A pint with...

In the first of our two-part interview, JOE caught up with the man with the good taste in smart clothes and the ear of Simon Cowell to talk about his Irishness, the joy of wearing a good suit and his hopes for an American future.

He may have an English accent, but with a full name like Seán Dermot Fintan O’Leary, the Irish roots of the man who goes by the moniker of Dermot O’Leary are obvious.

Dermot first got into TV presenting when he presented the live links to Channel 4’s ‘yoof’-oriented morning broadcasts at the weekends. He has pretty much focussed entirely on live telly since, most notably with Big Brother’s Little Brother and, more recently, the X Factor.

Around the world he is recognised as the man who introduced Michael Jackson when he made his final public appearance – the announcement of the string of ill-fated gigs at London’s O2 that had to be cancelled when the man who had a weak grip of the goings-on in the real world lost his grip entirely.

But let’s not dwell on the stuff you can read about on Wikipedia (where it was once reported that the 37-year-old presenter used to be a member of cheesy pop combo Steps).

Much more important is the fact that Dermot O’Leary is the winner of the inaugural JOE.ie Man of the Year Award for Style Icon, as voted for by visitors to JOE.ie.

By Nick Bradshaw

JOE: Congratulations Dermot...

Dermot O’Leary: Thank you. I’m chuffed... What do I get?

JOE: You get to bask in the glory of knowing that visitors to JOE.ie think you’re stylish and you get a lump...

Dermot: A lump in the throat?

JOE: A lump of Perspex finely crafted into a cool award.

Dermot: Lovely. I look forward to getting it.

JOE: So how does it feel knowing that you’re the only English-born winner among our JOE.ie Man of the Year Award winners?

Dermot: Well, I hope it’s not like my holidays in Wexford as a kid when I used to be bullied for being slightly different. But I’m very grateful to be the inaugural plastic paddy to win one of your awards. I just have to wait now for the backlash.

JOE: So it was a bit of an issue visiting as a kid?

Dermot: You do feel like you’re perceived as the runt of the litter, in a sad way. Twitter, for example, is, for the most part, very positive, and has proved to be a clever and very popular way to interact. But the only negative comments I’ve had on Twitter have been attacks along the lines of ‘You know nothing about Ireland and nor do you care anything about Ireland’ which is fairly harsh and judgemental. It makes me wonder ‘what have I said to provoke that response?’

I suppose having the background I have does make me and people like me a ‘different’ Irish to people born and bred in Ireland, but I’m watching the Six Nations and there’s no doubt who I’m cheering for.

When I was younger I felt far more of a need to beat my chest and shout about my Irishness, but now I just don’t need that anymore. I’m quite comfortable with the nationality I am. I love living in London and being a part of London society. I’m definitely a child of two fathers, but fathers that aren’t that different.

When I was younger I didn’t think there were any similarities between Irish and British. There are differences, but I think that the Irish and British are far closer in characteristics than they’d like to admit.

JOE: Had you used to come over from England a lot as a kid?

Dermot: Every summer. It was a classic first-generation upbringing. You woke up one morning at some ungodly time to drive across England and Wales to Fishguard to get the boat over, and then you’d be in Wexford for about six weeks.

JOE: So how did you find Wexford Town?

Dermot: Like all Irish towns it’s easy to get an affinity to the place. You’d get behind the hurling team, and quickly feel an affection for the place.

My dad recently brought some Irish peat back to England and I smelt it for the first time in a long time at Christmas. It bought back all sorts of memories. Immediately I was an eight-year-old kid back in my grandmother’s house.

Dee, my girlfriend, was trying to get me to sit with her on the sofa so that we could watch a DVD together, but I was transfixed by the fire. It was fantastic. I was sitting right over it, wafting the peat fumes towards me.

JOE: Bringing things right back to the present and to the award you’ve just won, do you have any advice for Craig Doyle and Paul Galvin, who came second and third behind you in the public vote for Style Icon?

Dermot: [Laughs] All I can say is that you should speak to my stylist. I took on a new guy last year called Tom Stubbs. He’s a fashion journalist – primarily a watch journalist, actually – and he’s become a really good friend whose advice I trust. With styling, it’s difficult when you’re a guy because there’s only so much you can do.

It’s all about extrapolating – you start with a great, smart, well fitting suit as the template and then you think about things like the tie, the pocket handkerchief, the cufflinks – there’s not much you can do.

In my case it’s been great to get a good relationship with a couple of really good tailors. You can also get some really good off-the-peg stuff, but you have to make sure what you get fits you perfectly.