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Luke Evans’ “first love” is music.

The 43-year-old star may be best known for his acting career but he’s loved singing all his life.

He said: “As a kid, I was happiest when I was singing or entertaining.

“My dad had lots of records from the 1960s and 70s, so I was listening to the Drifters, Petula Clark, The Beatles, David Bowie, and the Bay City Rollers.

“I remember us all singing ‘Downtown’ by Petula Clark in the car.

“When I was 11 or 12, I bought my first album in Woolworths – it was Roberta Flack and the first song was ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.’

“That’s when I realised singing connected me emotionally to who I was.”

But Luke didn’t expect to make a career in entertainment because of his humble upbringing in Wales.

He laughed: “Not in the Valleys! We only knew of tom Jones and Shirley Bassey, so that’s not a good ration of Welsh people.

“Singing was never more than a hobby growing up. My dad is a builder. My mum was a cleaner and housewife.

“My family have worked in the mines and in factories.

“No one had ever done anything like it before. I don’t really know how I did it with that kind of working-class upbringing.”

The ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ actor’s childhood friend, Charlotte Church, is among the stars he has sang with on his new album xx and he admitted it was “lovely” for them to finally work together.

He told Red magazine: “I used to save my money and spend £15 a week to go to my singing lessons.

“Little did I know what the girl who used to leave just as I was entering was a young Charlotte Church.

“We’ve seen each other grow up and been through a lot together but we’ve never recorded a track together.

“It was lovely being able to do that.”