 He was briefly a singer in the pop boy band Hyrise, which was in the running to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 with the song "Leading Me On"; however, they lost out to James Fox and "Hold Onto Our Love".Barnes began working in television in 2006, including a guest appearance on the UK series "Doctors".That same year, he joined the ensemble cast of a West End production of "The History Boys", in which he starred as the sexually provocative Dakin, a role originally played by Dominic Cooper on stage and in the film "The History Boys".