‘The X Factor’ UK: Third-place finishers 5 After Midnight reportedly have record deal

While not everyone from this season of “The X Factor” is going to be getting a new record contract, it does absolutely look as though Simon Cowell’s looking to snatch up as many of the people he’s interested in as possible. After all, the musical mogul reportedly has signed third-place finishers 5 After Midnight to a record deal.

Per the Daily Star, here is what a source had to say on the booking:

“The boys are overjoyed and can’t believe they are signing to Syco. Simon has been a big fan of 5 After Midnight throughout the series. Out of all the artists he thinks 5AM have the biggest gap in the market to play with. There are very few boybands around at the moment and even fewer urban boybands who dance.”

This signing was not even a remote surprise to us, mostly because of the sole fact that this group has been relatively popular on the show through most of the season, and even when they were in third place, it was a close third behind Saara Aalto and eventual winner Matt Terry. Plus, we said all along that this group had arguably the most potential to be big after the show. They’re super-current, and you get the sense that they work really hard to be great performers in addition to great singers.

The biggest thing of all to remember here perhaps is that groups tend to have a lot of success following their time on the franchise, even more so at times than solo acts. One Direction finished in third on their season and are doing great, and the same can be said right now for Fifth Harmony after their time on the American show. Little Mix won their season, and are considered to be one of the biggest girl bands in the world.

As of right now, 5 After Midnight joins Terry and (shockingly) Honey G as contestants this season with some sort of recording deal. (Honey’s is just a single-by-single one, which offers few guarantees long-term.) Meanwhile, Saara Aalto is reportedly close to also landing one herself. (Photo: ITV.)