The phrase ‘don’t give up your day job’ seemed to be on many viewers’ lips as Nick Knowles made an appearance on Lorraine this morning.
The 55-year-old is best known for presenting programmes like DIY SOS and Who Dares Wins, but was on the ITV show to perform a track from his debut album.
And judging by the negative comments on Twitter, it’s fair to say that a lot of fans were distinctly unimpressed by Nick’s new direction.
Before taking to the stage to perform the album’s title track – a cover of the Robert Palmer song Every Kind Of People – Nick provided some background information on his musical aspirations.
He explained that he’d been playing guitar since he was a youngster, and had performed backing vocals for his older brother John, but hadn’t really stepped under the spotlight himself.
He said: “The only time I did it was I did a thing for Comic Relief and Children In Need, and I wasn’t very good.
“Some people have been digging out some old stuff of mine and saying: ‘You’re not very good’, and I wasn’t.
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“I had a singing teacher, who saw me on TV, email me and say: ‘I’ve seen you on TV singing – you’re not very good but you have a really good voice. You just don’t know how to sing – you should come to me.’
“So I did, and I did three or four lessons and it just completely changed everything.”
However, when he stepped up to sing the song, viewers were left unconvinced that the lessons HAD changed everything.
One scoffed: “What the actual [expletive] is this?!!! Nick Knowles singing, terribly! Sounds like a drunk at a Christmas party!”
Another claimed that the TV star had changed his accent to perform the song: “@MrNickKnowles Saw Lorraine. It was hard to watch. Don’t let people convince you to do things that could harm your real career. American twang?”
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A third compared him unfavourably to a famous singer: “@MrNickKnowles’ poor impression of Chris Rea was painful to watch/listen to…. yet kind of hilarious at the same time #CynicalMove #RaidingHousewivesPurses.”
And one fan quipped: “Did you release that album or did it escape?”
But it wasn’t all bad news for the Middlesex-born presenter, and some people liked what they heard.
One fan gushed: “Wow wow wow, that was amazing!”
And another applauded: “Nick Knowles’ debut album is gonna be lit.”
Father-of-four Nick is single after splitting from his wife Jessica Moor two years ago. He was recently seen enjoying a night out with former TOWIE star Pascal Craymer, 30.
He might well have been talking about his music career when he later told the MailOnline: “I think Pascal got it right when she said I was having a midlife crisis.”
Don’t worry, Nick, it happens to us all!