Diana Vickers has admitted she found it difficult shooting to fame on The X Factor.
The singer was just 16 when she appeared on The X Factor back in 2008, where she instantly became famous. The 33 year old singer and actress has bagged a hilarious new lead role in I Wish You Well: The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical.
But she also discussed her time on The X Factor. Diana revealed she’s happy, over 15 years later, that she has been accepted into the theatre community and isn’t just known as “that girl off The X Factor”. However, she also recognises it was X Factor that helped put her on the map.
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Diana got Girls Aloud’s Cheryl as a mentor in the Girls category and came fourth, in the same year as Alexandra Burke, JLS and her former boyfriend Eoghan Quigg. She admitted there was one element of the experience that she did find difficult.
(Image: Ken McKay / Rex Features)
She struggled to cope with the ‘pressure” that came with gaining fame overnight – and to be judged on her performances by grown-ups sitting on a panel. Diana told OK!: “I was really young, and being judged in front of a lot of people all these adults, telling you their opinions.
“But I really enjoyed it. And even back then I was able to say, ‘Diana, it’s just a TV show,’ which was healthy. I took it all with a pinch of salt. I remember I’d get quite nervous onstage. Even now, I’m super-confident but I have an anxious side, which people are surprised about.”
(Image: dianavickersofficial/Instagram)
She went on: “But yeah… I have some mad memories, Kate Moss running about backstage, Britney Spears appearing, Beyonce… It was a whirlwind.”
Judge Louis Walsh called Diana a “little hippy” because of her famous bird’s-nest hairstyle, something she still laughs about these days. She said: “I used to walk around school like that, you know my hair all backcombed.
(Image: ITV)
“Kids at school would bully me a bit but I remember really not caring. Then, everyone was doing it I was like, ‘Oh God, I’ve started something here!'”
The actress also believes it was her self-belief that drove her to audition on The X Factor, and that she still has the same drive. “I don’t feel like I’ve changed, I still have that drive,” she said.
“I don’t believe any dream is too big. That’s why I think I went on The X Factor, coming from a little town in Blackburn, and did so well. I carry that with me. I love that I’ve not lost that because you get so much rejection in this industry. It can be really brutal. But I’ve made peace with it. I trust the process.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
