CONCERNED Gareth Southgate fears financial fair play rules could damage his European Championship hopes as stars face burnout from extra money-consuming friendlies.

Tottenham and Newcastle have an end-of-year tour to Australia ahead of the tournament, with James Maddison, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon.

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After Saturday’s friendly against Brazil, England will play Belgium on Tuesday.

But boss Southgate is facing his worst injury crisis and Harry Kane looks set to miss both.

With fears that more Premier League teams will also head abroad in May, there are concerns that other stars will suffer injuries or fatigue.

Asked about Tottenham’s controversial match against Newcastle in Melbourne on May 22, Southgate said: “It’s going to happen more and more.

“Why? Financial Fair Play means that clubs must generate money.

We are in a bizarre world where there is more money in the game than ever before and yet everyone is trying to make more money.

“The normal way to do that is to play more games, so is that good news for us in terms of preparation? No.”

Kane, Jordan Henderson and Cole Palmer are absent on Saturday, while the battered Bukayo Saka returned to Arsenal.

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And Southgate added: “We have around 40 players and a third are not available for this match, which is the most ever.”

Kyle Walker will captain the Three Lions in Kane’s absence.

And Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney will have a chance to take the lead.

Kane has missed just one international in the last two and a half years – the 1-0 win over Australia in October.

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GARETH SOUTHGATE has broken his silence on speculation linking him with Manchester United.

The England boss, 53, has been mooted as a potential successor to Erik ten Hag should the Red Devils boss get the chance this summer.

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When asked about a possible move to Old Trafford, Southgate insisted his focus is solely on Euro 2024.

He said: ‘I’m definitely not going to talk to anyone else.

“I’ve never done that, I’ve been working for eight years and would never enjoy talking to anyone else while I have a job, so I don’t know if that answers your question.

“My focus is on the European Championships. If we had signed a contract here before, everyone would say: ‘Why are you signing a contract before the European Championship where you have to prove yourself?

“From my point of view there are two things. First of all, I’m the manager of England and I really only have one job: to try to deliver a European Championship.

“Obviously I have two important games this week.

“And the second thing is that Manchester United has a manager.

“I always find it completely disrespectful when there is speculation about a possible manager.

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“I am chairman of the LMA, so I don’t have time for that kind of thing.”

According to Air sportsMan Utd have not yet made a decision on Ten Hag’s future.

They add that the Red Devils continue to make plans for next season with the Dutchman at the helm.

Manchester City defender John Stones was asked whether he would prefer Southgate to stay in England rather than move to rivals Manchester United.

Stones said: “Personally I want him here, but it would be disrespectful to talk to a manager about a team if, in my view, it comes out of nowhere.”

IAN WRIGHT was left baffled by the omission of Kobbie Mainoo from the England squad.

The former Arsenal and Three Lions legend was in attendance as Manchester United knocked out Liverpool in the FA Cup yesterday.

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Erik ten Hag’s team won 4-3 thanks to a last gasp from Amad Diallo.

Despite the winger stealing the headlines, Wright focused his praise on Mainoo.

The 18-year-old midfielder impressed during his 80 minutes on the pitch and the retired striker believes he should be given his international debut in the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

Wright took aim at manager Gareth Southgate and said: “Why isn’t Kobbie Mainoo in the England squad?

“Come on man, come on, man was immense today.”

Wright also turned to Roy Keane and asked him the same question, but his answer was not heard in the clip.

Instead of Mainoo, Southgate selected Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher and Jordan Henderson as his central midfielders.

Fans agreed the teenage prodigy should be in the squad, with one saying: “Southgate will be thinking about why he didn’t pick him.”

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Another added: “Mainoo definitely deserves a spot. The man was on fire yesterday.”

More commented: “Mainoo is talent, he should be in the England squad.”

If he doesn’t make the choice quickly, the player could decide to switch his allegiance to Ghana.

He has represented England at under-16, 18 and 19 level.

The FA are said to be confident of retaining his services but have received no guarantees.

ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate urged fans to sack Ben White after he asked not to be picked for his country again.

Southgate, who named a 25-man squad for Brazil and Belgium, revealed the Arsenal star does not want a call-up despite his red-hot form.

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Four-cap White, 26, who signed a new four-year contract with the Gunners on Thursday, went home from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for personal reasons.

Yet Southgate says the door is still open to him, adding: “I don’t want a response. I understand that we are in a situation where that could happen.

