Russell Watson opens up on his life on a farm: 'I do all the donkey work...'
Russell Watson struggles to have peace and quiet in his house as he looks after all the animals.
Russell Watson struggles to have peace and quiet in his house because of all the animals.
The 57-year-old singer - who is now married to Louise Harris but has daughters Hannah and Rebecca with ex-wife Helen - has to do "most of the groundwork" on his farm near Congleton and joked that there is "never any silence" on his property.
He told Yours magazine: "I do most of the groundwork. Anything that needs digging, fencing or fixing – the donkey work – that’s what I do. And I’m basically a professional dog walker!
"We’ve got everything from horses to a South African ostrich. We have three dogs, lambs which we’re currently bottle feeding, we have a cat who brings us various gifts on a regular basis. And we have a parrot called Rico who sits on top of his cage and squawks... There’s never any silence in the house."
The 'Someone Like You' singer also revealed that his parrot has something of a musical ear and will make it known if a song comes on that is not to his own personal taste.
He said: "He doesn’t often but when certain tunes come on he’ll start squawking like crazy. If there’s a song he doesn’t like, he’ll land on your shoulder and bite your ear."
But Russell has never been bitten when he is singing, although when he is rehearsing for a performance one of his dogs comes to be with him and tries to join in.
He said: "Thankfully no, [he hasn't bitten me[ but when I rehearse, our Shih Tzu, Muffin, comes and sits beside me. And as soon as I start going up the register and getting loud, she starts howling."
