MR WATKINS!!!

Ian Watkins, was born on May 8th 1976 although at what time he has no idea. If you hadn't already realised from seeing him on TV he is completely hyperactive! Which of course is where he got his nickname from, H. Thats not to say he doesn't have a serious side, it's just that he doesn't let it show very often! He grew up in Llwyniphia in Rhondda, Wales and retains that lovely welsh accent. As a child H was exactly how you would expect him to be, up to lots of naughty tricks! One of the most notable things he got up to in his spare time was buying a terrapin and letting it lose amongst a tank full of tiger fish and barb sharks. The outcome was inevitable, the terrapin ate the lot and drove his mum up the wall in the process!
The first ever item of clothing that he bought himself was a rather fetching pair of jeans with Fred Flintstone on one leg and Barney Rubble on the other. Luckily for him (and us!) his taste in clothing has certainly improved over the years, although he still maintains the cartoon on clothes theme, with the top he made famous, the monkey T-shirt! But he finally got rid of those yellow three-quarter length trews! (Sorry H- I love ya really!)
He got his first taste for showbiz when he was only nine years old, as he always enjoyed being on stage. The first celebrity he met was a Welsh guy called Max Boyce, who used to sing with giant leeks. He also claims to have met Super Ted, but we can assume that this was at one of his more hyperactive moments! The first record that H bought was by Rick Astley (who is also band mate Claire's first celebrity crush) called "Never Gonna Give You Up". The first celebrities that he fell for were Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. H thinks that STEPS' US tour buddy, the gorgeous Britney Spears is like the new Debbie Gibson. The lovely Britney was also the last person H fancied (we think it’s Holly Valance now though!). As with the rest of the band, H always wanted to go into entertainment. Although when he was younger he also wanted to become a vet. His house was said to be like a zoo, jam-packed with a vast array of animals ranging from Boris the pet tarantula, Ben the dog, his terrapin, and the fish that were left over after it had got to them, and a big fluffy lop-eared rabbit! His mum even came back home to find newts and frogs (& god knows what else!) in the bath!!!
Getting to number one with the song "Tragedy" is one of his biggest triumphs, but re-recording Beauty and the Beast is a dream come true for himself & Claire. His biggest regret was having to give up playing the guitar, and advises everyone who plays an instrument to stick with it. So far, the most expensive thing H has bought is his own house in London. Decorating has just been finished on it and he loves it loads. He got on well with the whole group but had a special bond with Claire as they both were similar ages and liked the same type of music. The two of them are constantly messing about on and off stage and are always rolling around with laughter. This can cause problems on TV interviews as H is always trying to put Claire off by saying something he shouldn’t!
If you simply couldn’t get enough of H you would have been overjoyed to hear he teamed up with Claire for the entertainment program on CBBC in January of the new millennium called 'STEPS To The Stars'. The rest of the band joined the other two at the end of each episode to perform a different STEPS song to round off the program. Bringing you a total of seven performances of your favourite pop songs as well as seven weeks of Stepping heaven. Afterwards you will of course be able to find H with the rest of STEPS as they perform their songs on TV and radio. He wasnt new to presenting, as he joined Faye last year to present an episode of the most popular MTV show, 'MTV Select'. They put together a truly unique experience with the both of them proving they cannot only sing and dance but entertain too, with a hilarious two hours of presenting. This wasn't the first time he got to present a top music show though, he joined Lisa, Claire, Lee and Faye on the hit music program CD:UK for an Easter special, winning over yet more fans in the process.
Having Benny & Bjorn writing for him was amazing and he can’t wait to achieve more of his dreams- with Claire by his side! (bless!)

GO H- GO!