It's just minutes before show time and The Script gather in their dressing room for their Cheeky Cheers ritual.
Singer Danny O’Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power clink their plastic glasses together; vodka and cranberry juice for Danny and Mark and ginger ale for non-drinking Glen.
We are led the few yards to backstage. The boys are springing around, on edge, like sportsmen about to race onto the pitch. In the darkness they bond by forming a circle and linking hands.
Boys on tour: Danny O'Donoghue, posed with The Script bandmates Mark Sheehan and Glen Power, has opened up about his tumultuous year
‘Keep close behind me’, urges Danny as he climbs towards the stage, signaling to security that I’m with the band, so I’m not dragged away.
Danny leaps onto the stage and there is a roar of applause and the flash of cameras. Then their music strikes up, the crowd – mostly glammed-up women who have queued outside the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena for hours – goes crazy.
Yes, from my vantage point accompanying them on tour, it’s clear that The Script are a major draw. And now that Danny has quit his coaching job on BBC1’s talent show The Voice, it’s business as usual for the group.
He won’t be returning for a third series next year, even though he steered fellow Irish singer Andrea Begley to success last month, and is following fellow judge Jessie J through the exit door.
Moving on: Danny has decided to quit The Voice and has admitted that he's finally begun a new relationship
Back to the music: The band are back to working on their music and, admitting that it's what they want to put all their efforts into
Now the other members of the panel, Sir Tom Jones and Will.I.Am are also considering their future with the show.
But Danny’s decision to go back on the road full time, will come as a huge relief to the other members of The Script.
Throughout the last series there were strong rumours that they had become frustrated by Danny’s involvement with the show, in spite of the huge boost it gave the band’s profile.
Part of the problem, it was said, was The Voice took up so much of his time that The Script couldn’t take advantage of all the extra publicity Danny brought them, and they had had to turn down dozens of lucrative gigs.
However, the band had made a joint decision that Danny should accept the invitation to go on The Voice in the first place - and that they would all split his fee. ‘Yes, we share everything we do,’ they chorus in unison when I ask about it.
But wasn’t that a bit harsh on Danny? After all, he was the one doing all the mentoring work. Not at all, he insists; it’s just good business. ‘While I’m doing that, they are doing other things,’ he explains.
However, now that Danny is firmly back in the fold full-time, The Script are rejuvenated and ready to take on the world!
Back in the fold: Danny can now dedicate all his time to the band after giving up his other commitments
Passionate: The band have admitted that their main priority is now their music and working together
The Voice has not only done wonders for The Script’s profile; it has turned 32-year-old Danny into a household name. ‘We brought ourselves to a much wider audience by me doing the show,’ he agrees.
‘Anybody watching it knows it’s about music — and they know we’re about music — so I think we did ourselves justice by me going on it. The power of getting involved in a Saturday night TV show is outrageous.’
What he didn’t expect was to find a fan at Buckingham Palace. The Script were selected to play in front of the Queen during her tour of the BBC’s new London headquarters in June.
She visited the Radio 1 Live Lounge where the band played with newcomer, singer Indiana. ‘The request for The Script to play came from the Palace but I have no idea who,’ says Danny. ‘On their way out a lady-in-waiting told me they watch The Voice so I can only presume I‘ve made some kind of impression but I don’t know with whom.’
The Queen sat just feet away from the band as they sang David Bowie’s classic anthem Heroes. The song includes the verse “I will be king and you, you will be queen.”
Conscious that Prince Philip had been admitted to hospital the previous evening Danny asked for the Palace to approve the lyrics, not wishing to offend Her Majesty, and received the O.K. just 15 minutes before the performance.
He decided to be cautious anyway and thought it would cause less offence if instead of him singing the line he should change the gender and get Indiana to sing “I will be queen and you, you will be king.”
Sell-out shows: The Irish band have a worldwide fanbase and are in the process of recording new material
Heartthrob: Danny has never been lacking in female attention, but he seems to have found a new love
‘I didn’t want the words to appear offensive so I swapped them round,’ he says. ‘The Queen did seem a bit distracted when we were playing. I can understand that. The Duke was in hospital for exploratory surgery. I am sure it weighed on her mind.
‘But the impression I got was of an incredibly strong woman able to continue and not really let it show at all.
