Duncan James Opens Up About Stripping, Blue Tour, and Coming Out

Duncan James teased the Full Monty earlier this week and it quickly went viral.

"The 43-year-old singer is one of the celebrities bravely ditching their clothes to raise awareness for vital cancer checks as part of ITV 's Strictly 'The Real Full Monty,'" reported the British tabloid The Mirror.

The out 43-year-old former lead singer for the boy band Blue said, "This was way scarier than performing with Blue, but I hope it encourages people to check themselves," he explained to The Mirror.

He did the strip in memory of his pal Sarah Harding, who tragically died of breast cancer at age 39 in September.

The singer has described the experience as "emotional and terrifying" but believes baring everything on screen is worth it to save lives.

"I still can't believe she's no longer here," he told The Mirror while discussing Harding's death earlier this week.

"We did gigs with Girls Aloud...I was closest to Sarah. I felt very sad when I found out she had cancer. With the whole Covid thing, she didn't want people to go and see her."

He added: "Cancer is horrible. I hope people will check themselves regularly. And if they do see any lumps, it is so important to definitely not leave it and think it will be alright."
James came to fame as part of Blue 20 years ago. The group released three albums from 2000-2004, before going on a seven-year hiatus. They returned in 2011 as Britain's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, where they finished 11th. Since then they have released two more albums and hope to tour to celebrate their anniversary.

"Duncan and the boys are dusting off their mics to journey across the UK and Ireland in 2022 with some very special performances - and they will be joined by Atomic Kitten," The Mirror said.

"We wanted to do it but because of the Covid situation we didn't have the time," he told the British morning talk show "This Morning" in November.

"And it was our 20th anniversary. So we just felt now was the right time and we rang up our mates Atomic Kitten and said, 'Do you want to come on tour with us?' And they said, 'yeah'. So it's going to be a pop reunion. A bit of nostalgia."

One big difference with this tour is that James will be able to perform before his 16-year-old daughter for the first time as a member of Blue.

"My daughter is 16 now and she never got to see Blue," he explained on "This Morning."

"By the time we disbanded in 2006 she was just born. So I'm excited for her to be able to watch Daddy and his mates up on stage again."

"Four years before coming out in 2009 – Duncan had a daughter, Tianie Finn, with his ex-girlfriend, Claire Grainger," The Mirror said. "The pair remain on excellent terms and Duncan regularly sees his daughter, who is now 16-years-old."

James also commented on his complicated coming out journey to, explaining that when he was dating Spice Girl Geri Halliwell back in 2004, he had been dating a man as well. "She was a good beard," he said. "People were saying I was a lothario and a ladies' man, and then that I was seeing Geri, but I wasn't. The truth is I was just a friend to these people. But I hid behind the Geri rumours – she was cool with it – and she proved to be a great disguise."

He came out in 2014, telling Gay Star News: "Regardless of whether I sleep with women or not, I'm still sleeping with men so I'm gay. I could still be romantically and sexually attracted involved with a girl. But I still call myself gay. I'm a gay guy. I like men, so that makes me gay."

Today James is happily in a long-distance relationship with 27-year-old Brazilian personal trainer Rodrigo Reis. James lives in Britain while Reis lives in Belgium. The couple met two years ago when James was touring with Blue, EDGE reported earlier this year.

Check out more pics from James' Instagram: