Olly Murs has credited his gorgeous fiancée with whipping him into the best shape of his life ahead of his hotly anticipated return to the limelight.
The Voice coach, 38, got engaged to bodybuilder and fitness model Amelia Tank, 30, in June and their intense joint workouts are behind his ripped new look.
But Olly admitted he was “in quite a bad place” during his single years.
The star, who releases his first album in four years this week, said: “All the cheekiness and the fun in the years I was single, it was just a facade. I was in quite a bad place at times. I didn’t talk about it to anyone. I just felt really sh**, down and lonely. I didn’t like being single.”
The Troublemaker singer met Amelia at an Essex gym in 2019 and said: “I knew after six months. I thought at the time, ‘I can’t propose now, it’s too soon’.”
But the couple did not have the easiest start to their relationship. He said: “To be fair, our first dates were pretty crap – even she admits that. I was wishy-washy, very noncommittal. I was all over the place. I had an epiphany. I was like, ‘What am I doing? She’s f***ing perfect’.”
Amelia stood by Olly as he mourned the death of friend and former X Factor colleague Caroline Flack, who took her own life in February 2020.
Then this February Olly had to cancel his summer shows to have his third major knee surgery to repair a torn ligament.
He said: “I couldn’t walk. For 12 weeks I was sat in a chair staring at four walls with crutches and Amelia having to help me to the toilet and get me in the shower. I wasn’t in a good place.”
Olly’s seventh album, Marry Me, is inspired by his love for his partner.
He added: “She definitely inspired the conversations we had in the studio, little nuggets about how she makes me feel.”
Olly proposed on a cliff in Cornwall during a walk with Amelia’s family.
The pair hope to marry next year but are yet to set a date, with Olly admitting: “I’m not stressing, she’s stressing”.
