A former X Factor star Bradley Hunt didn’t want to audition after a blazing row broke out between him and his bandmate.
The TV star appeared on the iconic talent scout programme back in 2016 alongside his Ottavio – now Octavia Columbro after transitioning in 2019 – with the duo being propelled to stardom after taking ITV audiences by surprise with their massive fallout over “raw chicken”.
At the time, the flamboyant pair had applied to audition together as a double act known as Bratavio. But before they could appear in front of the judges including; Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger and Sharon Osbourne, they’d had a blazing fallout.
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It looked as though Bratavio’s chances of ever making it to the judges houses were diminishing, with the pair now adamant that they would both only audition solo. However, producers had other ideas in store for them.
(Image: PA)
Bradley had originally been told by executives of the show that they’d only accept them as a pair or not at all. To which he was not best pleased and snapped back telling executives he “wasn’t coming then”.
Later on, producers agreed to let the pair audition separate but it all worked in their favour when the duo did rekindle on the programme at the request of Simon Cowell. A reunion that went viral and is still dubbed as “one of the most dramatic” auditions to this very day.
(Image: Syco / Thames / Dymond)
Casting his mind back, Bradley told us: “With regards to what happened beforehand, they [the producers] were saying to me that you ‘have to come together or you can’t audition at all’. And I said ‘well I’m not coming then’.”
“Then the day before, they said ‘oh we will offer you a solo audition tomorrow’. I then asked a mutual friend of mine and Octavia’s, if she was also going on the same day. She confirmed ‘yes, she’s there tomorrow too’ so I actually went on that day to have a fight – not a physical fight but just sort of battle it out with Octavia.”
Bradley decided to go along and sat in the auditorium while his friend took to the stage to perform for four judges first. They all concluded that something was missing from Octavia’s performance, with Louis Walsh adding: “I think you could do much better and in a group that would be fantastic.”
(Image: Birmingham Mail)
It was at this point that Octavia broke down explaining to the foursome that she’d had a “massive fall out with Bradley over chicken”. A curious Simon quizzed: “Who is Bradley? And you said it was about chicken?
Octavia said: “He cooked me some chicken and when he gave it to me, it’s all pink.” Sharon interrupted: “Ohh no, you could get very sick,” at which point Octavio told her: “I know and I don’t want to get salmonella.”
Bradley was summoned to the judges for them to hear out what had happened. Simon asked: “Did you give them undercooked chicken.”
(Image: ITV)
“No I just made chicken but because I was hungry. I just didn’t leave it in long enough, she could have said thanks though,” chirped back Bradley. The judges then decided it would be best to let the twosome join forces once more and audition together.
They came back to showcase their version of Nicole’s Pussycat Dolls hit track Buttons. While Sharon, Louis and Nicole waved Bradley and Octavio through to the next round, Simon wasn’t convinced.
It all seemed like a perfect storm to viewers at home, with the two singers kissing and making up and getting through to the next phase. But Bradley revealed it was quite a different story when the camera’s were not rolling. He said “Our audition took about three hours on the day and people were getting annoyed.
(Image: ITV)
“I’d actually forgotten that I’d mentioned the undercooked chicken. Everyone was waiting because we were arguing for so long and there were so many different things to the argument, that I’d actually forgotten that I’d even mentioned the raw chicken but when it came down to it on the edit it was only the raw chicken mentioned.”
He went on to add: “I’d forgotten that I’d even told them that bit because we’d actually fallen out over loads of things. There was more deeper stuff that Octavia did, but I’m actually quite thankful that it ended up being more light hearted, rather than it being deep.”
For the sake of the competition, Bradley and Octavia did manage to park their differences. They made it all the way to Louis Walsh’s house where the Irish judge was joined by former X Factor runner up Fleur East and Alesha Dixon, with the three of them agreeing that Bratavio deserved a spot on the live shows.
Despite going from strength-to-strength, Bradley explained their relationship still remained on the rocks behind closed doors. He said: “Throughout the competition we made up again.
“Nothing really changed between us because of the way that we fell out. Octavia knew that she could still get away with those types of behaviours that she’d got away with and that she kind of had me trapped because of wanting to go through the process.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
