Daily Record

I quit the Prodigy and life fell apart; Leeroy Thornhill tells how his split with DJ Sara Cox edged him close to a nervous breakdown...

• 2nd March 2001
• John Dingwall

FORMER Prodigy star Leeroy Thornhill has revealed how splitting from the million-selling dance group, ditching his girlfriend - Radio 1's Breakfast Show presenter Sara Cox - and building the perfect home put him on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

Leeroy is now happier than ever and promoting the first album of his own material, but it was not so long ago that he was in the depths of despair.

He shocked fans last February by walking out on the band that made him a millionaire in return for "making scary faces and jumping around on stage".

It was around the same time that he split up with Sara and, within a few months, he had sunk all his money into restoring his dream home, an Essex windmill, and had plunged into financial trouble.

All the upheaval and worry soon took its toll on the star.

He reveals: "My hair fell out around the time that Sara and I split up. I was leaving the band as well, so it was full on.

"I realised I had to sort my life out. The house, the relationship split and leaving the band were three of the most stressful things that could have happened to me.

"I had to split up with the band and split up with Sara for me to be happy again and now I am."

"I also built my dream house, but I got a lot of stress along with it. I spent every penny I had, borrowed money and then ended up taking two years off. It's not complete, it's a long-term project - I can live there, but there's a lot of stuff to do."

Leeroy and Sara - who has gone on to date Leeroy's pal, DJ Jon Carter - were expected to follow showbiz chums Zoe Ball and Norman Cook's path to marriage, but even though they were engaged, Leeroy says that was never part of their plan.

He reveals: "Sara and I got engaged, but in reality we didn't plan to get married. It was more for our protection. I was protecting Sara from others and vice versa. There was none of this 'let's get married thing'.

"The house was never going to be the marital home. She had her own place and we always had our own lives when we were together."

He adds: "We're back to being friends and get on with our own business, but splitting with Sara and splitting from the band both happened at the right time. I'm happier now than I've been for years."

The strain of their body clocks not being in sync could have made the relationship even more difficult. Leeroy was performing concerts at night while Sara was sleeping and she was rising at 3am to travel to Radio 1's Egton House.

He recalls: "I'd wake up and she'd get up when I was asleep, but that wasn't the problem. We'd gone back to being friends rather than loving each other. We never argued. We didn't have problems.

"It was just time to move on. I simply didn't want to be in the relationship any more and neither did she."

The break-up with Sara topped a difficult time for Leeroy who had enjoyed chart-topping fame alongside his fellow Prodigy stars, Keith Flint, Liam Howlett and Maxim.

His decision to leave them stunned fans and he can see why some could not understand why he did it.

He admits: "I had an everyday life that I couldn't dream of having. Everybody just thought of me as the dancer with the Prodigy, which was totally cool by me.

"And it's wicked because it hasn't put any pressure on me now that I'm making my own music."

He adds: "I didn't leave the band the way Robbie Williams did with Take That. I'm not even worried about being seen as the Howard Donald or Gary Barlow figure in the Prodigy."

After leaving the band, Leeroy did some DJing around London and remixes for artists such as Moby, David Gray and Dr Doom (aka Kool Keith).

He then became Flightcrank and decided to concentrate on a solo career. He released an EP called Twisted featuring Lee Scratch Perry and recorded his debut album at his own home studio.

It's called Beyond All Reasonable Doubt - and Leeroy reckons it removes any lingering ideas that he can go back to the Prodigy.

He adds: "I've been given opinions by the guys. But there was no real input into this in the same way that Maxim wanted to get his first album done.

"Everyone is pleased that I'm getting on and doing stuff and there are no bad vibes between us, but I'll never work with the Prodigy again."

Instead, Leeroy's album features collaborations with some of his music pals, including Scots reggae star Finley Quaye.

He explains: "Finley and I are good mates. We hang out. I remember when Maverick A Strike came out, I went up to him and told him I needed his voice.

"We've always been mates and he'd come round and hang out at my place. We'd have a little jam and leave it at that.

"Then I'd put it all together a couple of days later. I want to do another track with Finley and sing with him, mainly because we're good mates."

Leeroy also insists that despite the fact that the album comes at a time when their break-up is still fairly recent, no-one should listen for clues to his relationship with Sara in the brilliant batch of new songs.

He insists: "The album isn't about Sara. She'd laugh about that, but I'm a realist. I know better than to make an enemy of her."

Released on the tiny Copasetik label, a single from the LP, called Amazing, is released in April.

Leeroy plans to turn his fortunes around with the songs, but he has no plans to change his ideals when it comes to fame. As with his days in the Prodigy, he won't perform on Top Of The Pops, nor will he pander to radio in order to get his songs played.

He says: "Money doesn't make you happy. To make ends meet, I do bits of telly and borrow money off the bank, just like everybody else does, but on a slightly bigger scale.

"If I sell 10,000 copies, that will be a success for me. It's just an outlet for me because I don't want things sitting on tapes.

"I've got loads of old songs sitting on DATs. It's my time. If people are into it, I'll just buzz even more, but if it doesn't get into the charts I won't be bothered.

"I'd be shocked if it went to No.1 like Firestarter did. When it got to No.1, a guy came up to me and said, 'I see Firestarter is No1. It's an honour to meet a millionaire'.

"These people think they turn up and dump a million on my driveway just because a record has got to No.1.

"I won't do Top Of The Pops even though it's a different format. I don't like it. It's just not a cool programme.

"I'm not doing this for money. If I was, I would have signed to a major label and gone very commercial.

"But I'm trying to live my career the same way I did with the Prodigy - nice and chilled out, with no expectations.

"It's raw and honest and it won't be long before I can perform it live. I'm looking to start rehearsing this month. I've got a band together and by the end of the summer we'll be playing dates."

Leeroy is happy to demystify the image of his former bandmates who were once pronounced the scariest band in Britain, thanks to their hits such as Firestarter and Breathe, the accompanying videos and menacing live performances.

Leeroy says: "None of us are as mean as we seemed onstage with Prodigy.

"We'd do photo-shoots and people would tell us to go mad, but it just happened when we were onstage. It wasn't an act or faked. We didn't say 'come on lads, get your scary faces on - we're going onstage'. It just happened because of the atmosphere.

"I would be normal until the minute I got out there then I'd want to explode. None of us were scary. It was just the energy of the music."

He adds: "I'm not quite in the thick of it now, but I'm going to be getting busy again in my own way.

"It won't be quite as busy as The Prodigy, but it is still exciting as it is a new start."

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• Sara Cox
• Solo works
• Leeroy Thornhill