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Popstars and Pop Idol Survivor Darius Danesh Reveals How His Father's Truimph over Cancer was his Best Possible Christmas Present
Hello! 11 January 2005
For Darius Danesh, the worst moment of his life came not - as many would expect - when he was famously kicked off the TV talent show Popstars in 2001 and faced public humiliation following his acappella rendition of Britney's Hit Me Bab One More Time. Instead, it came three years later, last February, when his beloved father had just three months to live.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer that had spread from his lymph system to his spine and bone marrow, nobody expeted 62 year-old Booth Danesh, a gastroenterologist, to survive. For his eldest son the prognosis was a cruel and devastating blow that filled him with anger. "'Why Dad?' I thought. 'He's a doctor who's spent his life helping people - why him?'" he says.
Booth was transferred to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London for treatment and, to the amazement of his doctors, the three months he was given to live grew into seven, and then eight months. But as Christmas approached, 24 year-old Darius began to worry tht what had always been one of the happiest times of the year for his family might turn out to be the saddest.
"The fact that my dad had exceeded everyone's expectations and had made it past the doctor's initial prediction was in itself very encouraging," he explains in his gentle Scots accent. "But, even so, we'd prepared ourselves for the worst when we were called to the Royal Marsden in early December."
Instead the Colourblind singer, his mother Avril, a GP, and brothers Aria 20, and Cyrus nine, were given the news they had barely dared hope for. "It was a nail-biting time because we were kept waiting for a while," he recalls. "Then the hospital's top professor came in and told my dad, 'Dr Danesh, we've checked and double-checked everything and, to all intents and purposes, you've made a remarkable recovery. You are in full remission.'
"It was the best Christmas present we could possibly have had. I'd been told that my dad would die but instead he's still here. If anyone reading this is in the same situation, I just hope and pray that they'll be able to take inspiration from this story. These things do happen."
Recalling those dreadful months now, at the Park Lane Hotel in London's Piccadilly, the singer's voice falters with emotion. But after the trauma of the past year, following the success of his debut album Dive In - which spawned four hit singles including the No. 1 Colourblind - he was writing and recording a new album in Los Angeles. His social life was hectic and he and his girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley were partying non-stop, living what he now calls "a fake life on the other side of the world". Then came the devastating news of his father's illness and, overnight, everything changed.
Putting his career on hold, the singer raced home to his family and, taking turns with his mother and brothers, slept by his father's bed to ensure that Booth would never wake up alone.
It was during this time that he first played his dad the song that would eventually become his new single Live Twice, in which he tells him how much he loves him. "It's the most intimate song I've ever written and it was something I didn't intend to record," he reveals. "But my father told me. 'I'm fighting this illness to see the achievements of my children. I want to live to see your success. You must ocntinue because tomorrow might be too late.' It was so moving, I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
Spurred on by his father's words, he returned to the studio and, over the next six months, created the album Live Twice, all the time remaining close to wherever his father was and playing him the results every morning. "It was an amazing, cathartic experience for both of us," he says. "I'd deliberately taken a step out of the public eye so that I could focus on Being Darius the son or Darius the brother, going back to what my life used to be. "Released in October, the album is dedicated to the man who has inspired him throughout his life.
The son of a Persian diplomat, Booth Danesh grew up in a palace but fled to the UK to study medicine after his family lost everything in the Iranian revolution. He went on to become an eminent surgeon who invented the first kidney/liver machine for premature babies and met Darius' mother in Glasgow where she was one of his students. "He fell in love with my mum the day he met her," beams their first-born, who was raised in the upmarket Glasgow suburb of Bearsden.
Family is one of the strongest influences in Darius' life. He gave up a place at Oxford to study English in Edinburgh so he could be closer to his parents and younger brothers and is, he admits proudly, very much his father's son.
"My inspiration for pursuing a life in music comes from my dad's incredible life story and his striggles in the face of adversity," he explains. "Every person faces a time where they feel a door won't open or has been slammed in their face and they have to make a decision."
For Darius, the door seemed to slam decisively on his hopes for a music career after Popstars. But he was determined to pursue his dream and when Pop Idol hit our screens he decided to give it one last shot. "If ther'd been a show called Songwriter Idol I'd have auditioned for it, but there wasn't," he explains. "So I threw myself into the performing arena as an opportunity to learn from the best people in the business."
The gamble paid off and he emerged from the series in third place behind Will Young and Gareth Gates, with his credibility laregely restored and a five-album recording deal to his name.
Successful and blessed with classic tall, dark and handsome looks, Darius is quite a catch. But the self-confessed "old-romantic" has yet to find someone to settle down with permanently. His relationship with Jacqui - a model he met on the videoshoot for Colourblind - ended last spring after 18 months together. "I felt I'd met the right girl too young," he explains.
After a short-lived relationship with actress Natasha Henstridge, he has now been linked with Geri Halliwell. The pair first appeared together at the Tickled Pink breast cancer concert in September, and the 32 year-old former Spice Girl has apparently told friends she is head over heels about the crooner, who accompanied her to last month's La Dolce Vita charity ball.
Quizzzed about the relationship, Darius smiles resignedly. "All I can say is that I'm not involved romantically with Geri," he says. "It's hugely flattering to be associated with such a wonderful person but we are just good riends. We go for coffee and see each other occasionally but that doesn't mean we're an item."
So does he have a girlfriend right now? "I'm still working that one out," he answers cryptically. "I'm involved with someone, but I'm finding my feet in a relationship that is still at a wonderful seedling stage. Now is not the time to talk about it. I don't want what we have to be misunderstood or interpreted as something it perhaps isn't."
One person with whom he has maintained a rather more straightforward - if surprising - relationship is Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell. After the show, Darius turned down Simon's offer of a recording contract to go his own way. "I wanted to create something original and do things on my terms, which wouldn't have happened if I'd signed with Simon." He explains. "Even though I was contractually obliged to sign with him, he was a gent and let me go. Contrary to what people think, we are still friends and whenever I'm in LA I give him a call.
The friendship is just one of a long list of unexpected things about Darius, the eternal optimist who has even managed to find something positive about his father's illness. "I feel strangely lucky that I've been able to share with my family the experience of the past year because, emotionally and spiritually, we can now face 2005 with a deepened appreciation for life," he says.
"It's not until you face the prospect that there might not be a tomorrow that you understand what being alive today truly means."