Paul Potts - The Mobile Phone Salesman Who Became An Opera Champion

by Benson Agoha | Entertainment

The story of a Mobile phone salesman who works at the CarPhone Warehouse, know he has the voice, but never had the confidence, was amazing.

For a man who was reportedly on the brink of bankruptsy, Paul Potts is now worth a net $10 million (£6.5 million).

As the original Britain’s Got Talent winner, Paul Potts has gone on to sell millions of records and had a film made about his life - but the audition which sparked this success was all down to the toss of a coin, wrote the Crawley News yesterday, following an interview.

* Paul Potts with wife Julie Anne

In simple terms, he would not have attended that competition, but for a kind-hearted colleagues who agreed to cover his shift.

Paul told the Crawley News he found it bizzarre his audition became so popular even though he never foresaw it.

“It is utterly bizarre to me that more than double the number of people living in the UK have watched that audition online, when it was a moment I didn’t ever see happening for me.

“It was the first series of Britain’s Got Talent so nobody had heard of the show and I only found out about it by chance when I clicked on a pop up advert on my laptop.

“I really couldn’t decide whether to apply or not.

“I remember checking my reflection in the screen and thinking I had the perfect face for radio.

“I made the decision to flip a coin to either go for it or close the advert and never think about it again.

“Looking back now luckily it handed on heads.

“But even then I still only went to the audition at the last minute because it was on a Saturday, which is a nightmare day working in retail, so I had to find someone to cover my shift at Carphone Warehouse.”

Listen to Paul Potts, from South Wales, as he sings "Nessun Dorma" on the 2007 version of Britain's Got Talent. Needless to say, he went on to win.

Watch the video:

* The Audition that made him

Read the full interview at www.crawleynews.co.uk.