Olly Murs and Mark Wright using WhatsApp to help Sam Allardyce get England back to winning ways
Singer opens up about all things celebrity as he takes over Bizarre for the day
SAM ALLARDYCE is confident he can get the England football team back to winning ways.
And now I know why — the new Three Lions boss has a crack team assisting him with tactics and squad selection.
The all-star line-up includes a pop singer, a reality star, a telly host . . . and a bloke who plays Buttons in panto.
During his stint editing Bizarre — where he announced his new album 24HRS, which is out on November 11 — OLLY MURS revealed his Soccer Aid team-mates have been using a WhatsApp group to give pointers to their “gaffer” since he landed the biggest job in English football.
And Sam clearly appreciates their input as, according to Olly, he responds with feedback.
Olly told me: “We’ve got an England WhatsApp group — he’s on it and we just basically hound him all the time and he always replies. He’s great. We just talk about lad talk, football and results at the weekend.
“We were laughing about his England squad. We all support different teams so we always ask him why this or that player isn’t picked.”
But the chat group, which also includes MARVIN HUMES, DANNY JONES, MARK WRIGHT, BRADLEY WALSH, PADDY McGUINNESS and JONATHAN WILKES, has led to some uncomfortable moments — particularly after fellow group member and Premier League star JERMAIN DEFOE was left out of Sam’s first squad.
Olly said: “It was really awkward because we saw the squad and, obviously, because it’s this Soccer Aid group it’s got Jermain Defoe in it.
“So I said to Sam, ‘Ooh, this is a bit awkward — Jermain’s in the group, but he’s not in the squad.’”
Sam managed to guide Olly’s England team to victory over a Rest of the World side featuring the likes of NIALL HORAN and SHAYNE WARD at Old Trafford in June.
And the Essex boy believes he’ll work the same magic with the real England team, starting with his first game against Slovakia tomorrow.
He said: “What Sam will bring that other managers might not is that he’s just really down to earth, a really fun guy to be around.
“I think he would bring out a bit more personality in the players, which is what we would like to see.”
We’ll find out this weekend.
Bring on the sequins
OLLY jumps from X Factor to Strictly tomorrow night.
He dances and performs on the launch show and claims producers were desperately trying to sign him up after he busted some moves during filming.
He said: “They were saying it’s my audition for Strictly. They were trying to get me to sign a contract for next year.
“With anything like that, you never say never, but my music career is my most important thing. I never thought I’d present X Factor, then I did.”
Olly is secretly itching to get into those sequins, I just know he is.
Gaga born this Fray
LADY GAGA can count Olly as chief of her fan club after his visit to Bizarre HQ.
He saw this snap of Gaga out heading to lunch in Los Angeles in frayed shorts and said he can’t wait to hear her comeback track Perfect Illusion. The single is released next Friday.
Talking about the singer, he said: “I have always been a fan of her artistry, her creativity, her performances.
“Over the years people have either loved her or didn’t like her.
“She’s developing her different styles, different music and really showing the world what an amazing talent she is.”
That surely seals a duet.
Mystic Noel saw future
NOEL EDMONDS made a chart-topping artist out of MR BLOBBY in the early Nineties – and now Olly credits the eccentric telly host, below, for playing a part in his own pop career.
As a young unknown, Olly won £10 on Deal Or No Deal in 2007 and Noel instantly tipped him for stardom.
Olly revealed: “Noel said some really strange things to me.
“When I left the show he said, ‘There’s not failure written over you, Olly. I have got a good feeling . . . you are going to go on and be very successful.’
“I do believe that you meet people and you just know they’re going to have an impact.
“Noel saw it in me.”
Now Olly is determined to be a part of the final Deal Or No Deal episode, after I revealed Channel 4 plan to axe it after 11 years.
He said: “I’m absolutely devastated. I did say to my team I would love to be there for the final show.
“It meant a lot to me at the time.”
It won’t exactly be tough to beat his last total.
Niall's struck a chord
NIALL HORAN has given cause for concern after revealing he was seeking medical attention for his vocal cords.
The ex-ONE DIRECTION singer, who is gearing up to launch his solo career, posted this selfie on Snapchat late on Thursday.
His close pal Olly reckons there is probably not much to worry about though. He said:
“I’m going to text him now to see if he is all right. I wonder if he has been out partying and singing too much. I know that obviously he has been singing a lot.”
Niall needs to work on his spelling too, he is mixing up his vocal cords with guitar chords.
Good news ladies, Olly doesn't date celebs
OLLY has ruled out having a celebrity girlfriend after claiming famous women don’t like him
He split with property manager Francesca Thomas a year ago and says he’s yet to click with a well-known female. Good news for members of the public who fancy their chances with him.
He told me: “I don’t date famous people, not really, I don’t think they like me. They prefer other people!
"I’d never say no to dating anyone famous but I’ve never really met anyone that I’ve had that connection with. I just get attracted to normal girls.”
Last month he revealed he had a crush on THE SATURDAYS singer MOLLIE KING but he has had his chances with her dashed too.
He explained: “She said she preferred Calvin (Harris). That’s what I heard. I think she said, ‘Yeah I like Olly, he’s great, but I really like Calvin.’
"I was like, ‘Oh cheers!’ At the moment I’m not really seeing anyone. I’m just concentrating on the album.”
I’m sure the right woman will get him back in the dating game in no time.