There's something about the boy. By their final stages TV talent shows are full of nice people with laudable dreams and lovely voices, but when Shayne Ward first appeared on 'Pop Idol' rival show 'The X Factor', you knew he was different. The real deal.

He has an extraordinary voice, of course. And he's a sweet, good-looking chap. But there was something more. A hunger. A sense that he didn’t just enjoy performing, he needed it. He's more than just a great singer. He's a proper pop star. Which is why he won the show.

But before hitting the big time, the 22-year-old had worked at a printers, got a job installing computer points, and did stints in factories making everything from chocolate to clothes and cardboard boxes. At the time of his X Factor audition, he was working in the shoe section at a Manchester department store.

A few months later, his debut single 'That’s My Goal' was pretty much a dead cert for the Christmas number one. It was the sheer scale of its success that was surprising. The first-day sales were the third biggest ever recorded for a single in the UK: some 313 000 copies. It went on to sell well more than 1.3 million.

He's since released his debut album and is keen to establish himself as a real singer — not another overnight sensation who disappears 15 minutes later.

"I’d like people to see that I’m not just a talent show winner, that I can actually sing," Ward claims. "I’d like to be seen as successful in my own right now."

And right now he's doing just that, touring South Africa together with Will Young and Bananarama. Jason Curtis caught up with him in Cape Town…

JC: How the devil are you?
Shayne: Good, fantastic actually.

JC: Do you think you are a celebrity?
Shayne: (Smiling) My manager has to keep reminding me.

JC: It’s my round – what are you drinking?
Shayne: Jack and Coke please.

JC: What’s in your pocket right now?
Shayne: My wallet and my mobile.

JC: Pick five words to describe yourself.
Shayne: Happy, caring, faulty (at times), fun and fearful.

JC: You meet a nice lady – what’s your opening line?
Shayne: Is there any Irish in you?

JC: How do you get the party started?
Shayne: (Laughing), I arrive and do a Riverdance.

JC: If you did not sing, what would you do?
Shayne: I’d play football.

JC: You are having a dinner party, name four famous people you would invite?
Shayne: Simon Cowell, Sharon Osborne, Elton John, my mum.

JC: What would you serve for that dinner: starter, main course and desert?
Shayne: Ali Oli, meat and potato pie and Hagen-das ice cream.

JC: Who was the last person you punched?
Shayne: My manager, because he smokes.

JC: When was the last time you cried?
Shayne: When I hit my manager.

JC: Are you superstitious?
Shayne: I can be.

JC: What are your fears?
Shayne: Climbing.

JC: Your all-time greatest musician and song?
Shayne: 'Sacrifice' by Elton John.

JC: Name your top desert island discs?
Shayne: Keane 'Hopes & Fears', Scissor Sisters 'Ta-Dah', and my own album (smiling).

JC: Why Manchester United?
Shayne: I grew up being a fan and have never quite outgrown them – they’re a great team.

JC: Where are you off to once you finish here?
Shayne: Malaysia, Taiwan and China.

JC: Advertising slogan that would describe you?
Shayne: "The Only Way Is Up".