Olly Alexander is set to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday (May 11) at the Malmö Arena in Sweden. The singer-songwriter, 33, was confirmed to be the UK’s entry at Eurovision during last year’s series on Strictly Come Dancing.
He will no doubt be hoping not to follow in the footsteps of Mae Muller, who performed at last year’s Eurovision with her track ‘I Wrote A Song’ and ultimately came in last place. Olly first took the music charts by storm in 2014 when his band Years & Years were signed to Polydor, but he is also an actor.
To celebrate his place in the contest, Olly recently appeared in EastEnders as himself. Walford residents welcomed him to The Queen Vic as a friend of Johnny Carter’s (Charlie Suff) and took selfies before wishing him luck. As Olly is also an actor is slotted in the BBC One soap perfectly, but fans may be wondering where else they have seen him before.
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In 2013, Olly also appeared in the popular TV show Skins playing the role of Jakob for two episodes. But his first appearance on the small screen came in 2008 when he portrayed the role of Ned in the movie Summerhill before starring as Hayden Wishart in the series Lewis one year later.
In 2009, Olly then appeared in a short list of movies including Tormented, Enter the Void, and Dust before starring as Prince August in the 2010 hit film Gulliver’s Travels opposite Hollywood star Jack Black. He’s also acted on stage in the West End alongside Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw in Peter and Alice.
But his acting career reached new heights when he starred as Ritchie Tozer in It’s A Sin which follows a group of young gay men living and dying through the Aids epidemic in the 1980s. The five-part Channel 4 series set in London and is funny, vibrant, and heartbreaking. It bagged a series of accolades including a National Television Award and British Academy Television Craft Awards.
Olly rejected calls to pull out of the Eurovision
Olly has rejected calls to pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest in protest against Israel’s inclusion. Instead, he expressed his wish for peace, but said he believes in the unifying power of music. He was responding to an open letter by more than 450 LGBTQ artists, individuals and groups urging him to boycott the event over the Gaza conflict, reports BBC News.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Alexander explained why he believes it is the right decision to stay in the competition. “As a participant I’ve taken a lot of time to deliberate over what to do and the options available to me,” he wrote.
“It is my current belief that removing myself from the contest wouldn’t bring us any closer to our shared goal”. Alexander said he had been speaking to some of the other Eurovision contestants, and they had agreed that by taking part in the contest, they could use their platform “to come together and call for peace.”
The It’s A Sin actor added that he “wholeheartedly” supported action being taken to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the return of all hostages. He added: “I hope and pray that our calls are answered and there is an end to the atrocities we are seeing taking place in Gaza.” It is understood that Alexander was not speaking on behalf of the BBC and he did not break the broadcaster’s social media guidelines.
Who is Olly Alexander’s ex-boyfriend?
Olly’s last celeb relationship was in 2015 with Clean Bandit musician Neil Milan Amin-Smith. The pair split up due to scheduling conflicts with their music careers. Speaking at the time to Attitude about the breakdown of the relationship, Olly said: “We’ve had less and less time to spend together and the time we did have together were such short periods it put so much pressure on our relationship.” As of 2024 Olly is thought to be single.
Olly’s health battles
Olly has previously opened-up about his health battles including self-harming and bulimia during his his teenage years and 20s. During an interview with The Guardian in 2021, he said: “I was writing down: don’t eat, don’t eat, don’t eat. Did he have a weight problem? I was a little chubby at primary school, but no.
“It was something I could control. I felt very out of control in the rest of my life. I was struggling with my sexuality, my parents were divorcing, and I wanted to punish myself.”
He added: “Bulimia carried on well into my 20s, but it became less and less frequent. It’s really hard to hold down any kind of job if you’re throwing up food all the time, and ultimately you have to choose.”
Olly explained how bulimia took over his life and how a hospital dash left his mum devastated. He said: “I got taken into hospital once with my mum because I had this irregular heartbeat, which can happen through constant purging, and that really scared me.
“I thought I’d done something irreparable to my body, and my mum was so distraught. She couldn’t understand why her son was throwing up all the food she was trying to give him. She found out because I hadn’t cleaned the toilet properly.”
Olly Alexander will represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, from 8pm on BBC One.
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