Olly Murs’ brother has revealed he’s changed his surname because of a long-running and bitter feud with his famous twin sibling and the rest of his family.
Ben Murs is now known as Ben Hart, after taking his wife’s surname in a bid to move on from the rift with his brother.
Ben is completely estranged from the ‘Wrapped Up’ singer, as well as his sister and parents., who he says sided with Olly after they fell out over seven years ago.
The blame, he says, lies squarely with ‘The X Factor’ and the fame and money it brought his brother, who he was inseparable from as a child.
According to Ben, the final straw came when Olly allegedly missed his wedding to wife Amy to attend a dress rehearsal for ‘The X Factor’.
Ben told The Daily Mail: “Olly was on X Factor at the time and my mum told me that she and my dad wouldn’t come on the day unless I made Olly the best man, so that my X Factor star brother could turn up and give a speech for ten minutes. No way.
Asked about changing his surname, Ben added: “I just wanted to move on. I couldn’t cope with it all – if I went into Barclays bank, I would be asked if I was Olly’s brother. I would just say ‘no’. If someone called me by that name now I wouldn’t even turn around.
And unsurprisingly, Ben isn’t a fan of ‘The X Factor’ or any other talent shows these days
Olly has previously stated that it was actually Ben’s decision to distance himself from the rest of the Murs family and insisted that they would welcome him back at any time.
Olly said: “We don’t speak to my twin brother and that’s been extremely difficult. Long before X Factor there were problems between Ben and his girlfriend and our family.
“He made the decision not to speak to the family… but the door’s always open for him to come back.”
Olly’s reps declined to comment when contacted by HuffPost UK.