´m looking forward to reading your stories too. Love, Blanka xxx |
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Post by carol on Feb 4, 2013 22:24:14 GMT
H, Sue and Blanka, what lovely posts! Thanks so much for sharing. Blanka just like me, you were captured by Gareth's beautiful voice. ;D
I do hope you get to see him live one day and meet him too. You will love him even more. How nice that your husband agrees too. ;D
love carol xxx
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Post by GPG MY IDOL on Feb 4, 2013 23:26:23 GMT
Great thread Carol and lovely stories from everyone  I never watched Pop Idol  I had previously watched a bit of Pop Stars and didn't like it so when Pop Idol came on I wasn't interested as I thought it would be much the same.My daughter Sammy aged 8 at the time did watch it. September 2002 - My daughter asked if i would buy her "What My Heart Wants To Say" Gareth's first album. I went into town and bought her the album, when I got home she was still at school so I played it to see what it was like ....well I played it and I played it and I played it, I fell in love with this beautiful voice. My daughter had the album sometimes but most of the time I had it. The next thing for me was watching "Singing Through My Stammer" on the TONIGHT with Trevor McDonald programme, that is when I started to get to know this incredible young man, then when Gareth did Spirit In the Sky for Comic Relief WOW and ever since Gareth has just got better and better his voice just gets stronger and after many years thinking he can't get any better he leaves me speechless and blows me away I I just love everything about him a truly amazing, incredible, beautiful young man who I feel blessed to have met and am honoured to be a fan of. Love June x |
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Post by Deborah on Feb 4, 2013 23:55:09 GMT
Well
I knew of Gareth a bit before he was famous through a church and it was such a pleasure to see this special young man blossom. He entered Pop Idol and the nation was hooked.
I moderated the official site for all time it was there and all the time it passed where Gareth did.
gareth is the sweetest man that God ever put breath into and the loveliest natured. He is mega talented and I hope these sites show that.
I couldn't have done done this without my man H which I did have to drag kicking a screaming to help me ;D Without H it simply wouldn't be here.
long may we continue Long may Gareth continue.
Love
Debbie
xxxxxxxx
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Post by helpinghands on Feb 5, 2013 0:32:08 GMT
oh my lovely DJ, you say all the right things ;D
The least I could do is support you, you have been a great link between Gareth and the fans for more years than I care to remember. I actually quite enjoy it too. ;D
These stories are all great and different, June I like that you bought the cd for your daughter, and now you are the Gareth fan ;D
Please keep these great accounts coming ladies. ;D
love H xx
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Post by carol on Feb 5, 2013 9:47:24 GMT
These stories are wonderful, oh the power of Gareth to capture people's interest. ;D
Debbie, we have a lot to thank you and H for, we are so lucky to have this site where we can all share anything Gareth together. It must have been wonderful for you to see this young man from the church blossom into the mega talent that he is today.
No wonder you moderated on his Official site for over 10 years ;D
love carol xxx
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emily
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Post by emily on Feb 5, 2013 17:33:42 GMT
Lovely post. As you all no I stammer. I was first saw Gareth on pop idol I was about 11 I think. It was inspiration for me to see someone else who stammered on the tv. I have followed Gareth ever since.
As I followed Gareth I saw him on the Jonathan Ross show speaking great i could not believe the difference in him I then look up the mcguire programme and I decided to give it a go it took me a good few years to actually do it. When I finally did it was great to see that Gareth was going to be my course Instrutor this was amazing to have Gareth helping me with my speech.
