Olly Murs’ love life, ‘stupid’ fall out with twin and strict diet that saw weight ‘fall off’
The pop star is performing his new song Run This Town on Strictly Come Dancing tonight. Here we look at his life away from his hugely successful career
Olly Murs(Image: Ryan Jenkinson | Manchester Evening News)
Hearthrob Olly Murs has had a hugely successful career after first shooting to fame on The X Factor.
The star, who is performing on Strictly Come Dancing tonight (Sunday, November 16), became famous after finishing second in the 2009 series of the talent show.
The 41-year-old has gone on to release a string of hit singles and albums and also managed to make the successful leap to presenting, hosting the X Factor alongside the late Caroline Flack and as a judge on The Voice.
Read more Strictly Come Dancing star’s ‘world was gone’ after mum’s ‘unexpected’ death just months ago
But what do we know about Olly away from his career?
Below we look at his incredible body transformation, his love life, his fall out with his twin brother and more.
Olly Murs’ diet that lead to incredible physique
The pop star wowed fans as he revealed a rock-strong set of abs and lean frame in a series of Instagram posts in an impressive transformation.
His transformation required changes to his diet, and Olly revealed he had cut out sugar and processed foods – and only drinks water, guzzling an impressive three to four litres a day.
Olly Murs shows off incredible body transformation(Image: ollymurs/Instagram)
Back in 2019, he told Hello! that he eliminated sugar and processed foods from his diet as he ramped up his training.
“When I started to train,” he said, “I just cut out chocolate and anything sugary out of my diet, and it [weight] just fell off.”
His transformation involved training with his personal trainer, focusing on compound exercises like squats and pull-ups and boxing.
Fall out with twin brother
Olly and his twin brother Ben had a huge fall out in 2009 and haven’t spoken since.
The estrangement came after Olly chose to perform on The X Factor semi-final rather than be Ben’s best man at his wedding.
Ben later labeled Olly a “self-obsessed sell-out”.
Speaking about his relationship with his brother on the Parenting Hell podcast, Olly told hosts Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett that he sees things ‘completely different’ now he is a parent.
Olly with his twin brother, Ben Murs
(Image: Collect Unknown)
He said: “With me and Ben, we’ve never actually seen each other and I’ve always said our lifestyle are very different and I do love him very much.
“I think when we actually one day get in a room together it’ll be one of them, I’ve always got this feeling and I hope he feels the same, its just crossing that bridge.
“We both tried to make it work, it hasn’t worked.”
He added: “I always believe that when we actually finally meet, and theres been a lot that’s gone on anyway which I won’t talk about, I think when we actually get to see each other face to face I think it’ll probably just be like ‘It’s a bit f*****stupid we haven’t spoken for f****** 20 years.
“And hopefully we can hug it out and move on.”
The Voice axe
Olly Murs was dropped from his coaching role on The Voice UK in late 2023, a decision that came as a shock to him and was not his own choice as he exressed in a social media post.
“I’m gutted. I got the call last week to say I won’t be back on the show, and it’s a bit of a shock, to be honest,” Olly revealed.
“I didn’t really expect that to come but I don’t want to sit here like other artists might, and shine and gloss this up and say, ‘It was my decision’. I don’t want to do that.”
He said he didn’t want to lie to his fans and was against agreeing it was an “amicable” decision to exit the singing contest.
“No. Genuinely, I accept their decision, and they’ll find someone great, I’m sure. But am I going to miss it?,” he added.
“Yeah. Did I want to leave? No. Will I still watch the show? Of course, but it’ll be sore thinking that could have been me.”
Months after the star’s high-profile axing, fellow The Voice judge Sir Tom admitted Olly had been “really bothered” by the move.
He said: “We’ve both been on the road, but when it happened we talked quite a bit. He didn’t want to leave, he loved doing the show.
“It really bothered him, he didn’t like it. He’s married now and has a kid, so his life has changed. But it definitely bothered him.”
Following Olly’s axing, fellow coach Anne-Marie was also removed from the programme and the pair were replaced by McFly duo Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones and country singer LeAnn Rimes.
Olly Murrs love life and famous exes
Olly Murs married Amelia Tank in 2023 after dating for four years. They share two children; a daughter named Madison and a son named Albert.
Before settling down with Amelia, Olly had a number of girlfriends and rumoured dalliances.
Olly Murs and his wife Amelia
Olly admitted there ‘might have been something’ with model Melanie Sykes, 14 years his senior, who shot to fame as the face of Boddingtons beer.
When asked about their relationship on ITV Loose Women, Olly admitted: “Mel’s amazing…there might have been something.”
In 2009, he reportedly enjoyed a string of dates with fellow X-Factor contestant Laura Henderson, who he met while they were in bootcamp together.
At the same time as his romance was revealed, his ex-girlfriend Keli Flower told how he had dumped her for fame.
Hairdresser Keli dated Olly for eight months before he ended their relationship earlier this year, with her claiming he told her: “I’m on the verge of being successful and it wouldn’t be fair to drag you through it all.”
In 2015, Olly opened up about splitting with his ex-girlfriend Francesca Thomas, who he dated for three years after they met at V Festival in Chelmsford.
Speaking on Loose Women shortly after their breakup, the singer said: “I’ve just gone through a break up with my girlfriend, which has been quite sad, quite a difficult couple of weeks.”
He wrote his 2016 album 24 Hrs about the split and insisted the pair were still friends, telling Female First: “We’re still friends, we get on great. She loved the songs and she wished me all the best.”
