EastEnders star Shaun Williamson has said he was overwhelmed by the reaction to his performance of “Sweet Caroline” at BoxPark in Croydon.
The former soap actor, who played Barry Evans on EastEnders, also does cabaret and led punters in a rendition of the Neil Diamond song for the Euro 2020 semi-finals on Wednesday (7 July).
“I just couldn’t believe the reaction,” he told Press Association. “It’s just a great song. I think it’s been around as a football chant for a while now and apparently it started as a chant in American football in the crowd. It’s just lovely.”
The 1969 song’s popularity during this year’s Euros is credited to Tony Parry, the DJ at Wembley Stadium who played it after England beat Germany 2-0 during the tournament.
He was originally going to play “Vindaloo”, the 1998 track by Fat Les, but said he went with his gut: “Even the German fans were belting it out in the end.”
Williamson said he knew there was “a lot of negativity” around football, referencing the scandal over the laser pen pointed at Denmark’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichal during a penalty taken by England’s Harry Kane.
Uefa is currently investigating the incident and England has been charged.
“You always get idiots with laser pens, if it was boxing fans or rugby fans, you always get one idiot,” Williamson said.
“I think it’s a great release for people, they go out and they get it all out of this system, so I think it really serves a purpose.”
He seemed unsure of England’s chances against Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday (11 July).
“If we made some of the mistakes we made (against Denmark), we haven’t got a chance,” he said.
“But if we can just tighten up a bit, stop giving silly balls away, we’ve obviously got the chance, we’ve got the players, but it’s going to be a monumental task, it’s going to be gripping.”
You can read more about “Sweet Caroline” and its popularity at the Euros here.
Additional reporting by Press Association
