X Factor Winner Comes Out

When I chat to Joe, he’s in buoyant mood. He’s wrapping up a fantastic year with some last-minute promotion of his Christmas album, Classic Christmas. The album was certified gold within a day of its November release. I take him back to the beginning of his music career. Why did he enter The X Factor?

“Well, I knew I wanted to perform,” he tells me, “but I didn’t know how I was going to go about it. So I just thought, I’ll try for the X Factor and hopefully it’ll give me some insight into the music industry. I didn’t think I would get through. It was more just to see what would happen. I thought I’d just have a bit of fun with it.”

That was back in June 2009, the same month he turned 18. When did he first have an inkling he might actually be in with a shot of winning?

“Probably about half way through the competition,” he answers. “I never allowed myself to think I might win it, but I kind of said to myself: “OK, if you do want to win this you’re going to have to work harder.” I think that was probably about week six or seven. I started to see so many people leave the competition. I realised we were getting really close to the final.”  Read More