Nina's Darius World

Things you probably knew about Darius: he burst onto our screens singing a dodgy Britney cover on the original reality TV show, Popstars. Against the odds, he made a triumphant return to the public eye with a successful run on Pop Idol. He had a number one with his debut single, Colourblind. He epitomised cheesy pop.

Things you probably didn't know about Darius: he's spent the last year out of the limelight, coming to terms with his father's terminal cancer. His new record (dare I say it) is actually quite good. And he almost read English at Magdalen.

I'm squeezed into Darius' busy schedule before a short acoustic set and meet-and-greet session in Oxford to promote his new single, Kinda Love.

He might only be in Oxford for a matter of hours, but no matter; Darius is a delight to interview and makes it seem as though we have all the time in the world.

He is polite and the perfect gentleman - even asking permission to interrupt the interview to answer the briefest of phone calls. I expect that he might be reluctant to discuss issues close to the heart; far from it: he is candid, open and sincere. No topic is off-limits; it's time to get to know the real Darius.

The new album has been a long time coming, so what has he been up to in the year since the tour? "I've been doing the other half of being a singer songwriter, I've been writing the songs and taking stock. Exactly a year ago, I took a pause and looked back at everything that had happened. I'd had a Number One single and a Platinum album, I'd supported Shakira, somebody that I respected hugely in the music industry, on her world tour in Paris. I'd gone on to have a sell out UK tour. A lot had happened in a short space of time. So then I settled down to write the album, and for the first five months, I had writer's block."

It was the revelation of his father's cancer in February that finally broke this writer's block. "When I found out about my father's illness, it prompted me to put my career on hold. Conversely, that affected my ability to write - I took the pressure off myself and then it all flowed. I just decided to express something very simple to my father, which is how I felt about him, and in doing that, I wrote a song that I one day wanted to release."

The song in question is Live Twice - a poignant ballad, which will touch the heart of anyone who has loved and lost; yet it almost didn't see the light of day. "I decided not to release this year; in fact I'm only releasing it now because my father encouraged me to.

"When he heard the song, he turned round and said: 'Darius, you can't put your life on hold for me. Life as we're experiencing it is too short. I fight to live to see the achievements of my children and to see you achieve your dream. I don't want you to hit pause, because you've got to keep moving forward.'"

His father's illness has clearly influenced the new album heavily, but how has Darius dealt with it? "I think I've coped very well. He's made a remarkable recovery; it's been miraculous. To all intents and purposes, he shouldn't be here; he's defied the doctor's expectations. I became one of the brothers who like families up and down the country every day are given the news that they're going to lose a loved one to cancer.

"I think that in the last five years, charities have increased awareness of the physical affliction that cancer causes. We're much more aware of testicular cancer and breast cancer. But one thing we still don't talk about is the emotional affliction that cancer has on not just an individual but on a family, and I think it's really important that we acknowledge that that's something that needs to be dealt with.

"I think we suffer from a tight upper lip: we don't talk about the emotions involved with cancer that can scar a person long after a patient has gone."

The serious part of the interview over, we turn to Darius' time as a student in Edinburgh. "I was a terrible student, I didn't go to any of my lectures! No, that's untrue. I went to the lectures that I really enjoyed, and I went to all my tutorials. English was very much my passion. In fact, I almost ended up down here, studying at Magdalen. They let me in; I think I got through on the skin of my teeth, but it was more complex than that. My baby brother had been born and if I had been down here I wouldn't have been the big brother that I am to him. But, saying that, it is my only regret that I didn't pursue it because of that. Certainly one day I would love to come back and study at Oxford."

As we start to discuss more student memories, my time's up: there are hundreds of fans waiting to see Darius perform downstairs, some of whom have been queuing for hours. After that, it's on to photos and autographs; Darius patiently sees every single fan until the queue finally disappears. I come away with two lasting impressions. Whether or not Darius is your cup of tea, on today's evidence it's hard to argue against his talent. And I guarantee he's one of the nicest celebrities you'll ever meet.