“But he has signed a new contract so there is no doubt he has the love of the Arsenal fans.

‘The sad thing is that I would have liked to have chosen him.

“In these situations I tried to protect players. Yet that is impossible here.

“Due to the timing of the request to be taken off the longlist for our squad, I don’t think it would be right not to mention the situation we are in.

“We explained to Arsenal that we were going to do that. And when you make a decision like that, you have to support it.

“The door is open – but that is now unlikely for the euro due to the situation this month.

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“In the future I hope he thinks differently. I can’t say he doesn’t deserve to be there.”

SunSport understands the defender has not ruled out a return one day.

But Arsenal sporting director Edu called FA chief John McDermott to tell him White still did not want to be considered.

Knowing Southgate would be asked about White, Arsenal confirmed yesterday morning that he has signed until 2028.

Southgate, whose side host Brazil a week on Saturday and Belgium three days later, added: “I have to respect the decision.

“I spoke to him after Qatar and there was reluctance on his part.

“I don’t really know why that is. There is no problem between us. There is no problem with it [England No 2] Steve Holland. That has been said and I don’t like that.”

Meanwhile, Southgate fears Manchester United defender Luke Shaw, 28, could miss the Euros with a muscle injury.

He said: “The timelines suggest he will only be available in the latter stages of the season.

“You don’t know which version of the player you’re going to get.”

GARETH TAYLOR has extended his reign as boss of Manchester City’s Women’s Super League side after signing a new contract today.

The contract for the 51-year-old head coach, who led the team to FA and Conti Cup victories, will see him remain in charge until 2027.

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Taylor’s new contract comes two days after Taylor oversaw Man City’s 12th win in all competitions with their 2-1 victory against Everton in the top tier.

His team, who sit second and level with WSL leaders Chelsea, are chasing their first league title win under their gaffer.

The last time the Cityzens lifted the top trophy was under former boss Nick Cushing.

Taylor, who took over at City in May 2020, said: “I am very pleased to commit to City for another three seasons.

“I think what we are doing here and trying to achieve is a long-term project of sustainability and success.

“Our ambition was always to be at the top and we did that.

“It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people behind the scenes.

“The players have really believed in what we are trying to do and achieve.”

During Taylor’s reign, he has experienced a period of transition within the team.

This followed the retirement of English heroines Ellen White, Jill Scott and Karen Bardsley and the departure of several international stars including Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, Caroline Weir and Hayley Raso.

Over the past two years, City have strengthened their ranks with the likes of Yui Hasegawa and Mary Fowler, including Japanese and Australian stars Yui Hasegawa and Mary Fowler.

Other great signings include former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid defenders Leila Ouahabi and Laia Aleixandri.

City’s signings in January and last August included England Under-23 forward Laura Blindkilde Brown and Dutch midfielder Jill Roord, who is currently sidelined with a knee ligament injury.

And last year the club appointed ex-Denmark women’s boss Nils Nielsen as director of football for their women’s team and Charlotte O’Neil as managing director.

Taylor, whose side play Chelsea in the Conti Cup semi-final on Thursday, added: “Nils has helped in a number of ways.

“His experience as a head coach in women’s football is also very useful because you don’t talk to someone who hasn’t been there.

“Charlotte who I worked with before at the Academy.

“What she will do is be very clear in our objectives and very clear in what we can do.”

Regarding Taylor’s contract extension, Nielsen said: “I am very pleased that Gareth has agreed to continue his great work in our program for years to come.

“We have a clear strategy on how we want to move forward, and securing Gareth to lead the team is a key factor.

“Now we can all focus on ending this season in style and preparing for seasons to come by following the plan.”

Man City, who include Lionesses Quintet, Alex Greenwood, Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp, Jess Park and Khiara Keating, currently have the best defensive record in the WSL this season.

And forward Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw currently leads the WSL’s top scorer charts this season with 15 goals in 14 games at the top level.

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City’s recent wins include a hard-fought 1-0 defeat to title rivals Chelsea last month.

As well as their quest to be crowned WSL champions for the second time in their history, City are hoping to play in the Champions League again next season.

Taylor’s side last played in the competition in September 2021, when they were knocked out in the qualifying stages by Spanish club Real Madrid.

CRYSTAL PALACE will be hoping Roy Hodgson produces a shock result against Chelsea on Monday – to spare them managerial headaches.

Hodgson, 76, has been given the support to carry on despite fans turning against him and chairman Steve Parish, but that will be a difficult task if they lose.

