‘X Factor’ winner Sam Bailey has admitted she’s not holding her breath for another winner in the ‘Over 25s’ category of this year’s competition.
READ MORE:
For the past two years, a singer from the ‘Overs’ category has been crowned ‘X Factor’ champion, with Ben Haenow being voted the public’s winner last December, the year after Sam.
However, the ‘Skyscraper’ singer has revealed she doesn’t think she’d have made it had she waited until this year to audition, claiming she thinks the upcoming series will be too youth-oriented to give older singers a chance.
Sam Bailey
Speaking to The Mirror, Sam explained: “The ‘Overs’ don’t stand a chance this year. Would I survive? No, because three of the judges are very young and looking for young talent.
“You have got someone from Radio 1 and I’m not really played on Radio 1. So I wouldn’t have much of a look-in there.”
Sam has previously been critical of this year’s newly-updated judging panel, which has seen Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora taking over from Louis Walsh and Mel B - and it sounds as though she’s still not won over by their credtentials.
The 'X Factor' judges and hosts at recent auditions
“I’m old school,” she says, “I’d rather have someone like Michael Bolton, Celine Dion or Bette Midler judging me.
“They’ve been in the business long enough to be respected in it. I couldn’t have been luckier with the line-up I had in 2013.”
After triumphing ‘The X Factor’, Sam has since parted ways with Simon Cowell’s Syco record label, months after topping the UK album charts with her debut release.
Following this, she’s made headlines for performing at bingo halls, though it sounds like people’s sneering comments aren’t exactly getting to her.
“If someone offers me a gig I think, ‘Right, I can use that money to do this’. It doesn’t matter where I work, my audiences are great. I’ve heard, ‘Oh, she’s past it, she’s doing Mecca Bingo’.
"Well, I performed at Mecca Bingo before I was in the public eye and I’m the same person I was then. I’ll go where the money is to provide for my family. As long as people don’t take the ****.”
The upcoming series of ‘The X Factor’ has undergone a total transformation, with Olly Murs and Caroline Flack taking over presenting duties from Dermot O’Leary, in addition to the new judging line-up.
Fans of the show were also shocked earlier this week to learn that Peter Dickson, who provides the iconic voiceovers for the show, has decided to bow out, and won’t be returning for the new series.