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X Factor's Rak-Su told they'd be 'bigger than One Direction' before career-changing row

X-Factor champions Rak-Su instantly won over the nation with their catchy tunes but singer Myles Stephenson says they were promised a huge career.

The group became the first boy group to win the former ITV talent show in 2017 melting the audience with their audition, offering a cover of Senorita by Justin Timberlake, before performing their own song.

Over the course of the competition, the group consisting of Ashley Fongho, Jamaal Shurland, Mustafa Rahimtulla and Myles Stephenson performed their own material, as well as two cover songs.

They won with over 50 per cent of the public vote, with several of their songs entering the charts.

Myles Stephenson claims Rak-Su were told they would be bigger than One Direction
(Image: Syco / Thames / Kennedy)

Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, Myles, 30, claims they were promised the world but the promises didn’t materialise, after their record label had a falling out with their management team

The dad-of-one said: “Simon [Cowell] and Nicole [Scherzinger] and all of them lot said we were going to be bigger than One Direction.

“Then one day you wake up in the morning, you’ve got 100 messages saying Syco and Modest! have had a falling out and you have an ultimatum to decide whether you want to stay with one or the other.

One Direction placed third on The X Factor in 2010
(Image: Getty Images North America)

“It was alright for Little Mix because they were the biggest girl group in the world, they can go wherever they want, but we were just tagging along with Little Mix wherever they go.”

He went on to add: “Guess what, the new don’t really care about us that much because you’re an X Factor band, Syco had overspent, they’d spent well over £1 million on us in the first year.

“There was no money in the pot, that’s why we parted ways. That’s why when we joined [Sony] RCA, we lasted six months and we went up to RCA and said ‘Look, it’s not working, can we leave’.

Myles revealed that Rak-Su left Sony RCA after their first label had “over-spent” on them
(Image: mirror.co.uk)

“There was no money for them to fund us, music is very, very expensive.”

“When you’re on a label, you’re spending a minimum of £70 – £80,000 per song, at the minimum,” Myles explained.

The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star went on to say: “So if there’s no money, where are you going to recoup?

“For us, we were grown men when we asked to leave, for us, financially, we know there’s no money so lets just part ways and do our own thing, we’ll fund it ourselves.

“After that, it was like a massive weight off our shoulders.”

Rak-Su had been caught in the drama when Little Mix parted ways with Syco Records, with Jade Thirlwall saying Simon Cowell’s label “f***ed us over.”

Just a Friend by Rak-Su featuring AJ Moreno is out now.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk


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