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Parish is moving towards a move for 44-year-old Steve Cooper as the next manager, but the Eagles prefer to wait until the summer when other candidates are free.

Cooper is available after leaving Nottingham Forest, but he has been considered and overlooked before.

At Lille, Palace prefers to look at Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca, who may move at the end of the season. He was previously fascinated by the Selhurst Park club.

There is even a chance of a move for Gareth Southgate once England complete their 2024 season.

Short-term solutions are not ideal for Palace, who have searched for answers without finding any.

Julen Lopetegui has also been considered, but he would demand a big budget in the summer and be allowed to choose the players he signs.

The former Wolves boss is also in line for the job at Bayer Leverkusen if Xabi Alonso retires at the end of the season.

Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna is also keen, but comes with a £4million compensation fee and has failed to make it in the Premier League.

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Even Hodgson admits Palace's current nightmare is the toughest of his career – because of the fans' anger.

Palace have won just two of their last 14 games in all competitions and are just five points above the bottom three.

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Hodgson said: “It's the toughest period of my career for one reason and that is because the fans have turned on us so much and they're the people we can't afford to turn on us.

“If we want to win games, if this team is going to do that, they're not going to be able to do that if the fans are constantly confused about everything.

“On the other hand, it ties in with other periods in my life when I have of course been happier and more satisfied.

“It's not that long ago, it's really a three-match period that has changed the fans and made life very difficult and uncomfortable.

“But the bright spot for me was the training because of the way the players worked to get us out of this situation.

“You can only do the things you can do to change things and ask the fans to stay with the team because we need your help because we are in a very weakened situation.

“The players who have not played many first-team games at Palace will need a lot of encouragement.

“They need a compassionate eye and not an ultra-critical eye.”

With Michael Olise out for two months and Eberechi Eze sidelined for the coming weeks, Palace's attacking options are reduced.

Hodgson tried but failed to sign a striker during the January window.

The former England boss said: “We were interested in a striker.

“If the right person had come along and we had been a little lucky, it would have happened. But you have seen how few clubs managed to get attackers in the shop window.”

GARETH SOUTHGATE has given the strongest signal but he is considering leading England to the 2026 World Cup.

The Three Lions' longest-serving coach since Sir Bobby Robson had previously hinted he would be ready to quit after this summer's Euro 2024 final.

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But at last night's Nations League draw he admitted the lure of staying at the helm for another two years was one he might not be able to resist, as long as he believes he is still the right man for the job is.

Southgate said: “There's no doubt it's exciting to take on this team and it always has been.

“Ultimately we have to deliver and you have to make the best decisions for everyone.

“I won't be in a position to make that decision before the tournament.”

He added: “There are probably 55 international coaches and there is a good chance that half of them won't be here after the European Championships. That is international football.

“You have to keep winning football matches and then make decisions.

“So I'm completely relaxed about that. All my focus is on delivering the best possible tournament this summer.”

Southgate's contract runs until December.

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However, he was expected to step aside for a replacement to take charge of the Autumn Nations League matches, which saw England draw against Finland, Ireland and Greece.

He said: “We have always put this period in retrospect to think about things and make the best possible decisions for England.

“If we were to do something earlier it would be at the expense of performance in the summer, regardless of how your decision turns out.

“We have to see how the summer goes, it's that simple.

“I know what we can achieve in the summer, which is my own measure of success.

“That won't necessarily determine my decision. My only focus is to try and win the tournament for England.”

Charles III has given new insight into his first full year as king by sharing footage from his ‘Carriage Cam’ with Queen Camilla during the State Opening of Parliament in an upbeat video that rounds off the royal family’s 2023 year.

His Majesty is seen talking to his wife and waving to the crowd in a rare glimpse inside their horse-drawn carriage after it left Buckingham Palace and drove down The Mall on November 7 this year.

The images form the core of the King’s first tweet of 2024, in which he discusses the past 12 months and his duties in Britain and the Commonwealth.

There are also a number of clips of the Prince and Princess of Wales – but nothing of Prince Harry, who attended his father’s coronation in May without his wife Meghan Markle. Prince Andrew is also absent from the montage set to a fast-paced dance tune.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and other political leaders are present in the montage. Charles’ trip to Kenya this year, which the Palace considers a success, is also extensively discussed, as are Camilla’s public engagements, including with Brigitte Macron. England Manager Gareth Southgate is also in attendance.

