Sam Smith support act talks of 'gorgeous' experience

"I've been so much more nervous for much smaller gigs."

Portsmouth musician Bradley Jago was one of the 10 acts chosen to support Sam Smith in London and Manchester, as part of the singer's UK-wide talent search with BBC Introducing.

Jago made it through more than 1,500 submissions and said meeting Sam Smith had been "gorgeous and they were just exactly who I thought they would be".

He said stepping on the stage at the London Coliseum, he had felt "calm" and it "just felt right".

Sam Smith's residencies follow the release of their latest album, Hazel Eyes, in August.

The multi award-winning musician will play at the London Coliseum for eight nights, from 8 until 19 September.

"I was strangely calm and I really wasn't expecting it," said Jago, who performed on the opening night.

"I was all week, I've been crazy, I've been all over the place.

"But then ... the time had come and everything aligned and I just honestly enjoyed it so so much, and took it all in."

He said he had got to meet Smith and described them as "the most genuine, warm, kind person".

"They say don't meet your idols, but it lived up to it."

The Portsmouth artist, who is part of the LGBT community, said he always described his music as "queer soul for queer souls, but truly it is for everyone".

"I think queerness is a very all-encompassing label," he said.

"I actually write music for me, it's my therapy, it's what I need to do."

He said people connected to the way he expressed himself.

"Which is gorgeous and there've been songs that I think are a really niche kind of queer experience and then I've had hundreds of comments on TikTok saying I've been through exactly this.

"This is why it's so important to talk about because other people have been through this."

Smith said the discovery process for artists and audiences "is so important and being able to play a part in that is fantastic".