Interview: Kevin McHale On Why He Joined "Celebrity: X-Factor"

Kevin McHale is perhaps the most recognisable celebrity on the “Celebrity: X-Factor”. The 31-year-old singer and actor is best known for playing disabled student Artie Abrams on the hit show, “Glee”.

McHale previously opened for the PussyCat Dolls in 2007 when he was in a band called NTL (Not Like Them) so both him and Nicole Scherzinger have already met one another before. So what made him join the reality-singing competition and what was his favourite past performance? Find out:

What made you decide to want to take part in “The X Factor”?

I feel like most of the things I’ve done have been things I didn’t expect to do, and that sort of scared me. I’ve never been a competitor in something like this. I guess going to auditions is sort of competing, but it doesn’t feel like this. This is a whole different thing. Also, I think the number one reason is because I grew up watching this show, and I think it’s just sort fulfilling some sort of life-long dream I didn’t know I had.

So you’ve been a fan of the show for a long time?

Yeah, I really appreciate that they give someone a chance to put on a proper show; to see them how they would actually be as an artist. So I think that’s what drew me towards it. And also, at the end, when they would bring out singer’s favourite artist and surprise them in the finals, I want that moment!

Do you have a favourite?

Are you kidding? I showed that clip of Alexandra Burke and Beyonce to everyone on the ‘Glee’ set. I showed it to everybody when it happened. I was going on like, “You have to see this.” I’m like, “She’s losing it!” I really am a super fan of ‘The X Factor’ so when they asked me I was like, “Why not?” it’s such a funny, odd thing to get to do. It’s great, it’s combining all the things I love.

How are you feeling about singing for the other judges?

So during ‘Glee’, we performed on ‘The X Factor’ in the UK, and I remember meeting Simon before, and he was super, super nice. The whole illusion of him being really awful, so it had sort of faded for me, but then we were on that stage singing, and I knew we weren’t being judged but I still couldn’t look at him. I was like, “Oh God.” I was really terrified! here was one point where Amber goes up and just belted a note out in his face, and I was like, “Good. Good. Good!” I’m like, “You’re good enough to do that.” So this’ll be hard. It’s also just harder, no matter who it is, singing in an intimate environment. So this whole round, I’m really looking forward to getting over with, and hopefully, I make it on to the live shows.

Simon’s invited lots of industry experts to watch you guys audition, how are you feeling about that?

I think regardless of who it is, to me, it’s more about what is the vibe of the night. So if it is more like a lawn party type of thing, regardless of how terrifying the people are, that, I think, will make me feel a little better. I say that, but I don’t know if that’s how I’ll actually feel. Because I also have terrible nerves.

How was it meeting all the other celebs?

I confessed to Olivia how oddly nervous I was. I didn’t think I would be. It’s like, “You’re just going to go meet people. I can talk to people all day. That’s easy.” But pulling up at X Factor HQ I felt irrationally nervous about it. Also, I think it was the really first step into this whole new journey, and I had nothing else to compare it to. It was more the format of it. It was more nerve wracking than anything else, and luckily, everybody else was super, super nice. Olivia said I seemed really cool and confident, which is hilarious because I had already sweat through my shirt!

What would it mean to you to get to the live shows?

I would just be really, really excited. Really excited to get to do it because then they have a full production to help with your performance, getting to perform like that is the dream. Give me a little pyro and some back-up dancers. I love it all!