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POP IDOL STAR MICHELLE MCMANUS THOUGHT SHE WAS BEING PRANKED WHEN ROBBIE WILLIAMS ASKED HER TO DUET WITH HIM. 15:28, 06 Mar 2025Updated 15:44, 06 Mar 2025 Michelle McManus' emotional

reaction after Robbie Williams' invite Scots pop star Michelle McManus says she thought she was being pranked when Robbie Williams asked her to duet with him. The Pop Idol winner will

join the ex-Take That favourite to sing in front of 70,000 at Murrayfield this summer, after Williams invited the Glasgow singer to join him as a special guest as he kicks off his world tour

in Scotland this summer. The Could It Be Magic singer surprised McManus with the unexpected invite during an interview on her BBC Radio Scotland Afternoons show today (Thursday). Now, the

chart-topping performer is set to join a select group including superstars Kylie, Nicole Kidman and Taylor Swift as the latest female star to duet alongside Williams, who has sold in excess

of 75 million records. She said: “We’d just got to the end of the interview and he told me he wanted to ask me something. Article continues below “I thought he wanted me to recommend some

restaurants in Edinburgh or something. I couldn’t believe it when he asked me to sing on stage at Murrayfield. I actually couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. It’s a dream come true.” All

This Time singer Michelle said Williams’ gesture is “the ultimate act of kindness” and praised his generosity, adding that their shared experience of adversity within the music business has

given them common ground. She said: “Kindness is so underrated in people, and people say it to a man about Robbie, that he’s just so kind. He has been very generous towards me over the last

few years. He invited me to the Leicester Square premiere of his film Better Man and took me backstage afterwards. “He took part in the documentary I made a couple of years back about the

pop industry, and he had absolutely nothing to gain from doing that. “So I’m really fortunate to have been on the end of some amazing acts of kindness from him. For him to do something like

this is incredible. It would have been enough that he gave me an interview. “I’m not in the same stratosphere as Robbie Williams, but he had his struggles around the period after I won Pop

Idol and I think he genuinely recognised me as someone who got totally battered in the press at the same time as he did. “I think he understands and gravitates towards people who have

experienced the same sort of terrible treatment as he did.” Michelle shot to No1 with her debut single in 2004 but was dropped by her record label. But she has sustained a singing career and

has performed to huge crowds, joining Rod Stewart on stage for the Lisbon Lions 50th Anniversary party at Glasgow’s Hydro in 2017 as well as singing for Pope Benedict in 2010 at the city’s

Bellahouston Park. Now she’s looking ahead to rehearsals for the summer show in the capital. She said: “To be in the same group of women as Kylie, Nicole Kidman and Taylor Swift who have

sung with Robbie is something that makes me think, ‘Is this for real, am I being punked?’. “But it’s an incredible opportunity. It’ll be a lot of work, picking the right song and rehearsing.

But I can’t wait. I’d sing the phone book with him if he asked me to.” Article continues below JOIN THE DAILY RECORD WHATSAPP COMMUNITY! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages

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