The King’s official Twitter account today tweeted: “Thank you for all the warm welcome across the country and around the world in 2023. I wish everyone a very happy 2024.”

The film begins with the ‘Carriage Cam’ footage and then continues with a series of other high-profile events.

There are numerous clips of the King and Queen at the coronation in May, both during the ceremony in Westminster Abbey and on the balcony of Buckingham Palace afterwards.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and other leading royals are featured in the montage of images.

But there is absolutely nothing of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle or their family. Prince Andrew is also absent, but he and his brother went to Sandringham for Christmas this year with his ex-wife, the Duchess of York.

The King and Queen beamed at well-wishers yesterday during their last church visit of 2023.

The couple spent the festive period with family in Sandringham. While other members of the royal family are now set to celebrate the New Year elsewhere, Charles and Camilla attended a Sunday morning service at the Norfolk estate. Both wore warm winter coats and carried umbrellas as they walked to St. Mary Magdalene Church, smiling, waving and chatting with the crowd.

They were greeted by the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Graham Usher, and the Reverend Canon Dr Paul Rhys Williams. Camilla opted for a light blue coat, which she combined with a matching hat. She completed her elegant ensemble with black heeled boots and leather-look gloves.

The king wore a long, dark brown coat and blue trousers, brown dress shoes and a white shirt.

They will stay at Sandringham until early in the new year before traveling to Birkhall, their Scottish retreat, for the rest of the month, the Mail understands. They can then look forward to a busy 2024, with visits to both Canada and Australia.

Their latest trip to Saint Mary Magdalene comes after the royal family celebrated Christmas Day with a traditional service at the church. For the second year in a row, the disgraced Duke of York was allowed to walk with the family, while his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, made her first public appearance in years for the service.

Gareth Whitton was crowned the winner of Dessert Masters 2023 in an emotional grand final episode on Tuesday night, but it was not without its problems.

There was a shock moment during the two-course service challenge when Gareth sliced ​​open his thumb while cutting rhubarb for his first dessert.

But Gareth has claimed the incident was not as it was depicted on air.

‘On TV I was cutting rhubarb and then I cut my hand and bled. But actually I was unmoulding the entree of acacia seeds and chocolate mousse,” he said Yahoo lifestyle,

Gareth said he had a paring knife to cut the edge of the entree and this is when he cut his thumb.

He explained that as a pastry chef he was not used to using sharp knives and that the utensils in the Dessert Masters kitchen were completely new.

Despite this mishap, the pastry chef earned the highest score from judges Melissa Leong and Amaury Guichon for his final dessert, beating out fan favorites Jess Liemantara and Reynold Poernomo.

“I never actually expected that I would be here in the final…” he said after his victory.

“You know, it’s surreal that I finally got through it.”

However, Gareth’s victory did not go down well with all viewers, many of whom took to social media to express their frustrations.

Reynold, who has been a fan favorite since his first appearance on the culinary scene, once again missed out on the top spot, causing an uproar among his loyal followers.

“Boooo!” wrote a fan of the show on X, formally known as Twitter.

“Reynold got robbed, he dominated the whole match and then lost to Gareth with two standard desserts,” added another.

‘Oh no Reinold. Still my favorite dessert chef in the world,” another added.

“Reynold dominated every challenge and somehow bloody Gareth wins?” Dude doesn’t have even a fraction of Reynold’s creativity and vision, yet we have to believe he’s a better dessert chef than Reynold. This is a joke,” a third wrote.

“I think they just used Rey for power. How sad,” another viewer commented

Elsewhere, viewers also felt Jess had gotten a raw deal.

“Jess got really screwed up tonight. The Frenchman liked her dishes but gave her a score of 6 and 7, wtf,” another disgruntled fan wrote.

Meanwhile, one fan found the entire episode a disappointment, from go to woah.

‘That is why the finals must be blind tasting. Frenchie was much harsher on Reynold than anyone else…the white dude acted like it was a year 12 home economics cooking class and somehow got straight A’s against dessert artists,” one person wrote.

‘The whole episode felt so anticlimactic and off-kilter, changing the format from anything they’d done before, with the presentation being judged not for Gareth, but still for Reynold and Jess. The score doesn’t really match the comments,” wrote another.

However, there were viewers who had no drama.

‘Reynold’s stans are the biggest crybabies and the most arrogant of all the MasterChef editions. Like he’s not that great,” they wrote.

