A former X Factor star has lifted the lid on some of the ITV talent competitions biggest secrets including special audition codes and “fake tears”.
Many singers who shot to stardom on the show have shared their negative experiences on the reality show in recent years, including Rebecca Ferguson and Cher Lloyd. Twenty years after the reality show first hit our screens, former contestants and staff given an insight into what it was like to be part of the show, which ran from 2004 until 2018.
Now, former contestant Laura Conway has opened up about her time on the show. Speaking to the BBC Sounds podcast, Offstage: Inside The X Factor, the musician has claimed that ITV bosses got her to pretend to cry for the cameras.
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The blonde bombshell – who competed in the second series in a group with her sisters Sharon, Sinead and Marie – claimed she was told to sob for cameras.
(Image: Rex)
She said: “The producers made me put water on my eyes and smudge my mascara. They were asking me to hug one of the girls and film through the door and make it look like I was crying.
“But that was a total setup. I wasn’t crying at the time,” she added. Daily Star has reached out to ITV for a comment.
The Conway Sisters were mentored by head judge Simon Cowell on the ITV show and finished in sixth place back in 2005. The show was eventually won by Shayne Ward.
(Image: Rex)
Even though Laura insists she “100%” regrets taking part on the singing competition, she did confess that appearing on the show did open some exciting new career opportunities.
She said: “I sang on some really big video games as well; League of Legends. I sang the main theme on that. I thought that was going to be my biggest audience.
“That was 50million daily active players. But then during the pandemic, I did the soundtrack for Honor of Kings, which has a hundred million daily active players.”
(Image: Getty Images)
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But that wasn’t the only audition revelation exposed on the BBC podcast, with one former crew member revealed a coding system used by staff members to identify hopefuls who may “kick-off” on stage.
The former crew member told listeners: “There was E for ‘entertaining’ and then the other one I remember is PKO which was ‘potential kick-off’. ‘PKOS’ were those who might fight back, yell or drop a mic in annoyance.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
