Matt Goss from Bros, back in the UK after 25 years living in America. (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Eighties pop legend Matt Goss, formerly of the boy band Bros, is back in Britain after 25 years living in America and he fancies himself as the new Mayor of London!
The born-and-bred Londoner, who is back on home turf after a successful 11-year residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, has a new solo tour beginning in March and a new single, We Are Not Broken.
But he told the Daily Telegraph that his beloved home city has changed since he has been away…and not for the better…and he has a few ideas for London mayor Sadiq Khan to mull over.
The 56-year-old, whose twin brother Luke, made up the boyband Bros, along with Craig Logan, said: “I think it’s appalling that police have been taken off the streets. You don’t see bobbies on the beat, getting to know their community. I’m not wanting to bash London in any way, but I don’t see any policing. Those guys on the bikes with hoodies, that’s part of London…’ That should not be. We’re a better country than that.”
Like many fed-up Londoners, Goss isn’t happy about Labour mayor Sadiq Khan’s controversial transport policies.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. (Image: Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Ima)
“The joy of a big city is that you should be able to drive around: 20mph speed limits and congestion charges – talk about sucking the life out of a good thing. Let grown-ups be grownups. It seems like there are so many little tripwires for people, like you’re going to get fined if you go left, or you use this lane. Honestly, I think it’s pretty shameful. I love this town, but going down Park Lane at 20mph? In Victorian times, I would have been passed by a horse and carriage.
“It doesn’t seem like the Mayor of London listens to the people. I do think he’s done some good things for this city, but he needs to take some time to go, ‘What’s bugging everybody?’ It genuinely makes me quite sad to see what Londoners get put through.”
The 56-year-old singer, actor and writer would actually quite like the job of mayor himself.
“You know what? I would love to be. I would love to be.” he told the Daily Telegraph. “But I also love my relationship with the British public” conceding that it might just make him less popular with his fans.
“A quarter of a century is enough time for me to be away. I feel like I’ve got a lot to contribute as long as this country allows me to do what I did in America. And that is to entertain.”
“I’m a proud British man, but I’m also a proud Englishman, and I’ll always fly my flag. The idea that the English flag has any bad connotation? I think that’s manipulative… it not nationalistic, it’s patriotic, which is quite a romantic and beautiful thing. I’m not going to allow myself to be bullied into falling for it.”
Goss says he admires some of ‘s “straightforward politics”, but “sometimes the way he may come across doesn’t agree with me as a gentleman”.
In 2022, he signed up for , but he didn’t enjoy his experience on the show and was voted off in week four
“I don’t think that Strictly was a good move for me. I was uncomfortable. You don’t communicate on that show. You don’t speak during rehearsals, so you’re muted there. You don’t speak when you’re critiqued, so you’re muted there. You’re basically wheeled around and told to dance. Fair enough, it was an experience, and I wouldn’t want to harp on about it, if that’s OK. It just wasn’t for me.
* Matt Goss: The Hits & More Tour begins in Bristol on March 8.