Danyl Johnson's 100% gay

SUPER crooner Danyl Johnson isn't bisexual - he's totally GAY, according to his former boss.

Paige Bond, who managed his old band, said he was NEVER interested in women but was terrified that admitting he was gay would wreck his shot at stardom.

She said: "He was so nervous the day he came out the closet to me. I thought he was going to quit the band. Then he said, 'I'm gay.'

"He was very specific. He didn't say anything about being bisexual. I didn't care if he was gay, but I got the sense Danyl was well aware of how being open about it could damage his career."

The singer previously admitted to the News of the World that he's dated men and women.

Pal Stephen Blackie recalled how he pulled a straight bloke at his 21st birthday party. "He strolled off the dancefloor with this guy and they started snogging."

But Paige - who managed Danyl during his stint in now defunct boyband NV - said: "I never got the impression he fancied women. But then I never saw him date anyone because he was so focused on his career."

She added: "I would never have guessed he was gay. But if the band had gone on to have success, let's just say Danyl wouldn't have been broadcasting his sexuality."

Paige, 39, first got to know Danyl when he auditioned for NV in 2003. The year before he had appeared in a regional production of Oliver in his quest for fame. Like X Factor mentor Simon Cowell, who reckons he is one of the show's most talented singers ever, Paige knew he was a star the moment she saw him.

Stunning

She recalled: "He looked stunning. He was wearing a weird jumper, a cap and had bright blue contact lenses which really stood out from his dark skin.

"I think he performed the song he did for his first X Factor audition, With A Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles.

"We wanted him from the first moment. He had that special something, just like Simon saw."

Within weeks Danyl and bandmates Sean Pugh and Steve Giles were recording their first single - with NV set to rival boyband Blue.

Paige said: "Danyl was over the moon and the single sounded incredible."

But jealousy set in among the boys over vocals, accoPublish Postrding to Paige, and the band fell apart. In 2004 Paige tried to get Danyl back to relaunch it with another singer but she said: "Danyl fell apart. He could barely speak to us after the band split up, other than to say he'd had a nervous breakdown and been to the doctor.

"He wasn't sure he could carry on being a singer because he was so fed up with being let down by people. He was broken.

"Success as a singer means everything to Danyl. Coming in the bottom two in the X Factor last week will have been shattering. He isn't the cocky, over-confident person he has been portrayed as.

"The truth is he is extremely loving, caring and sensitive, and all he wants is to be a star."

News of the World 2009