Matt Cardle first found fame winning the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. A Christmas number one and UK Platinum album followed, as did other well-received records. Roles in musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, Strictly Ballroom and Memphis (opposite the Midlands’ very own Beverley Knight) took his career in another direction and earned him significant acclaim. Now, he’s playing William Shakespeare in hit musical & Juliet. What’s On recently caught up with him to find out more...

If there’s one person who epitomises theatre, it’s William Shakespeare - and singer Matt Cardle is delighted to be portraying the Bard in the current touring production of hit West End musical & Juliet.

Matt’s Shakespeare is slightly different from the one we’re used to. In the show, the bard has written the most tragic of endings for his play Romeo & Juliet - but then his wife, Anne, dares to suggest maybe a slightly more optimistic finale would be a better option!

And so the musical, which comes to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in October, tells a different story of Juliet, a woman who decides she can actually survive without Romeo and sets off on her own journey, both in love and life.

Premiered in 2019, featuring a string of hits by Max Martin - including Baby One More Time, Since U Been Gone, It’s My Life, I Want It That Way and Roar - & Juliet has gone on to become a massive success across four continents, picking up three Olivier Awards and six WhatsOnStage Awards during its West End run.

Matt couldn’t resist having a go at playing Shakespeare. He’s joined in the cast by Gerardine Sacdalan as Juliet, Lara Denning as Anne and Dr Ranj Singh as Lance.

“Shakespeare is such an icon, so just to get the opportunity to play him in any format was amazing. Then I could see what an amazing role it was and what an amazing show it was.”
Matt says audiences needn’t worry if they’re not Shakespeare afficionados; the play is a totally new take on Juliet.

“People will have assumptions because the show is about Juliet. If you like Shakespeare and his plays, then great, you’d come along, but if you have any fear that it might be Shakespearean and you’re not into that, then that’s fine because it’s not anything to do with Shakespeare. It’s spawned from one of his plays, but that’s as far as it goes. There’s a mention of it at the beginning, but the rest is absolutely brand new - and a joy. 

“Throughout the rehearsal period you have to find your Shakespeare. I have to find how he sits in my body and how he sits in my voice and all those kinds of things, which is so much fun. We get to play and have a lot of fun finding out who he is within the guidelines of the script. I didn’t want to delve too deep into researching the real Shakespeare because this is a comedy. The show is so far removed from anything Shakespearean that it’s good to have a fresh take on everyone.”

In the role, Matt has the chance to perform some hit pop songs. 

“The first song I sing is Larger Than Life by the Backstreet Boys. There’s a lot of Shakespeare’s ego at play during that first song, and I don’t feel that I have much of an ego, if at all, so shooting off like I have one is probably the biggest challenge for me in that song.

“Then I sing Backstreet’s Back by the Backstreet Boys, which is part of the boy band scene, which is absolutely hilarious. I never thought I’d be doing that, but it’s an amazing song. Then I sing Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake.

“The way the production seamlessly uses the music of Max Martin is really quite something. Two or three of the songs come in almost as if they were the punchline of a joke. I’d never thought that would happen with Oops!...I Did It Again or I Kissed A Girl. It’s hilarious.”

Matt first shot to fame when he won television talent show The X Factor in 2010. His first single, When We Collide, charted at number one and has sold more than a million copies. In 2015 he branched out into acting, taking the role of DJ Huey Calhoun in the musical Memphis alongside Wolverhampton’s Beverley Knight.

“It was very much a baptism of fire when I did Memphis. It’s an incredible show, and it was an incredible role. It was ginormous! I was barely ever off stage in that show. I’d done little bits of acting along the way as I was growing up - not in a professional sense or barely in an amateur sense - so it was something that I didn’t know I had in me. I absolutely fell in love with it - the acting is one of the, if not the, most important parts of this whole process for me.”

Going on to play Wally Strand in Strictly Ballroom and Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar, Matt is keen to try his hand at more stage or screen work in the future.

“I love musical theatre, but I also love theatre as a whole, and I definitely would do a straight play or drama. I would love to do anything like that, but the opportunity has to be right and has to fit right with what I’m doing at the time.”

Alongside acting, Matt has continued his musical career and has been working on a new recording.
“My fifth studio album will be out on January the 10th and I can’t wait! It’s my best album by far to date, and I’m just really excited for people to hear it.”

Matt is thankful for the opportunities his X Factor win has provided. “The X Factor has done many wonderful things for me, and I look back with great fondness. It’s a tough industry, and I would say to anyone that if it really is all you’ve ever wanted and all you can do, then go for it - but you need that ‘never ever give up’ mindset. It’s really tough, but when it works out, it’s the best thing you can imagine.”

For now, Matt is looking forward to the next few months on the road with & Juliet.“I’ve toured all over the UK and Ireland and Europe so much in my life. I usually tour with just a band and a crew and people from the management and the label - and that’s like a small family - but with & Juliet, this is like a ginormous family coming with us. It’s lovely to get round and be with that family unit.

And it’s great to be with this show. It was so successful in the West End and around the world. It’s won so many awards and gained so much of a following - it has a huge fan base unlike any other I’ve known. 

“This is one of the most joyous two hours you’ll spend in a long time. It will have you laughing, it will have you crying, it will have you up dancing. The message that runs through the show is that love is love - you can love whoever you want, you can be whoever you want - set to the most iconic pop tunes of the last 20 years. I defy anyone not to have the best time ever.”

Feature by Diane Parkes

& Juliet shows at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 October. The hit musical then returns to the region in 2025, showing at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 22 April to Saturday 3 May, and then at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, from Monday 12 to Saturday 17 May