Former ‘X Factor’ winner Sam Bailey has interesting thoughts on Ben Haenow, Fleur East

Many moons ago, we were in the middle of an era where if you were declared the winner of a reality singing competition, you had a tremendous opportunity to be bestowed all sorts of fame and fortune.

However, we are now clearly in an era that is far more choosy when it comes to what it actually wants, and we have no better evidence of this than the past few years of “The X Factor.” Little Mix is the last act to win the show and then go on to have a big career. One Direction is by far the biggest act to come out of the series, and they didn’t finish in the top two. Olly Murs is a former runner-up. Ultimately, this show is more about how you present yourself and who you impress, and then if you are lucky you will get the chance to go on and have some sort of career. Ironically, having the “x factor” doesn’t make you the winner of “The X Factor.”

Sam Bailey is the perfect person to shed some light on this, given that she won the show’s tenth season and is no longer a part of the Syco family in terms of a record deal. Per the Sun, she made it fairly clear that she thinks that Simon Cowell prefers the runner-up of this past season in Fleur East more than winner Ben Haenow:

“I felt sorry for Ben on The X Factor tour. Fleur opened the show and had amazing outfits, pyrotechnics, dancers and big performances.  Then Ben went on at the end and it was an anti-climax. It’s obvious they are pushing Fleur to be the star. Simon can see where the money is going to come from and will make sure Fleur is the next big thing.”

If we were to play devil’s advocate here in a sense, what we would say is that Ben is a different sort of performer; Fleur shines with the big production behind her, while some of his best work comes in soft-spoken numbers.

Still, the point is what it is, and it is hard to break into the music business when you are a guy like Ben, a male singer-songwriter in a sea of them. Luckily, we do know he has new music on the way.

Want to get some other news right now when it comes to “The X Factor”? Then be sure to head over to the link here right now! Also, you can sign up here to get some other TV news on just about everything we cover, sent right to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ITV.)