The Voice UK 2021 winner Craig Eddie reveals advice from Anne-Marie, as he opens up about the highs and lows of the competition

Just hours after his win, we caught up with him to hear all about his experience and what's in store for the star.

And, it sounds like Craig is well on the way to success, as he shared advice from his The Voice UK coach, Anne-Maire, at hinted

"My head is still in the clouds. I’m still coming down from it, as a surreal experience I still feel like I’m dreaming," he told RadioTimes.com during our Zoom call.

"It's just relief, because I’ve wanted this so much and I was really surprised as well, because I didn’t expect it. I think everyone saw that on my face that I was just so surprised!"

Craig was mentored by singer-songwriter Anne-Marie, who joined the show this year, taking over from Meghan Trainor who left to spend time with her family following her recent pregnancy announcement.

Being able to give Anne-Marie her first win was an incredible feeling for Craig, with the singer adding: "That was amazing. We spoke about how passionate she was as well and she really really wanted it and it, so it feels great because we worked together and we got the win!"

As the winner of series 10, Craig will now be signed to Polydor Records, but his work with Anne-Marie doesn't end here.

When asked if they'd be staying in touch, he said: "Yeah definitely. I think if I have any problems in the future, which is inevitable, I probably will run into some problems in the music industry, so I think Anne-Marie is going to be a really good mentor for that. She’ll have a lot of the answers, so I won't have to go through some of the hardships she went through. I can ask for advice and I’m sure she’d be more than happy!"

One of the things Craig is worried about when it comes to the music industry is the social media hate, saying: "Although I haven’t seen a lot of hate and it doesn’t get to me as much as I thought it would have, I’m not too sure how I’d handle hate in big amounts, so I’ll definitely be asking Anne-Marie."

And it sounds like Anne-Marie has given him some pretty sound advice already.

He continued: "Anne-Marie said to always enjoy the process. I think at the blind and the battle, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have because I was too fixated on getting though. I was just feeling the pressure, but when I got through to the finals, Anne-Marie just kept drilling in my head that I’m doing what I want and I just realised that it’s a privilege and that’s when I just took everything in.

"You can see me on stage just looking around because I was just taking in absolute everything - something that I will remember for the rest of my life!"

• For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.

Going forward, Craig's main aim is to "stay consistent" with his music.

"I’m still just writing and I do have songs on the back burner ready. I just need the production behind it to pain the picture I wanted to paint. Really I just want to be consistent and just write as much music as possible and try come up with a new concept and sounds and create music that nobody has really heard before because I like being experimental. I don’t like sticking too much to the sort of norm. I do like venturing out, so I think that will be much of what I’m doing – continue creating!" he explained.

And he already has his eye on a few artists he'd like to work with.

Speaking of his dream collaborations, he said: "100 per cent Yungblud or Machine Gun Kelly. I can maybe put it out there and manifest it and hopefully fingers crossed!"

The Voice UK will return to ITV next year. Craig Eddie's single Come Waste My Time, is out now, and can be downloaded from Spotify. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide. Visit our hub for more Entertainment news.