How McFly rejection led to one of the biggest West End hits of all time-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

McFly and the West End could have looked very different (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Pizza Express)

When McFly burst onto the scene 21 years ago, they became an immediate juggernaut in the charts and one of the biggest bands in the country.

Their battle with Busted, which will continue with their 2025 face-off on tour across the UK, was a phenomenon and they went onto take over Strictly, I’m A Celebrity, children’s books and more.

This weekend Danny Jones heads into the jungle as McFly’s reign in pop culture continues, but the All About You hitmakers also had an unlikely role in West End history.

No, this isn’t the Paddington musical Tom Fletcher has been working on, but Operation Mincemeat.

The hit show has already had countless accolades – including being named best new musical at this year’s Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards – and sold over 300,000 tickets, as well as a record-breaking fan turning up over 140 times.

The show was recently given an amazing 10th extension, and it’ll be heading to Broadway after pulling in 67 five star reviews and counting, making it the best reviewed show in West End history – but how do McFly come into all this?

The All About You hitmakers stormed onto the scene in the 2000s (Picture: Tim Whitby/WireImage)

Operation Mincemeat has taken over the West End with Broadway to come (Picture: Matt Crockett)

The show has broken records (Picture: Matt Crockett)

It all goes back to Mincemeat’s Felix Hagan, who wrote the book, music and lyrics alongside fellow SplitLip troupe members David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts.

A singer songwriter in his own right, Hagan – whose work has been heard on everything from Spitting Image and Bad Education to adverts and more – once auditioned for McFly while at boarding school in his mid-teens.

Recounting the tale on a live stream gig during lockdown, he recalled seeing an ad for an audition calling for bassists and drummers for a new band.

McFly have kept the same lineup since the beginning (Picture: Tim Roney/Getty Images)

Felix Hagan (second from left) auditioned for the band as a 15-year-old boy (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

‘I read this, like, “I’m probably the fifth most handsome boy in my group of six friends, I’m in,”‘ he quipped at the time. ‘I was a very very keen drummer, still am.’

‘I walk in, it’s a vast, vast empty hall, with a drum kit in the middle, a desk at the far end. We all came in, we take turns to go up and play a drum solo,’ he said.

He remembered being in the middle of telling the panel sometimes about himself when they stop him with a ‘that’s enough’, and told his group they could go.

A few months later, his brother appeared and showed him that week’s top 10, with ‘the band that I auditioned for and failed to get into top of the charts with their debut single’.

Danny Jones is the latest McFly member to head to the jungle (Picture: ITV)

Harry Judd ended up winning Strictly Come Dancing (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

‘McFly. Think what could have been. What a fork in the road,’ he laughed. ‘Just think, I could have been on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! by now chomping on a kangaroos anus! I could have been on Strictly!’

Hagan admitted he didn’t expect to get the gig after walking past Harry Judd in auditions, and he ended up creating one of the biggest ever shows on the West End.

Everyone’s a winner!

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