‘From where I was she looked like she really enjoyed it’, says Danny. ‘Afterwards she said something like, “That was really lovely.”
They explained to the Queen that singer Indiana was due to play Glastonbury Festival. ‘She said “Glastonbury; that’s the place with all the mud, isn’t it?” I said, “Yes, you would probably have to put on your Royal wellies if you want to make it down.” It was hilarious.’
The band had known they were to play to a special guest but weren’t told who until five days before. ‘When I found out it was the Queen I thought it was very strange they had chosen us but a massive compliment.’
Looking back on this year’s series of The Voice, Danny agrees that it seems to have generated a lot of tension.
At one point Jessie J stormed off because she was furious with Will.i.am. ‘Jessie was swearing her head off and stormed off stage. She needed five minutes to cool off, she was so incensed at Will’s decision. But later that night they hugged and made up.
‘Jessie doesn’t like the things a lot of people say. She’s her own woman,’ says O’Donoghue. ‘We were all able to take criticism on the chin a bit more this year. We were more boisterous with each other. I know Will can take it if I turn around to him and say, “You’re an idiot,” as I did on the show. He wouldn’t take it to heart, and afterwards we’d be in the studio writing together.'
Winner: Danny's contestant Andrea Begley won this year's series of The Voice, although he has now decided to quit
Had enough: Danny is concentrating on his music career now, after The Voice took up so much of his time
He was less flattering in a reported comment about Leanne Mitchell, last year’s winner not putting enough effort into her career after her album sold only 895 copies in its first week of release. ‘I was just saying you’ve got to have your music as ready as possible and get it out as soon as you can.’
His protege Bo Bruce put her album out at around the same time but O’Donoghue contends, ‘If I was able to get it out sooner I would have.’
As you would expect he stands by his winner, this year, Andrea Begley and wants to work with her again.
He is not disconcerted that The Voice was soundly beaten in the ratings by Britain’s Got Talent which he doesn’t see as a rival. ‘We are a singing contest not a talent show. But the producers may feel it is time to take stock and see if any changes to be made next year’.
During the first series, Danny split up with his Lithuanian model girlfriend of four years Irma Mali. So is there a new woman in his life?
The singer is cagey on the subject. ‘I get so engrossed in what I do, there hasn’t really been that much room for anybody else,’ he tells me, although admits, ‘But I am now dating a special someone’.
Towards the end of the first series of The Voice last May, rumours abounded that Danny was having an affair with Bo Bruce, the aristocratic contestant he was mentoring.
Bo (real name Lady Catherine Anna Brudenell-Bruce) is the daughter of the Earl of Cardigan, from whom she is estranged.
Hers was an unhappy childhood and Bo had taken out a restraining order on her father and successfully won a personal battle against drink and drug abuse.
Viewers saw Danny take on a protective role during filming — he was in tears when she spoke of her mother’s illness — and rumours of a romance were fuelled further when the pair performed a passionate duet and were photographed together in public.
‘I didn’t deny or confirm the speculation,’ Danny says. ‘I found it funny. By not saying anything, it created its own buzz. I thought I’d use it, and help Bo get publicity’
In fact all members of The Script worked with her. Recalls guitarist Mark, ‘When there was all thie speculation about Danny and Bo, he told us, “this is getting out of hand”. But I said we could use all the attention to help her.
Big decision: Both Danny and Jesse have announced their decision to leave the show with their replacements yet to be named
Helping hand: Danny enlisted friend Dido to help him out with his coaching on the BBC show
‘Me and Glen would go out the back of the studio and have a cigarette with her. We could easily have been photographed with her, and people could have said the same thing about either of us – that we were in a relationship with her,' says Danny. ‘The true story is that I am still working with her. I co-wrote her single Alive.’
The Script are cautious with their money. They have bought themselves homes in suburban West London, but nothing ostentatious. Mark’s one treat is a custom-built whisky bar boasting more than 100 rare bottles.
Most of their money has been reinvested in their growing business empire, which includes their own record and music publishing company.
Mark and Danny were in a boy band called My Town as teenagers back in 1996. They then moved to America, spending 11 years writing music for other, bigger names: Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Boyz II Men.
