Pop bubble bursts but Noel's back in a flash
Former Hear'say singer Noel Sullivan has been there and bought the T-shirt, writes Jonpaul Hedge.
One moment you're churning out number one singles, selling in excess of 1million copies a throw.
Then just a few years after it all began, it's over.
What on earth do you do?
It's all right for band-mate Myleene Klass with her God given gifts and fine pair of lungs, Marks & Spencer will always be able to find a pair of pants for her to model — but what about the others?
It's fair to say that for a time, Noel struggled to find what to do next.
"It was difficult if I'm honest," he said.
"When the band stopped. some doors opened but then other ones closed.
"It was a great part of my life and I have no regrets.
"For someone in the early 20s it was just the most amazing thing to do.
"But there were some re-entry problems. I don't think I handled it all that well.
"Luckily, I had real friends around me. I spent a long time working out what I really wanted to do."
Noel was born in Cardiff and lived in Caerau.
"My grandma was a classical cellist in a Paris conservatoire," he said.
"I grew up with my mum playing a lot of music in the house, kind of Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross.
"I then started singing when I was six years old.
"I sang in a choir and was lucky enough to get a scholarship.
"I then I sang in Welsh male voice choirs.
"Then, at college, I did musical theatre and really loved it.
"The opportunity came up for Popstars and I went for it."
As one of the first to be catapulted to fame through the power of television talent shows, Noel was one of the five chosen to be in the manufactured group Hear'Say.
Along with Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh and Suzanne Shaw, they went straight to number one with Pure and Simple, the fastest selling single of the year.
Followed by The Way to Your Love and album Popstars, there were multiple commercially successful hits over a short period of time.
"I never really had time to think about it," Noel said.
"It just happened. It wasn't something that I entered into on a conscious level."
The cracks began to show and in October 2002 they split, less than two years after first entering the limelight, citing public abuse.
In a statement from label Polydor, it said the group felt 'they had lost the support of the public and Hear'Say had come to a natural end'.
So after spending some time in Vegas and at home with friends and family in Cardiff soul searching, Noel set his sights on musical theatre.
His debut was in 2003 at the Jersey Opera House playing the role of Danny in Grease.
He then went on to play the role of Nick Piazza in Fame at the Edinburgh Playhouse in 2004.
In 2005 Noel took on the role of Will on the premier national tour of Loveshack off the back of which he was invited to take part in the new musical version of Flashdance.
"I'm loving it," he said.
"I have to say that it is the best job that I've had.
"This is the first time I've been able to make a role my own from the outset.
"We've been doing it a while but it still feels really fresh.
"The bosses have been back and tweaked the show. That tends to keep us on our toes and keep it fresh.
"I love it."
"The tour is going really, really well and I'm going to do it until May.
"We have got a residence in Oxford. It will break the travelling up.
"If it goes to the West End, I'd like to consider doing it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.
"Before this I had been offered a few shows. But they were all along the lines of the ex-pop star route.
"To be honest, I'm still working on getting my surname back.
"I lost it in 2001 when I was just 'Noel' in Hear'Say and I do hope that this production will go somewhere to getting it back."
He added: "It's just to nice to be recognised for something else.
"It was such a long time ago now."
Based on the Paramount Pictures film, Flashdance is a musical about holding on to dreams and love against all odds. It features an outstanding score including smash hits Maniac, Gloria and the title track Flashdance — What a Feeling.
Set in Pittsburgh, USA, it tells the story of 18-year-old Alex, a welder by day and a 'flashdancer' by night, whose dream is to obtain a place at the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy.
Renowned choreographer Arlene Phillips, most recently in the spotlight as one of the judges in the popular BBC TV series Strictly Come Dancing, has put together some breathtaking choreography for Flashdance which promises 'pulsating raw energy'.
It plays in Torquay next week and Noel is hoping it might lead to other things when he leaves the tour next summer.
"It was nerve-racking on opening night," he said.
"Producer David Ian came to see the show again later on.
"He came to my dressing room and said that he had never seen someone make a role their own so quickly. Coming from him that's just the most amazing compliment.
"He had no need to come back, he's just a genuinely nice guy."
He added: "I would love to develop some more acting roles.
"I'd also really like to do a straight play, perhaps some TV and film.
"Music is my first love though."
His love for music must come from the heart to have such a passion despite the pop bubble bursting so publicly.
"I wouldn't change a thing," he said.
"It's been such a roller-coaster. There have been so many highs but also so many lows as well.
"My friends were just fantastic. It's only when you have those highs and lows and how you deal with them that you find out who you are."
Flashdance opens on Monday and plays until Saturday at the Princess Theatre.
Box office 0844 8472315.
