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Shayne Ward reveals daughter has come on 'leaps and bounds' being homeschooled in lockdown
21 June 2020, 15:37
Shayne spoke to Heart about his new charity single, family life with partner Sophie Austin and daughter Willow, and also revealed some new skills he'd picked up during lockdown...
Shayne Ward has shocked fans with his return to music, releasing a one-off charity single to raise money for the NHS during lockdown.
The star, 35, rose to fame after winning the second series of X factor, and enjoyed a successful music career throughout his 20s before moving on to acting, with his most notable role being a three-year run on ITV's Coronation Street playing Aidan Connor.
Shayne is now a father to Willow, two, with partner Sophie Austin, and spoke to Heart from his stunning home about how his short return to music came to be.
The star explained that the song - which he sung for the final night of his time on The X factor - was a favourite of his mum's, and that's she's been begging him release it for a whopping 15 years.
He added that he knew if he was going to release the song at all, it had to be for a good reason: "It feels great because when I agreed to do it for the NHS it felt completely right."
He continued: "The decision was made with some great friends of mine, and it wasn't initially to get into the charts, it was to get it out there and raise as much money and awareness.
"Then once it was out there, that hunger comes back from my pop star days, I used to love the buzz I got from getting into the charts and promoting it.
"And it's doing nice, it's great to hear it on the radio and see people reaching into their pockets for the NHS".
Not only did the star record the single all at home, but he filmed and edited the whole music video that's on his YouTube.
While many would assume the fancy-looking music video was shot by professional, Shayne revealed he'd locked himself in a dark room, used some of his ring lights and his daughter's blackout blinds as a background.
Pretty impressive for someone who'd never been on the editing side of the camera before right?
Shayne also revealed to us how lockdown's been going with Sophie, 36, and their daughter Willow, stating that he loves spending more time with the girls and doesn't mind the 5am wakeup calls.
He said: "Like a lot of couples you're gonna have your highs and your lows, usually if there's a low you can go out for a drive etc and you can't do that anymore, it's how you figure out if you really get on, and we do!"
Shayne continued: "Sophie's been homeschooling Willow which is fantastic, she's come on leaps and bounds with her talking and colours and numbers.
"We've also been doing loads of TikToks, every time I get a knock on the door I know it's gonna be for a TikTok!"
