A chat with JOE’s Style Icon Dermot O’Leary

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.

This last year I’ve been going to Spencer Hart who does great bespoke stuff but who also makes great off-the-peg suits, there are a couple of lads who run a company called Tom Sweeney, and they’re amazing – their suits fit like a glove. On the high street, a suit by Paul Smith never lets you down.

Tom, my stylist, introduced me to Edward Sexton by saying that everyone who wears suits for a living should own at least one Edward Sexton suit. Edward’s a Sixties tailor who’s suits were worn by the likes of Mick Jagger for his wedding.

So I got one of his suits, which is probably a little bit more ‘out there’ compared to what I’d have normally chosen, but you’ve to take a chance occasionally.

JOE: When you go out on stage in front of a TV audience of tens of millions, does wearing a good suit make a difference to your confidence?

Dermot: Absolutely. You’ve got to feel good. You’ve got to feel confident. For the recent National Television Awards, which I hosted, I wore this brilliant dinner suit by Hardy Amies, who was the Queen’s tailor. Stepping out on stage I felt like a million dollars and like I was meant to be there and was ready to do business.

Even if you’re stepping into a meeting you feel better about yourself if you feel you look your best. I’ve decided that I’m going to try to wear a suit every day. You have to allow yourself a bit more time to get ready, but it’s worth it.

You meet people who resent wearing a suit. That to me just means they’re wearing the wrong suit.

Ireland has a great tradition of wearing suits. Not just in the cities, farmers would wear suits. Both of my grandfathers were never out of suits, and there was a dignity to that. I’d like to see more suit wearing when I’m next in Dublin.

JOE: There was a time when men wouldn’t be seen dead out and about in public unless they were in a suit and wearing a hat.

Dermot: Sadly, I don’t think we’re ever going to get back to that wonderful Mad Men era of chaps wearing hats. I saw a picture of Houdini the other day getting chained up, and he was surrounded by a sea of hats. Everybody was wearing a hat and it looked so stylish. Wonderful.

I feel that in many ways I was born too late – just the pace of life, certainly the way people dress and, to some extent, people’s manners. I did a skit a little while back with Bruce Forsyth and it was great talking to him about how things used to be in TV.

JOE: So would you like to see yourself as the new Bruce? With the X Factor you’ve carved yourself a nice niche hosting the biggest show on Saturday night telly. It’s a big ol’ gig, isn’t it?

Dermot: It’s huge. When I first did the X Factor I was worried, on something so big, whether I’d be able to put my personality across in the same way as I’d been able to on Big Brother. But there’s something lovely about working on something that so many people sit down to watch together and feel a real part of.

When you’re presenting something live like the X Factor you have to be yourself, in as much as you’re being the person you’d be at a party, the public-facing version of yourself. It’s not the same you as sits down and has a meal with your family, but it’s still you.

I don’t think I could ever be an actor. I just don’t think I have the aptitude. I’m much more suited to being myself on TV.

JOE: Are you happier doing live TV?

Dermot: Oh yeah. I don’t really like doing pre-recorded television where you’ve got to do take after take after take.

JOE: When you’re off duty are you able to walk the streets and have a normal life where you can go out and get drunk without having to worry about your image or what might appear in the papers?

Dermot: Yes, I can. It’s not so much about getting drunk, it’s about the person you become when you get drunk. Getting drunk doesn’t mean you have to become obnoxious and wander around the streets with a kebab in your hand at the end of the night. It’s perfectly possible to go out and enjoy a few drinks with your mates.

A lot of these celebrities you see in the papers are there because they go to places where the photographers are and it’s all a bit set up. Unless you’re very unlucky, you don’t have to get photographed every time you’re out and about and maybe have a few too many.

JOE: We’ve touched on the subject of the X Factor. So what’s the story? Are you going to be presenting the American version of the show?

Dermot: I really don’t know. That’s the honest answer. My waters are telling me that I won’t get the job. All I know is that I’m on the shortlist and that I’m the only non American on the shortlist.

Logically, I’d say that if there are four Americans and myself, then the odds are that it’ll be an American that gets it.

It may be a case of not having too many accents on the show, and if that were the case I’d get that, but I’d be gutted, because I really want the job.

JOE: But surely Simon Cowell’s the one in charge and he could give you an answer. It’s not like he doesn’t know your work...

Dermot: He is in charge, but there are a lot of boxes to tick, a lot of elements to think about and a lot of executives at FOX [who are putting on the show in the States] are involved. American X Factor will be a huge show, so they need to get everything right.

Finding out is a bit of a ‘drip, drip’ process. I’d be lying if I said the wait was easy, because you have to put your career on hold while they decide who gets the job. Even if I don’t get it, going for the job was a no brainer. You have to go for an opportunity as big as that. You have to take the gamble.

In the second part of our interview: Dermot talks women and dealing with those showbiz oddities known as Louis Walsh and Michael Jackson.