Olly Alexander Reflects on HIV Fear and Eurovision Nightmare in Tatler Cover Story

To date, it is arguably his most successful acting role – and with good reason.

Set against the backdrop of 1980s London, the Russell T. Davies scripted It’s A Sin won multiple awards for its heart wrenching portrayal of a gay community torn apart by the ravages of AIDS.

But it was Olly Alexander who commanded the screen as Richie Tozer – a fun-loving young actor who would ultimately fall victim to the disease.

Already established as lead singer of pop group Years & Years, Alexander, 35, consequently received multiple award nominations, while the show earned a BAFTA TV win for its harrowing portrayal of a society left blindsided by the AIDS crisis.

Reflecting on his involvement in the Channel 4 mini-series with the September issue of Tatler, the British star admitted accepting the role helped him face an uncomfortable truth.

He said: ‘I didn’t realise it until I went towards it, but I had inherited this fear around HIV and sex, which is connected to the shame I had about being gay.

Olly Alexander has reflected on his life and career in TV and music with the September issue of Tatler

The British star won multiple award nomination for his starring role in the Russell T. Davies scripted AIDS drama It’s A Sin (pictured, front)

‘It helped me unpack all of that. I never understood actors who say they brought their characters home with them until I did.’

In It’s A Sin, Tozer is an openly gay man among friends, but remains closeted to his parents until they are forced to confront his sexuality head on after discovering he has the AIDS virus.

While Alexander has always been open about his own sexuality off-screen, he admits a media advisor warned him not to ‘come out’ to the public when he first entered the music industry in his twenties.

‘You’d never give that advice now, and it was terrible advice then,’ he said. ‘I knew it was never really going to be an option for me, but it did feel like a fork-in-the-road moment.’

But North Yorkshire born Alexander admits his own journey as a young gay man confronted by the bright lights of London mirrors that of Tozer.

‘I feel like a lot of my identity has been fostered in London,’ he said. ‘I was a very young gay boy, too scared to go out until I was 20.

‘Then I would just go to every club: Madame Jojo’s, East Bloc, Dalston Superstore, The Joiners Arms and The George and Dragon.

‘I was there every weekend, trying to find my people. It was just joyful chaos.’

Reflecting on his involvement in the Channel 4 mini-series with the September issue of Tatler , the British star admitted accepting the role helped him face an uncomfortable truth

‘I didn’t realise it until I went towards it, but I had inherited this fear around HIV and sex, which is connected to the shame I had about being gay’

Away from the small screen, Alexander released solo album Polari – his first without Years & Years – in February, just nine months after representing the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest.

With his pop star pedigree, there were high hopes for the singer after he announced his involvement in the annual competition and unveiled his chosen song, the upbeat electro-pop single Dizzy.

But it would end in bitter disappointment for Alexander after a sexually charged performance at Sweden’s Malmö Arena failed to impress viewers across mainland Europe, with the United Kingdom winning 46 points and finishing in a miserable 18th place.

‘Now that I’ve had a bit of time away, I’m so proud I got to do it,’ he told Tatler. ‘But it was also very stressful, it can be very vulnerable and isolating.’

After years of failure at the competition, Alexander admits he’d predicted the outcome long before he took to the stage.

‘Everyone said, “You’re going to bring it home, Olly”’, he recalled. ‘I knew I wouldn’t.’

Read the full feature in the September issue of Tatler, available via digital download and on newsstands from August 7.