Finally, they decided to strike out on their own, teamed up with Glen and The Script was formed on - they all chime in - ‘08-08-08’.
It was a wise move; their three albums have to date sold more than five million.
On tour, the band keep busy during the day by writing and recording in a portable studio, erected in a quiet space backstage and equipped with its own soundproof audio booth. It keeps them out of mischief, they say, and means they can ready their next album.
Touring is an essential part of their success, but it takes its toll, particularly on Mark, 34, who keeps in touch with his wife Rina and three children via the internet. ‘We meet at the Skype bar as we call it, as often as possible, with a drink in hand, and have a little chat. Rina comes to see me when she can, though it’s hard with the kids at school.’
The guitarist is a forceful character and the driving force behind the band. He confesses he’s the hardest drinking, too. ‘I am sure the guys will probably think I drink too much — but that’s life on the road.’
Drummer Glen Power gave up drinking two years ago, after a couple of gigs when he was so hung-over he nearly fainted on stage.
Mark and Danny’s relationship has been likened to Del Boy and ‘Plonker’ Rodney in TV’s Only Fools And Horses. They laugh at the notion, but maybe there’s a grain of truth there.
Mark’s the hustler, while Danny admits ‘if it was left to me, I’d be sitting in the corner waiting to be discovered’.
And though they admit they have their ‘screamers’ — arguments that those who hear them are convinced mean the end of the band — Danny says they’re always about the music, never personal.
False rumours: Danny has admitted that there was never any romance between him and Bo Bruce
‘Even Danny has said to me, we’ve been friends since childhood, but he’s never heard me speak about the loss of my parents at all. The first time he ever heard it was in a song.’
Danny’s father died unexpectedly of a stomach aneurysm just four months after Mark’s mum.
The pair seem to have parallel lives. Both are the youngest of six children. Both learned early on that they had to shout to be heard.
Both turned the grief at their parents’ loss into music - in the form of fans’ favourite If You Could See Me Now.
Each time they perform it, there is a moment of contemplation, just before they start, when they remember their parents. ‘On stage when I sing it I do feel my father is looking down on me,’ Danny says.
Meanwhile, as my tour with them continues, that night’s show in Cardiff ends and Danny and Mark, still buzzing, regale us with on-the-road tales. Talking about their time in America, working with celebrated R&B producers, Danny says: ‘When I was growing up I didn’t want to be a musician — I wanted to be black.’
That night, they sleep on the tour bus on the journey to the next gig in Brighton, and they have their portable studio up and running soon after breakfast. They work until late afternoon, eat dinner at 5.30pm, then hold a meet-and-greet with fans.
Among them is five-year-old Leo Ask from Hove, almost totally blind and suffering from life threatening ailments. He tells them he plays The Script’s music every night in bed.
Leo starts singing Hall Of Fame to Danny who, visibly touched, kneels down next to him and joins in. Leo complains: ‘That’s my song!’
Danny gives Leo some of his bracelets; Leo’s mum gives Danny a plastic wristband advertising Leo’s viskid.com charity, which the singer wears at the gig.
Then, it’s back to the dressing room. ‘We like to have one hour to ourselves,’ Mark explains. ‘We like to be warmed up when we go on stage — unlike a lot of bands who only warm up around the fourth or fifth song.
Danny chips in: ‘We never talk about a show after we come off stage, because it’s the wrong time. Emotions are so high. Before I go on, I pace the hallways like a caged tiger.’
Last love: Danny split form long-term girlfriend Irma Mali last year, but has now admitted that he's found someone new
Prior to each show, roadies are sent off to buy a bizarre array of items. In Cardiff it was Tom Jones masks. In Brighton it’s a deck chair, beach balls – and, favourite headgear of holidaying Brits – knotted handkerchiefs.
The props are for a specially created stage photo opportunity which will be posted on Twitter and Facebook to promote online conversations. It’s another reminder that The Script are canny businessmen as well as talented musicians.
That night is a repeat of the night before: the audience going wild and The Script putting everything into their performance. Finally, the fans reluctantly allow them to come off stage, and Danny, Mark and Glen dive into the tour coach en route to the next gig.
They are drenched in sweat and euphoric as they tuck into a sandwich supper. That’s rock and roll.
Source: The Daily Mail