‘The underdog wins! I love it,” wrote one Gareth fan.

‘Awesome! I’ve enjoyed watching everything you’ve done in Dessert Masters Gareth. Congratulations,” another added.

Ed Balls couldn’t hold back his tears as he emotionally interviewed Gareth Gates about his stammer on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday. 

The presenter and former Labour cabinet minister, 56, has previously spoken about his ‘decade-long struggle’ with a stammer, which saw him famously mocked by David Cameron in the Commons in 2012.

Ed described Gareth, 39, an ‘inspiration’ after he was last week unveiled as the winner of this year’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. 

Speaking alongside co-host Susanna Reid, Ed credited the singer and actor for ‘showing him how’ to be in the public eye with a speech impediment. 

Breaking down in tears, Ed said:  ‘You inspired me, you really did. I thought if Gareth Gates can do this, I can too. 

‘I thought if he can be public, I can be public and it was really hard but I did it because you showed me how to do it.’

Giving Ed a hug, Gareth replied: ‘Thank you for saying that it means a lot. Bless you. Just never give up!’

He added: ‘I’ve proved to people you can have an affliction and don’t let it dictate who you are. You’re able to achieve whatever you want in life. You just have to be strong.

‘My speech is massively affected if I’m tired, stressed. Under pressure. That’s the nature of the show [Celebrity SAS] – to push you to your limits. It was hard. I’m much more confident now. I got quite a lot out of the show’. 

Gareth, who was runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol in 2002, went on to say that he was ‘pleased’ to have a stammer when he was finding fame. 

He added: ‘It made me stand out from the crowd. I was actually pleased I had a stammer!

‘It is a battle every day. You aren’t able to be the person you want to be. You’re held back by your affliction. It’s made me a lot stronger person.’

Ed first revealed he had struggled with a stammer in an 2011 article with the Daily Telegraph, revealing he faced a daily battle to deliver his words and had to memorise all his speeches because he could not read a script. 

In an attempt to overcome his stammer, Ed said he memorised 15 speeches a week and when he appears to have forgotten his lines, it is just that his voice has frozen. 

Ed told the Telegraph: ‘You just have to be yourself whatever you do. It doesn’t cause me a problem as Secretary of State, although there are times when it is tough. 

The worst thing you can do is try and stop it. That’s when you trip up. It happens to me on live TV.

‘Some people speak without notes because they think it looks better. Some people do it because they think it leads to a better speech. But I can’t read the words out.’

At the time, the British Stammering Association announced that Ed had become a patron of the association. Its chief executive, Norbert Lieckfeldt, commended him for talking about his stammer in public.

He later admitted he didn’t know he had one until he was ‘already in the Cabinet’ and found out he had issues speaking publicly in certain situations. 

During an interview with the Independent in 2021, he said: ‘When I was selected to be an MP in 2004, I spoke to my dad after BBC Any Questions? and he said, ‘You’ve got the same as me but I don’t know what it is’.

‘I spent two or three years trying to find out what it was and trying to work out how to handle the fact that sometimes my speeches dried up in TV interviews and in the House of Commons.’

In 2016, Ed spoke frankly about his ‘decade-long struggle’ with a stammer and how then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s taunts led him to go public with his affliction.

The former shadow chancellor said he was not actually diagnosed with the condition – which caused him to seize up during speeches and debates – until he was 41.

In his book, Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics, he recalls how Cameron would lead the jeering from the Commons front bench – and nicknamed him ‘Blinky Balls’.

The jibes eventually persuaded Ed to publicly reveal his problem – at first in a newspaper article, and then in a radio interview after which, he admits, the ‘tears welled up’.

He first noticed his stutter when appointed to his first ministerial job in 2006. In every TV interview ‘there was at least one moment when my voice would seize up and my eyes stare as I clenched my throat and fist,’ he wrote.

‘It didn’t take long for people to pick up on it. I learnt I’d acquired the nickname ‘Blinky Balls’ in Conservative Central Office, supposedly courtesy of Cameron.

‘As the Tories got a chance to see me up close across the dispatch box, a new phenomenon started: If I hesitated when answering a question, they’d shout ‘Errrr’, which made me hesitate more, and the laughter and mocking Errrr’s would grow louder.’

In the Commons a year later, as schools secretary, he tried to read a statement – ‘but for seconds, I couldn’t say anything. As I eventually sat down, I heard the late, great Gwyneth Dunwoody say in a very loud voice: ‘He’s supposed to be the Secretary of State and he can’t even get his words out’.’

