{"id":586409,"date":"2025-11-22T08:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T08:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/586409\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T08:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T08:30:32","slug":"im-a-celebrity-star-aitch-said-there-was-one-thing-he-never-wanted-to-change-as-career-took-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/586409\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m A Celebrity star Aitch said there was one thing he ‘never wanted to change’ as career took off"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘[People from Manchester] are like the coolest people in the world, don\u2019t let anyone else tell you differently’\"ManchesterManchester rapper Aitch is currently appearing on screens in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!(Image: ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

In his breakthrough song, Aitch told listeners that he\u2019s \u2018underestimated\u2019. \u201cI never flop,\u201d he rapped, \u201cI got it boxed, look how I demonstrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, to be fair to the Moston<\/a> musician, in the eight years since the release of Straight Rhymez, he\u2019s managed to prove his theory right. He\u2019s won a BRIT Award<\/a>, released two top ten albums, and headlined a major festival in his hometown.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old is now set to welcome a whole new batch of fans as he appears in the current series of ITV reality show I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026 Get Me Out of Here<\/a>. He joins local favourites like YouTuber Angry Ginge, and Bury-based actress Lisa Riley on the line-up.<\/a><\/p>\n

The musician, real name Harrison Armstrong, initially hoped for a career in football – inspired by his love of Manchester United. He dropped out of college in order to work in construction with his grandfather.<\/p>\n

Stay connected with our City Life newsletter <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AitchAitch said appearing on I’m a Celebrity… was a chance for him to ‘branch out'(Image: James Gourley\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, at the age of 15, he released his first ever song. It wasn\u2019t supposed to be taken seriously, it wasn\u2019t even supposed to be uploaded online. But when his phone, quite literally, blew up with notifications of followers and views, he soon changed his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at my mate\u2019s house and my phone died and I was just chilling playing FIFA,\u201d Aitch told a Manchester crowd at the Beyond The Music festival last year<\/a>. \u201cBy the time my phone came back on again, it was just pinging with alerts from GRM Daily and these other channels. I was like \u2018What\u2019s going on? Am I blowing up right now?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI swear, I\u2019ve never seen it before, but some thermometer came up on my screen and said \u2018your phone is overheating, please shut it down\u2019. I just looked at the mandem and was like \u2018I\u2019m ******* blowing up, this is mad\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Releasing freestyles on the likes of the P110 YouTube channel, he quickly began to earn a reputation for his rapid-fire delivery. But the 2018 release of Straight Rhymez – backed up with his first mixtape – changed things for good. He began receiving major label deals and being asked to appear on tracks.<\/p>\n

\"AitchAitch performed in Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter in April ahead of his album release(Image: Jake Lindley \/ Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

His next single, Taste (Make It Shake), was a slow-burner hit. It eventually reached a peak of number two on the UK charts, and has sold more than 1.25m copies to date. Then came the release of his second mixtape, AitcH2O, which also became a top five hit.<\/p>\n

In 2022, he released songs with Ashanti and ArrDee. He also released My G, alongside Ed Sheeran, which was about his sister, Grace, who has Down syndrome. He recently spoke about the close bond<\/a> he has with his sister after admitting: “I wouldn’t even be half the person I am if she wasn’t here.”<\/p>\n

He would release his first studio album, Close to Home, that same year. Album tracks included Belgrove Road, in homage to his M40 postcode, and Hollinwood to Hollywood, referencing his connection to Oldham.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to sound like where I came from,\u201d he said last year of representing his hometown. \u201cI never wanted that to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AitchAitch in the ‘Back to Basics’ music video in 2017(Image: P110)<\/p>\n

He added of the local scene at the time of his breakout: \u201cIn terms of rap music, obviously, there wasn\u2019t much of a massive scene here. It wasn\u2019t very mainstream and not many people in London knew about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore that, there wasn\u2019t anyone really [in rap] to super look up to in terms of someone who\u2019s reached a certain level. You always want to keep that thing that \u2018we\u2019re the best\u2019. We\u2019re actually like the coolest people in the world, don\u2019t let anyone else tell you differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Aitch was announced as one of the headliners at the Parklife Festival<\/a>, alongside The Prodigy, The 1975, Fred Again\u2026 and Little Simz. “It\u2019s been one of my main goals since I started music,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cI don\u2019t care what happens after this, I\u2019m happy.”<\/p>\n

In fact, his family also took the opportunity to show a cheeky side to proceedings as, on the same day as his headline slot at the festival, his nan Pauline headlined a Plantlife festival in Blackley<\/a>. At the time, she said she\u2019d be listening to his performance from her back garden – hoping to hear a shout out to her.<\/p>\n

\"AitchAitch headlined Parklife at Heaton Park back in 2023(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Showing his love for Parklife, Aitch made surprise appearances at the festival in 2024 and 2025 – appearing alongside Anne-Marie<\/a> and BOU <\/a>during their own sets.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Aitch released his second album – 4 – which was launched in massive style with the inclusion of a fire truck<\/a>. As part of a mini tour, the musician visiting four locations described as \u2018touchstones\u2019 of his career, including Moston Lane (which was referenced in his 2020 hit Moston) and the Stage & Radio venue in the Northern Quarter<\/a> (where he first met his long-time manager Michael Adex after performing at an open-mic night in 2016).<\/p>\n

Speaking of his 2025 record, the performer said: “This album represents, first & foremost, my postcode. My postcode is M40, and for years, since we were kids, when we used to take pictures, we always used to throw 4\u2019s up. It used to be our thing; we were always repping the 4.<\/p>\n

\"AitchAitch partnered with Manchester street food venture Archie’s on a new box meal(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially being from Manchester, I feel like sometimes a lot of things are hidden. Because the scene is very London-centric, we don\u2019t always get a look in sometimes, so this is me just ripping that canvas and bringing people into what\u2019s going on over here.”<\/p>\n

In addition to music, Aitch has also released a fashion line with the Manchester-based Drama Call label, has his own Syps drink, and even launched his very own meal deal<\/a> at local street food spot Archie\u2019s.<\/p>\n

So when Aitch was first announced as one of the campmates for this year\u2019s I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026<\/a>, it was a move which surprised some of his fans. But Aitch said he was ready for the challenge it entails.<\/p>\n

\"AitchAitch won the Hip Hop\/Grime\/Rap Act trophy at The BRIT Awards 2023(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t always want to be stuck in the same world forever,\u201d he said of his reasons for taking part. \u201cYou can branch out and do other things. You don\u2019t have to stick to the code (rap world), because you think that\u2019s cool. I did have to cancel some gigs for it. But you are never going to branch out if you do the same thing all the time.”<\/p>\n

And in a lasting message to his hometown, he added: \u201cBout to go f*ck up the jungle the Manchester way. Cinnabit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group <\/strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘[People from Manchester] are like the coolest people in the world, don\u2019t let anyone else tell you differently’Manchester…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,1459,2465,696,17557,49671,382,16,15,1737],"class_list":{"0":"post-586409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-im-a-celebrity-get-me-out-of-here","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-manchester-music","14":"tag-moston","15":"tag-parklife-festival","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-youtube"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115592419520248281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}