British tenor Paul Potts has travelled from cellphone salesman to hit recording artist in a matter of months, and the journey has left him nothing short of astonished.

Potts was the winner of the first Britain's Got Talent this summer and has since issued an album that hit No. 1 in the U.K.

Paul Potts, shown singing at New York's Rockefeller Center in June, is gaining an international following with arias such as Nessun Dorma.
(Richard Dress/Associated Press)

He was an unlikely choice for a reality TV star, singing opera amid a field of pop wannabes, but he seems to have hit a chord with viewers in the U.S. and the U.K.

"To be honest, even finding myself recording an album was astonishing for me," said Potts. "To find myself going to so many different places and meeting so many friendly people is astounding."

Speaking to CBC Radio's Metro Morning on a stop in Toronto to promote his first album, One Chance, Potts said he had always lacked the confidence to see singing as a career.

"I hadn't figured at that point that you can actually do what you enjoy for a career. It doesn't have to be like work," he said.

"So I didn't go to conservatory at 20, which is what most people would do if they want to take up singing professionally."

The son of a bus driver and a cashier, he said he had always loved classical music, but took a series of jobs, from stacking store shelves to selling mobile phones, to support himself.

In 2000, Potts used his savings to attend a three-month summer school in Italy, where he learned the language and had some vocal training.

Still, he wasn't sure about trying out for a place on Britain's Got Talent, a show similar to Canadian Idol or American Idol in which he would be judged by the perennially displeased Simon Cowell.

"I wasn't sure I had talent, whether I was young enough, whether I was what they were actually looking for. I didn't know whether to apply," Potts said.

It was decided by a flip of a coin, he recalled, "It was heads, so I did it."

Album mixes opera, Broadway, hymns

Potts's delivery of operatic arias such as Nessun Dorma resulted in unbridled praise from the judges — and from audiences.

His audition went on to become one of the most viewed clips on YouTube.

Standing in his cheap suit, with a chipped tooth that he has since had repaired, he delivers a performance from the heart.

Since his win, he has issued One Chance, with a title that reflects his own continued astonishment at his musical success.

The album mixes operatic favourites such as Amapola with songs from Broadway and hymns such as O Holy Night, as if it will be the singer's only shot at recording.

"I'm still the same guy…. I'm still very nervous before I go out and perform. I still often wonder what the hell's happening and what I'm doing there," he said.

Potts lives with his wife Julie-Ann in a modest home in South Wales and still is employed by the cellphone company.

But he's touring the world in support of the album and will be back in Canada in 2008.