Olly Murs has opened up about how fatherhood has shifted his perspective as he prepares to take on a “petrifying” endurance challenge for Soccer Aid’s 20th anniversary.
The 41-year-old singer will take on his Into The Unknown challenge to raise money for Unicef next month – during which he will run, cycle and row 400km across the UK until he reaches London Stadium in Stratford.
The singer is a keen advocate who has been involved with Unicef for more than a decade, and told described how becoming a parent has shifted his mindset towards his fundraising efforts.
Murs said: “As a parent myself, you kind of put yourself in (other people’s) shoes, don’t you?”
Reflecting on a recent trip to Romania to see Unicef’s work in action, the father-of-two said: “When you do trips like this, it just puts things into perspective of how lucky we live our lives in the UK, and how we don’t live in a war.
“Currently, we don’t have those fears. At the moment, I’m going through quite a lot with the kids, but all I’m having to do is the basic stuff that we do as parents: keeping them alive every day, feeding them, nurturing them, supporting them, loving them.”
The singer will also chronicle his journey in a one-off documentary Credit: UNICEF
Referring to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Murs added: “If I was in Ukraine now where you’re having to make big decisions on where you live, and there’s a war, and I don’t know from each day if I’m going to be safe
“It definitely puts things into perspective.”
The chart-topping pop star also admitted he is “pretty scared” for the challenge as he does not know where it will take him, with the route to be revealed only moments before he sets off from Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium.
He said: “This challenge was an opportunity for me to do something amazing, something different, and leave something behind with Soccer Aid.“It’s going to be something that hopefully will be something people can look back on and go, ‘wow, Olly raised this much money, and we did something special’ – and it’s something to show my kids when they get older.”Murs recounted the intensive training he has undergone to prepare for the endurance task, and said: “I’ve performed and I’ve sung, I do that for a living. Doing something at this level of fitness, I’ve had to train like a pro athlete – and I’m definitely not a pro athlete.“I’m petrified about it, but I’ve learned the techniques now, and I’m just gonna have to just battle through my own head and get to the end.“I’m just gonna have to go with this and take each day as it comes… It’s madness, it wasn’t on my bingo card to be doing it this year.”
Murs added: “There’s people out there in the world that you know are living on edge and living afraid, and all they want to do is get their kids safe.
“We’re lucky and fortunate in the UK to be able to do that every single day and live in a comfortable space.”
Murs will set off on his challenge on May 11, and will share updates with his fans and supporters across the week as he tackles cross-country terrain, winding roads and stretches of open water.
The singer will also chronicle his journey in a one-off documentary, which will be available to watch on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player from 9pm on May 29.
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