Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones has spent the past two-and-a-half decades entertaining fans with number one albums and hit singles but his musical success could have been sidelined in the early 2000s if he'd fancied a starring role in box office hit, Moulin Rouge.
It turns out that the casting team behind the Baz Luhrmann-directed musical, which stars Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman, had requested that the Cwmaman rocker come in and audition for an unknown part, but the singer didn't end up going.
Speaking, alongside bandmate and longtime best mate Richard Jones, on the Cat Deeley and Edith Bowman podcast, Friends Will Be Friends, Kelly was responding to a question from Edith about whether he'd ever thought about becoming an actor.
He told her: "No. I've been asked a few times, though. I was asked to audition for Moulin Rouge. But I didn't go."
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The hosts asked why he didn't go and Kelly replied: "I don't know. It was a long time ago. I don't know why I said no, but I didn't turn up anyway. I was asked to audition for Cardiff football team, I didn't turn up for that either. I think I just like what I do." He did not confirm if the football team in question was actually the Bluebirds.
Both Kelly and Richard were appearing on the podcast, which is available on BBC Sounds, to talk about their life-long friendship. Fans can hear the pair, who have known each other since nursery school, talk about how they formed the Stereophonics, along with drummer Stuart Cable, playing as kids in the Cynon Valley, discovering AC/DC and more music thanks to the records they nicked from Kelly's older brother, Kevin, and Richard's teenage pride over his first tattoo - which Kelly pointed out was misspelt.
The friends' close relationship continues to this day with the bandmates and best mates knowing they can rely on each other when the chips are down, with Kelly revealing that Richard was the one who drove him back and forth to hospital when his eldest child, Colby, had a cancer diagnosis as a toddler. Read more about that here.
The singer said: "I've had stuff where my kids have been in hospital and I've had to take them here and there and do chemo and Richard was always the one, I'd park my car outside his house and he'd drive me. Outside of band stuff I wish we could see each other more, but once you have a family of 10,000 it's hard to fit in anyone else, even yourself!"
Richard added: "Like Kelly said, we don't see eac other as much as we possible could. But when we do, it's easy to get back into."
To hear the episode of Friends Will Be Friends with Kelly and Richard, click here.
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