Pop Idol is set to return to out screens for its 20th anniversary and to mark the occasion, Scottish Pop Idol star Darius Danesh is rumoured to be making a return appearance.
Bearsden's Darius, who is also known as Darius Campbell made a big impact with his ever memorable Britney Spears cover and after appearing on Pop Idol, he's gone on to even greater things.
Here we look at his life, loves and lifestyle as he's gone on to Hollywood and beyond.
Humble beginnings
Darius' first appearance was on show Popstars, which brought us acts including Hear'Say and Liberty X.
Following his now famous rendition of Britney's '...Baby One More Time' on the show, and all the different vocal techniques he showed off during the song, he was slated by the judges, however the telly audiences loved him and the very next year he popped up on Pop Idol.
Will Young and Gareth Gates were also singers that year - as they both competed for the crown in a nailbiting final- and Darius did so well he was even offered a lucrative deal from Simon Cowell for his music.
He turned it down and instead th singer who aimed to go 'multiplatinum'. produced five top 10 singles, and went to the top of the charts with hit Colourblind.
His debut album, Dive In went platinum and a buoyant Darius was in demand.
He hit the headlines once again at the age of 22 after marrying Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge, moving Stateside and instantly becoming a loving step-father to her two sons.
Twelve years later, he split from Species actress Natasha and admitted they were on and off throughout their marriage.
Darius said of their union: "That relationship was certainly not without its ups and downs. Over the course of 12 years, we broke up many times and had a period of six months apart.
"It was often a long-distance relationship for half of it. That in itself was an amazing experience, but a painful one.
"When you love someone you want to be with them."
Darius admits there was a "grieving period" following their split.
He explained: "You see, you don’t break up with one person, you break up with three. And in some ways, it’s like a death."
Multiple health scares and miracles
Darius was dealt another blow around the time of his split when his dad, Dr Booth Danesh, a gastroenterologist, was given a three month prognosis for terminal cancer after initially being diagnosed with arthritis.
His GP mum, Avril Campbell Danesh, was also told she had breast cancer in 2015, ten years later, under going, chemotherapy, radio therapy and surgery.
Both managed to recover, rather miraculously, with chemotherapy and radiotherapy curing Dr Booth's stage 4 lymphoma which had spread to his bone marrow.
Chemo shrunk the tumour which was the size of a large orange however in July 2004, he had another health battle after his heart stopped and restarted again.
Darius said: "Mum’s illness was very serious – she had a lump in her neck too. It wasn’t good and at one point, we thought we might lose her but she came back.
“My parents are the most amazing, inspiring people. Both my parents have been very lucky to have faced death and survived.
“I love them both so much, I’m so thankful they are still here and they are both so inspiring for me.”
Darius himself took seriously ill in 2017 when he collapsed and went into a near-fatal coma after promoting water filters for the Frech2o safe drinking charity.
He was showing how to use water filter bottle tops when he used a dummy version and mistakenly drank dirty water from the River Thames and developed meningitis as a result.
He had swelling on the brain, and ended up fighting for his life.
Darius said: "I drank the water for the video and raised the funds but, when I went to Glasgow to see my mum for her birthday, I collapsed.
“It turned out I had a cerebral oedema where your brain swells bigger than your skull. Dad saved my life. He got me to the hospital. They diagnosed it quickly.”
Mum Avril, who was still going through her cancer treatment, stayed by his bed after he lapsed into a coma.
Darius continued: “As I came out of the coma, I remember my mum sitting beside the bed.
“It felt upside down and wrong because my mum was going through cancer treatment. Yet she was next to me with tears in her eyes telling my brother that they almost lost me.”
He said: “My illness knocked me off my feet and I was bed-bound for three months and picked up a new respect for what my parents went through.”
Unusual friendships
In 2019, Darius was seen walking in Italy with Australian actress Rebel Wilson.
Rebel 39, seemed happy and relaxed as she strolled with the ex Pop Idol star arm-in-arm.
Darius may have met Rebel through his work as a producer in the States.
Big work commitments
Darius is big on charity ventures as well as his production work, and became an ambassador for the Prince's Trust helping disadvantaged young people. In the past he has helped to jointly raise £300,000 for the charity,
As a West End star, Darius has been in Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Gone With The Wind, From Here to Eternity and was in Funny Girl alongside Sheridan Smith in 2016.
He spends time in Scotland and LA, and worked on Daniel Radcliffe terrorism thriller Imperium in 2016, and Tomorrow in 2018.
He produced a documentary called Fountain of Youth and was executive producer on the horror movie House Red in 2018.
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