When one of his aides suggested he consult the website of the British Stammering Association, his first instinct was to think: ‘Why am I reading this? I don’t have a stammer.’

But he was diagnosed with an ‘interiorised stammer’, commonly known as a block. ‘I thought: ‘Here I am, aged 41, a Cabinet Minister, and I’ve only just found out I’ve got a stammer,’ he recalled. The aide put him in touch with a therapist.

‘I’m ashamed to say I was both sceptical and a bit worried at the prospect,’ said Ed. ‘It all felt a bit Cherie Blair and Carole Caplin.’

The therapist taught him to slow his speaking tempo, ‘calm down and get in control’. He was also advised to go public with his problem but he feared it might be seen as a sign of weakness.

Ed previously revealed that he went to speech therapy every week for three years until he was able to manage the ‘block’.

He said: ‘I had speech therapy every week for three years. I was put in touch with a speech therapist called Jan Logan from City Lit, who said it was a stammer. 

‘I spent six months arguing with her about whether it was a stammer or not, because I didn’t really believe it.’

Ed then got to know former Monty Python star Michael Palin who has campaigned to raise awareness of stammering as a serious problem. He visited Palin’s Centre for Stammering Children in London in 2011.

There a father whose child was struggling with a stammer said Ed was a ‘coward’ for not coming out about his own. ‘Why don’t you give these kids some hope and confidence that you can have a stammer and become a Cabinet minister?’ he asked him.

Ed was ‘mortified’ – and wrote an article for The Times, admitting to having the affliction.

The stammer, however, came back as he responded to then-chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement in 2012.

‘I suddenly had a really bad block, and there was a gale of noise and mockery from the Tories, with David Cameron leading the laughter,’ he recalled.

In 2012, the former Chancellor Mr Osborn denied that Conservatives were laughing at the shadow chancellor over his stammer.

‘I would say the reason why the House of Commons doesn’t take Ed Balls very seriously is not, it’s got nothing to do with the fact he’s got a stammer.’

‘It’s because he was the chief economic adviser when it all went wrong, and he never acknowledges that. He never admits that he was there at the scene of the crime, so obviously when we listen to his answers about what should happen next, we’re a bit sceptical.’

The incident persuaded him to speak the next morning on Radio 4’s Today programme about his stammer and how it could affect his Commons performance.

‘I came out of the Today interview, my phone exploding with messages saying ‘that was brilliant’, he wrote.

‘But then as tears welled up I sat disconsolate in a room on my own for ten minutes, thinking: ‘Why make myself so exposed?’.’

Last month, Gareth became emotional while talking about growing up with a stammer on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

A tearful Gareth, who finished second to Will Young on Pop Idol in 2002, said: ‘For me, growing up was hard – at school, having a stammer.

‘School was just… [I was] verbally abused, physically. Lads just holding me down and shouting things,’ said Gareth, who occasionally took breaks to wipe tears from his eyes.

‘I think that’s why I’m here, to show myself that I am stronger, and that hopefully this time, I won’t break.’

Last week Gareth was announced the winner of the 2023 military-style series, beating competitor, the disgraced former health secretary Matt Hancock.

Discussing how much winning a reality TV show means to him, he said: ‘When I was a 17-year-old boy, I entered a TV talent show. I made the final, but didn’t win.

‘But 20 years on, I wanted to prove to myself that I am strong and I can make it right down to the end and hopefully even win.’

He later described the win and glory as ‘cathartic’ over two decades after losing to Will on the show.

He said: ‘I thought at last, I’ve actually won a talent TV show and not come second this time. It was a massive weight off my shoulders. I’ve finally redeemed myself from being the biggest loser in the UK back in 2002.’

After Pop Idol, Gareth went on to score several big hits, including the million-selling cover of Unchained Melody and Stupid Mistake.

He made a return to TV in recent years, including competing on Dancing on Ice, The Big Reunion and more recently Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Gareth beat fellow recruits Mr Hancock, 45, and Danielle Lloyd, 39, after the other sixteen celebs failed to make the final.

Chief instructor, Billy Billingham MBE QCB and his team of Directing Staff (DS), Foxy (Jason Fox), Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver decided that Gareth was the only celebrity who had the mental and physical strength and resilience to pass the course.

After his name was announced a shocked Gareth become emotional and said: ‘Thank you, Staff. Wow. Thank you.’