Michael Ball, the world-renowned singer, has shared about a challenging period in his life when he had to take a break from his career due to health issues.
The singer was a guest on a repeat episode of Love Your Weekend on Sunday morning, where he spoke candidly about this difficult time alongside his duet partner Alfie Boe.
At the time, Michael was performing in the Les Miserables stage show but decided to quit after suffering a series of panic attacks.
He confessed to Alan: "I withdrew from Les Mis because I had terrible stage fright and panic attacks and walked out of the show."
When asked by Alan about the timing of these events, Michael replied: "This was 1986, right at the beginning when I had the brightest future going and I thought I'd lost it all", reports the Express.
READ MORE: New Netflix rom-com has fans 'bingeing every episode' as they demand 'we need more'
READ MORE: Lucy Beaumont opens up on 'exhausting' health condition after Jon Richardson split
Cameron Mackintosh, the British theatrical producer who produced Les Miserables, managed to convince Michael to make a comeback to the West End.
Michael revealed: "I found my way back in, thank goodness Cameron rang me up and said, "Darling, back on the horse, you're going into Phantom" and it was a pivotal moment.
Alan enquired about the duration of this ordeal, to which Michael responded: "For nine months I just stayed in my flat, I became completely agoraphobic."
When asked by the host how he coped with this situation, the opera singer admitted: "I should have talked to people but I didn't and that was the mistake I had."
Michael confessed that he still grapples with anxiety and nerves before stepping on stage, but has found ways to manage it. He mentioned tapping his hand as a technique to soothe his nerves.
With an impressive career spanning almost 40 years, Michael has made his mark in theatre, television, radio and music.
In 1992, he did the UK proud by representing the country in the Eurovision Song Contest, where he secured second place with his song One Step Out Of Time.
Love Your Weekend airs Sundays at 9:30am on ITV1 and ITVX
