Happy birthday Gareth! Bradford's very own home-grown pop idol is 18 years old today - and looking forward to the perfect birthday present of his second number one single on Sunday.

A year ago, Gareth was just another student worrying about his exam results. Today, the first day of his adult life, he is already a household name and has a career of superstardom ahead of him.

It's been an amazing few months for Gareth, beginning with the intense scrutiny of the Pop Idol TV programme which plucked him from relative obscurity and catapulted him into the spotlight, through the release of his first single, his inaugural live performances, and preparation for his first album.

Endless TV appearances followed his chart success, including an appearance on tonight's Sport Relief charity show.

In many respects, Gareth is the unofficial standard bearer for Bradford's bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2008. He is young, vibrant, the face of the 21st Century, and sends a positive image of Bradford to all those people who are determined to think only the worst of the city.

Despite his new-found success, Gareth has always managed to keep his feet firmly on the ground, and it's not hard to see that he's bringing his good Bradford common sense to bear in coping with the rigours of a business that a lot of celebrities often find too much to handle.

In that sense, Gareth is already a superstar, and from here it's onwards and upwards. Not bad for a lad from East Bowling.