Gareth's stammer is 'cured'

Pop Idol finalist Gareth Gates has got his trademark stammer under control. Intensive therapy in the past few weeks has improved the 17-year-old's speech defect so much that it is now virtually imperceptible. Tonight, viewers watching the Graham Norton show will be amazed to see Gates speaking fluently without a single stammer.

In fact, he talks so much that host Norton quips: "Ooh! Look at Chatty Cathy. He gets his voice back, and now he won't shut up!"

The show's producer, Yore Magnusson, told the Standard: "It's quite amazing. Gareth appears to have been totally cured of his stammer. He doesn't stammer once throughout the whole time he is on camera. In fact, he carries on like a bit of a motormouth."

Stammering - or dysphemia - usually first appears in childhood and symptoms are most severe when the stammerer is under psychological stress, such as taking part in the biggest solo talent contest on British TV.

Gareth has been determined to crack his affliction with round-the-clock tuition from a leading speech therapist who has guided him through every conversation.

In slow, deliberate words, punctuated by regular breaths and encouragement from his therapist, Gareth said: "I am now on a course called the McGuire programme. The whole programme is run by recovering stammerers.

"We never adopt the role of being a fluent speaker because the moment that we start thinking to ourselves that our speech is fine, that's when we start having problems again. If I know someone really well, I'm all right with them. But I really struggle when I know there are millions and millions of people all round the UK watching. That pressure is really huge.

"I went on a course and came out of it really strong. It was an unbelievable transformation over four days. Now I have a list of people off the course that I phone on a daily basis.

"I have only had a permanent voice coach with me for a few days and it's unbelievable how it has improved me. It just shows me that I just have to practise and find the time and use the technique all the time. When you don't have anyone there and don't attend any groups, it's quite easy to slip into how it was. If I get something wrong, my therapist tells me do it again. It's really good having him here.

"In this business, being able to speak is really just as important as being able to sing - since people want to see you for who you are and the personality that you've got. The management team realise that and I'm sure they will have someone with me when I am doing speeches and things like that if I win and get a recording contract. It's down to me and I have to work hard at it."

George Samios, one of Gareth's speech therapists, said: "Gareth is getting back to speaking in a very mechanical and disciplined way. He is softening that now and soon people won't even know he is using the technique. But he'll still be doing the basic things right - taking full breaths, keeping eye contact and not avoiding words. It has been amazing seeing how far he has come. I know he's going to become a strong speaker."

Fifty thousand tickets for the first live Pop Idol gigs have been snapped up in record time. The first four shows - featuring all 10 finalists from 14 March to 16 March - sold out within five hours. An additional show on 17 March has also now sold out. The tickets sold at a faster rate than those for Britney Spears - even though the singers have not yet had a hit record between them.

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