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LIVING THE DREAM
I was an Asda ‘trolley dolly’ – now I’m touring the world with Ed Sheeran and starred on Love Island, says Calum Scott
The singer's huge new single Lighthouse is out today
POP star CALUM Scott is pinching himself as he speaks from his five-star luxury hotel suite in Dubai before supporting Ed Sheeran in a stadium show.
The down-to-earth Hull lad, 35, has been grafting non-stop for the past decade to make his dream a reality, and now he's well and truly living it.
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Today, his anthemic new single Lighthouse is released and what better way to celebrate than by belting it out to a huge crowd at Dubai's Sevens Stadium before handing over the reigns to one of the biggest names in world music.
It's a million miles from his days working at supermarket Asda, when his mum affectionately nicknamed him a "trolley dolly".
But Calum hasn't let it go to his head and is relishing every bit of his career success.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he said: "It's absolutely mental. But, like I said, I'm counting my lucky stars. I'm literally pinching myself every morning... I remember being at Asda and I was what my mum called the 'trolley dolly', where I was responsible for collecting shopping trolleys from the bays and putting them back in the shop.
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"And now I'm out in Asia supporting Ed Sheeran. I'm just like 'what is that?' I pride myself on being the same guy that was pushing those shopping trolleys around but with much shorter hair. I pride myself on being the same guy. I'd like to think that that's true."
Calum built a relationship with Ed in 2016 when he was supporting the superstar's pal Jamie Lawson.
A few years later they worked on a track with French DJ and producer David Guetta and connected over family life and music.
Then just months ago Ed announced Calum would be joining him on his huge European and Asian tour, leaving him stunned.
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He says: "To be supporting him around the world is just like a dream come true. I mean, what better mentor to kind of have on the road, and to just learn from and soak up all that energy and work ethos. He is a mega star. I'm just on honoured. Pinching myself."
Calum famously received Simon Cowell's golden buzzer on Britain's Got Talent back in 2015, his cover of Robyn's Dancing On My Own was a sleeper smash that turned into a phenomenon, and he's had hit collaborations with dance artists Lost Frequencies and Jax Jones, whom he performed track Whistle with in the Love Island villa.
Oh, and there was the small matter of a performance with Take That during their headline set for the King's Coronation last summer.
So he'd be forgiven for developing an ego somewhere along the way - but it's just not the case.
A key part of Calum's humility comes from ensuring his inner circle includes people who have been there from the start.
He regularly chats to them on Facetime and WhatsApp and tomorrow two of his best friends will watch him perform live.
"Having those people around me just keeps me very, very grounded," he says. "I mean, I'm a very grounded person anyway.
"I'm 35. I got into this business properly when I was about 26/27. So I'd already kinda had my job outside of school. I had my first car when the first year's insurance was like two grand. I was spending all the money I had to afford the insurance for my Rover 400.
"I think I've had a very normal upbringing so that's kind of set me in good stead, because now I do what do, and I'm looking at these sites, and I'm like I never take it for granted, I don't just go 'Oh, well'.
"I do deserve to be here, I've worked hard for it but I don't feel entitled like, you know, 'Oh, that should be the best suite' and all that kind of stuff, like, I'm walking around filming everything, sending it home and stuff like that."
The person responsible for that upbringing, his beloved mum, will soon be on the road with him too.
"I'm retiring my mum this year," says Calum. "I'm helping her retire early. So she's gonna come and join us on the road where she can. And that's gonna be amazing to have a momager on the road, it's not quite like the Kardashians [laughs]."
But before then, Calum's focus is on his new music and fans will surely lap up latest release Lighthouse.
The piano led track builds to a soaring chorus that is made to be sung in unison by thousands of people.
It's one Calum is proud of.
"Lighthouse feeds into all of the songs I've done before in that kind of lane like What I Miss Most, Rise; it has that feeling, that anthemicness," he says.
"But it's delivered in that same way I probably always will deliver a song, which is having something meaningful to say, and and letting the song develop and grow over the time that you're listening to it.
"So I'm really proud of Lighthouse. It's it's hopeful. It's powerful. It's a stickler to sing live but it is amazing. It's a lane of tempo that is just right for me."
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For those who wouldn't mind seeing the track performed closer to home, Calum has slipped in a date at the Apollo, Hammersmith, on March 12.
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