POP Idol star Gareth Gates captured the heart of the nation almost a decade ago when he struggled with his stammer during the talent contest.

Even though Will Young pipped Gareth in the final, it didn’t stop Gates going on to become a household name.

Now the singer is on his way to Mr Kyps in Poole tomorrow night. Gareth had to cancel a previous appearance last November.

And all existing tickets will be valid for Friday’s show.

After Pop Idol, Gareth Gates was given a record deal with Sony and then went on to shift more than 3.5million records.

A flurry of Top 10 hits followed, and in 2003 he became the face of Comic Relief with charity single Spirit In The Sky with The Kumars.

In 2006 he was dropped by Sony BMG and signed with UMTV (Universal Records). An album was released named ‘Changes’ making the charts again at number 23 with the single peaking at 14. Shortly after this record he was offered work in musical theatre where Gareth found a new calling.

His career has gone from strength to strength from playing the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to the role of Marius in a world tour of Les Misérables.

Reality TV has produced many artists with a short life span, but Gareth is still performing and entertaining packed theatre halls.

This show at Mr Kyps will be a rare opportunity to see Gareth Gates on stage performing all his hits accompanied by his full live band.

Support on the night comes from boy band Reconnected, made up of teenage brothers from Manchester. In 2010, Reconnected entered TV show Britain’s Got Talent and reached the final.