'I felt like an alien growing up. Now I play to 80,000 people'

Lottery Winners' frontman Thom Rylance is relishing a return to the Scottish Highlands and its Belladrum Tartan Heart music festival this summer.

He says the last time the band played Bella - stepping in at the last minute after another act cancelled - no-one knew who they were.

Since then, the band from Leigh in Greater Manchester have had two number one albums and supported Robbie Williams on his Britpop tour.

Rylance says to get to this level has taken 16 years of hard work, belief - and his ADHD.

"I think I'm blessed with ADHD, which might be a strange thing to say," said Rylance.

"But when you care about something and you have ADHD and it gives you dopamine [the so-called "feel-good" hormone] then it's all you want to do.

"I'm obsessive with this band and with music, and luckily I have been able to turn that into a career. It's my superpower."

But it has not always been this way for Rylance.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties with concentration, energy levels, impulsiveness, or by a person's ability to manage their time.

In the UK, around 3 to 4% of adults and around 5% of children and young people are thought to have ADHD.

"I had a terrible time," said Rylance recalling his younger years.

"When I was growing up it was nowhere near as understood as it is now."

He was expelled from two schools and struggled to make friends.

"It made me feel broken, like I wasn't able to fit into society - I honestly felt like an alien for my entire upbringing."

A teacher encouraged Rylance to take an interest in music and one day sent him home with the school's guitar.

"I said 'sir, I don't know what to do' and he said 'yes you do, you can do this'. I went home with the guitar and played for hours and hours," said Rylance.

He later went on to form Lottery Winners, but adds the music business requires hard work.

"You don't get to play to 80,000 people unless you have played in front of eight people and six of them don't enjoy it," he said.

"We were doing that for a long time and then the shows just got bigger and bigger."

The band has formed a strong friendship with Robbie Williams, and Rylance chats to the star every day.

"Rob is the most creative, kind, funny, intelligent person I've ever met," he said.

"He shines this light out of him. That's why people want to be in his audience."

Williams has also spoken highly of Rylance in the past, describing him on social media as "the most talented, kind, funny, charismatic human being I've come across in 35 years in show business."

Lottery Winners are due to tour with Williams again, but first they have festival season.

"It's my favourite time of the year," said Rylance.

"The world is so full of negativity and scary things and at festivals you can just forget all of that and enjoy music."

Belladrum is at the end of July. Lottery Winners last played there in 2022.

"Last time we got a slot last minute because a band cancelled, and we felt we had no qualification or right to be playing that slot," said Rylance.

"I'm looking forward to coming back and having our name on the festival poster."