I carry on following Gareth and he continues to inspiror me 😄😄😄😄
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Post by ann2526 on Feb 5, 2013 18:01:14 GMT
WONDERFULL STORIES WILL DO MINE WHEN PC IS FIXED, IT'S NOT WORKING PROPERLY. THIS HAS TOOK FOREVER TO POST  |
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Post by carol on Feb 5, 2013 18:33:51 GMT
Lovely post. As you all no I stammer. I was first saw Gareth on pop idol I was about 11 I think. It was inspiration for me to see someone else who stammered on the tv. I have followed Gareth ever since. As I followed Gareth I saw him on the Jonathan Ross show speaking great i could not believe the difference in him I then look up the mcguire programme and I decided to give it a go it took me a good few years to actually do it. When I finally did it was great to see that Gareth was going to be my course Instrutor this was amazing to have Gareth helping me with my speech. I carry on following Gareth and he continues to inspiror me 😄😄😄😄 What a lovely post Emily! it's very heartwarming to hear how much Gareth has inspired you to manage your stammer. ;D I admire you for what you have achieved, and also for the articles you have written about how Gareth has helped you, and how much you credit him with your success. You are a very brave girl. Well done! ;D Sorry you have pc problems Ann. love carol xxx |
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Post by blanka on Feb 5, 2013 19:18:52 GMT
Emily, I was touched to read your post. It´s great that you were so lucky that Gareth was your instructor on the course, it must have been encouraging for you! Bless you, big hugs, Blanka xxx
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Post by evagas on Feb 6, 2013 18:07:00 GMT
2002-ben hallottam elõször énekelni a és valósággal odaragadtam a tévé elé,olyan csodálatosan énekelt és a megjelenése lenyûgözõ volt. Azóta Õ a kedvenc énekesem! Örülök,hogy rátaláltam erre az oldalra,mert nálunk már évek óta semmit nem mondanak Róla.Nagyon sokszor az Õ dalai vidított fel.Köszönöm,hogy itt lehetek. Szeretettel Éva
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Post by ann2526 on Feb 6, 2013 19:55:12 GMT
LOVELY THREAD CAROL.HAD THE PC FIXED SO HERE IS MY GARETH JOURNEY I DIDN'T TAKE MUCH NOTICE OF POP IDOL UNTILL THE FINAL 10. THEN I FOUND MYSELF VOTEING EACH WEEK FOR A YOUNG MAN WITH A BEAUTIFULL SMILE AND ,A MESMERISEING VOICE CALLED GARETH GATES. . HE WAS UNASUMEING, SINCERE TALENTED AND VERY BRAVE. IT WAS HIS PERSONALITY I FELL IN LOVE WITH AND THROUGH GARETH'S SINGING I COULD FEEL ALL HIS EMOTION AND I WAS HOOKED .MYGARETH JOURNEY HAD BEGAN ,AND LIFE HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE ;D. NEVER DID I DREAM IN A MILLION YEARS I WOULD EVER GET TO MEET HIM , LET ALONE HAVE PHOTOS WITH HIM AND GARETH GREET ME BY MY NAME :-*BUT A CRUEL TWIST OF FATE MADE ME DETERMINED THAT I WOULD ONE DAY MEET HIM NO MATTER WHAT. IT WAS THE POP IDOL TOUR AND I SO WANTED TO GO.I WAS IN TROUBLE WITH MY EYE AGAINE AND HAD TO GO INTO MOORFIELDS EYE HOSPITAL IN LONDON FOR A MAJOR OP ,THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD GO TO THE SHOWS  . THE WEEK I HAD MY OP , THE POP IDOL TOUR WAS AT DOCKLANDS ARENA IN LONDON AND THERE WAS I,SO NEAR YET SO VERY FAR FROM GARETH . I HAD HEADPHONES ON MY HOSPITAL BED AND I WAS LISTENING IN TO CAPITAL FM. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN CHRIS TARENT CAME ON FROM THE DOCKLANDS ARENA ;DHE WAS INTERVEIWING THE FINALISTS BEFORE THE SHOW. HE SPOKE TO WILL ZOE AND ONE OR TWO OTHERS , BUT NOT TO GARETH. BUT, ALL THE TIME IN THE BACKGROUND I COULD HEAR GARETH'S VOICE AT THE PIANO . HE WAS SINGING YESTERDAY, EACH LINE OVER AND OVER AS IF TRYING TO PERFECT IT. HOW WONDERFULL THIS WAS TO ME . HE LIFTED MY SPIRITS , GAVE ME HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AND THE DETERMINATION THAT I WOULD ONE DAY MEET HIM. AND AS CHRIS TARENT DESCRIBED THE LONG QUE FILEING IN TO THE ARENA I MADE UP MY MIND THERE AND THEN ONE DAY I WOULD BE IN THAT QUE TO SEE GARETH. ALL THESE YEARS LATER AND MY DREAM HAS COME TRUE NABY TIMES OVER. I COULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT ALL MY GARETH ENCOUNTERS HE STILL LIFTS MY SPIRITS WHEN TIMES GET TOUGH , HE STILL GIVES ME HOPE FOR THE FUTURE WITH ALL THAT HE DOES AND HEARING HIS WONDERFULL VOICE GIVES ME THE DETERMINATION TO SUPPORT HIM IN ANY WAY I CAN. WE ARE ALL HERE BECAUSE WE KNOW AND SHARE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE PART OF THIS AMAZING GARETH JOURNEY THAT ALL STARTED WITH. .".......MY NAMES.....................GARETH GATES ";D |
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But most of all I´m really impressed by all his achievements in his life, he´s still so young and he has succeeded in such a lot of challenges, so I have a huge respect to Gareth and I sincerely hope I´ll have a chance to see him live some day. So, I hope you like my story and I´m looking forward to reading your stories too. Love, Blanka xxx
I had previously watched a bit of Pop Stars and didn't like it so when Pop Idol came on I wasn't interested as I thought it would be much the same.My daughter Sammy aged 8 at the time did watch it. 
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