Olly Murs has said he is the happiest he has been in a long time thanks to his new relationship after years of being single.
The singer-songwriter and The Voice UK coach said he found it difficult to date women while in the public eye, but is grateful to have found a connection his new partner, Amelia Tank.
Murs, 35, whose love life has made many headlines over the years, told Fabulous magazine that Tank, a bodybuilder and City worker, is “amazing” and that she is “just a great person, full of love, she’s caring, sensitive, doesn’t suffocate me, lets me be me, loves the fact I’m cheeky and flirty and isn’t trying to change that.”
“I love being around her. She’s one of my best mates and then she is my lover and girlfriend.”
Murs, who posted a picture of himself with Tank on Instagram on New Year’s Day, said that he “struggled after the break-up” with his ex-partner of three years, Francesca Thomas, in 2015.
“I had moments of dealing with the fact I wasn’t with her any more, then I’d come back to reality alone again and would fill the gaps with dating girls and partying and papering over the cracks,” he said.
“I had to go away and learn to enjoy who I am and that’s when I realised, actually, that wasn’t the right relationship, it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t great and I need to move on.”
Murs, who rose to fame on The X Factor in 2009, said that it took him a while to get to the point where he realised he could move on, but that recently “something just clicked” and he found the right person in 27-year-old Tank.
However, he said that he was not ready to “give her everything” at the start of their romance, and that he had wanted to cool things off after a few weeks.
He said they later rekindled things and that “it just felt right”, adding: “It’s going in the right direction and it feels great.
“I’ve been single for many years and I can say this is the happiest I’ve been in a very long time.”
Murs, who has been romantically linked to TV stars including Melanie Sykes and Jess Wright over the years, said that he struggled to date women in case he was pictured out with them.
Murs is back on the new series of The Voice UK along with fellow coaches Sir Tom Jones, Will.i.am and new coach Meghan Trainor.