Gareth Gates had to force himself to go on live TV as he says his speech is declining

Gareth Gates has bravely opened up about having to force himself to speak on live TV.

The 38-year-old performer appeared on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday (28 March) to chat about his new role as Squidward in The SpongeBob Musical.

Gareth was joined on the sofa by co-star Davina de Campo and presenters Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson.

The singer turned actor appeared to struggle with his stammer at some points during the interview and explained he wouldn’t normally agree to go on live TV.

Following the interview, Gareth took to social media to reflect on facing his fears and he urged his fans to try and do the same.

“Today I faced one of my biggest fears in doing a live TV interview,” he shared. The singer included clips from the BBC broadcast in his response, showing the moments where he overcame his stammer.

TikTok/@gareth_gates

Gareth continued: “I’ve done many of these [live interviews] in the past but my speech hasn’t been great recently and so the fear level was so high. Was it perfect? Nope. Was I very nervous and anxious beforehand? 100 percent.”

The former Dancing on Ice contestant also included a behind the scenes video of himself before he entered the studio where he admitted he felt ‘quite nervous’ about the interview.

He added: “Was I very close to pulling out the interview half an hour before it happened? Absolutely.”

Thankfully Gareth was able to pull through and he’s hoping that by sharing how anxious he was before the interview, he can inspire others to face their fears and ‘insecurities’.

He went on: “But I forced myself to do it because the fear was that high that I knew that the only way that I can start to get hold of this fear is if I just face it head on.

“I’m hoping that this video is proof to many of you out there who are facing similar fears that if you just do it force yourself into those situations - it won’t be comfortable, it’d be awful as it was for me this morning - but if you force yourself to do it, you’ll start to get hold of these insecurities and these fears and start to gain control of your life and as a result of that you’ll be a much better and happier person.”

BBC

The 'Spirit in the Sky’ singer has shared details about his stammer over the years and he qualified as a speech coach with the McGuire Programme to help others with stammers.

In 2011 he filmed the BBC Three documentary Gareth Gates’ Stammer House with six young men and women to help them overcome their stammers.

The same year, he was awarded the honour of Celebrity Ambassador for his incredible work on the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' Giving Voice campaign.