'My Eurovision jumpsuit has become a trip hazard'

Ryder with the jumpsuit he wore when he secured the UK's best Eurovision result since 1998

Sam Ryder has ditched his trademark jumpsuits, labelling them a "trip hazard" because so many beads were falling off.

Ryder said it made going up stairs a health and safety risk, likening it to a scene from Home Alone 2 when burglars slip on pearls.

His outfit at the 2022 Eurovision contest - where he got the UK's best result since 1998 - had 15,000 beads and gems showing the sun, moon, planets and stars.

But the Space Man singer told BBC Breakfast he did not wear it or its prototypes any more despite having "a cupboard full of them".

"All the beads would constantly fall off them and they're a trip hazard," he said.

He said his "amazing experience" at Eurovision would stay with him forever.

"It's the closest thing you can do to wearing the shirt for your country, when it comes to being a singer," said the 36-year-old from Maldon, Essex.

Ryder said he looked back "so fondly" at his Eurovision achievement

"I had never worn a jumpsuit before Eurovision, especially one embroidered with pearly planets," the former construction worker added.

"But I knew I needed to create a character for that moment in time that was Space Man vibes."

Ryder, who has released a new album Heartland, much of it written in Nashville, was played excerpts from his Eurovision performance.

"Watching little clips like this back, it gives me such joy that it bought a lot of happiness at the time," he said.

"You compartmentalise it, the different chapters of your life. I look at that so fondly.

"I love and will always look in the eye the achievements of the past and decisions that I made."