'X Factor' finalist James Arthur has opened up about his battle with depression and admitted that being on the show stopped him from ending his own life.
James - who will battle it out with Jahmene Douglas and Christopher Maloney in the 'X Factor' final - says things began to get too much for him last year.
James shows mentor Nicole Scherzinger the sites in his hometown
The 24-year-old singing hopeful has previously spoken of how he shoplifted food to feed himself when he slept on the streets as a teenager after being kicked out of home.
“I understand why she chucked me out because I was unbearable to live with. She couldn’t cope with me because I was so angry.
“I was a pretty tough kid, but I had to steal food a couple of times. I went to supermarkets like Sainsbury’s and filled up a plastic bag to try to steal enough food for the week."
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A warm reception: James and Nicole arrive in Cleveland
This week, James returned to his hometown of Saltburn-by-the-sea, Cleveland with his mentor Nicole Scherzinger in a final push to win votes ahead of this weekend's 'X Factor' final.
The pair were mobbed by hundreds of fans as they arrived on a Harley Davidson motorbike. James then took Nicole to his local pub, the Victoria, before heading off for a stroll along the seafront and some fish and chips.
Nicole wrapped up for the occasion (it was 4C) in a black biker's jacket, leather trousers, knee-high boots and huge sunglasses (natch).
James said: “I just want to thank all the fans for their support. I am so excited to be back. It has been amazing.”
Not only could Nicole not find the right camera to look down when Dermot caught her off guard to introduce her next act one week, she then proceeded to introduce James Arthur's name instead of Rylan Clark's. Whoops!
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 5/5
Nope, us neither. She lost us at full fat milk.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 5/5
There was only ever going to be one judge who actually got up on the desk following Rylan's Spice Girls medley in week six, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be Borelow. After dismounting the table, she exclaimed: "That was a Rylan spice explosion all up in this place because you didn't just spread love, you sprayed it all over that stage honey. Girl power."
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 4/5
Nicole just loves to talk about balls, especially Jahmene's which she did live on air during the first live show. When Dermot questioned her, she cheekily replied, "it takes a lot of guts and balls to survive in this business and you obviously have big balls yourself, right?" Cheeky.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 3/5
And Nicole committed her love of balls to song - a duet with James Arthur entitled 'Vaginas And Big Hairy Balls'. You certainly wouldn't have got Cheryl or Dannii doing that.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 5/5
We now snap our fingers twice at every word we say. It can get surprisingly annoying after a while, so we've been told....
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 5/5
Nicole got a little carried away after Rylan's performance of Mousse T's 'Horny', and decided to sing her own version to GB.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 4/5
Nicole proved she can always be relied upon to put the effort in at a fancy dress party when she revisited her Pussycat Dolls past in Rylan' birthday bash dressed in a PVC basque and fishnets.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 3/5
Nicole Scherzinger - 'X Factor' judge by night, Asda worker by day *taps back pocket*. She was transformed into an shop worker in tribute to her contestant Jahmene Douglas, who used to work for the grocery giant before entering 'The X Factor'. At least she's got something to fall back on if Simon Cowell ever axes her again.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 3/5
Never let Nicole make you a dessert is the lesson we learnt from this.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 3/5
We all let out a little *tee hee* when Nicole didn't realise that spunky meant something entirely different over this side of the Atlantic as she described Lucy Spraggan's first live show performance as 'spunky, honest and witty'.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 3/5
We were totes surprised that Nicole didn't opt for a vajazzle when she visited Amy Childs' salon with Rylan Clark.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 1/5
Always calm in a crisis, Nicole's response to a wannabe kicking off big stylee at this year's auditions was "no, baby, no! Inappropriate!".
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 2/5
Nicole was public enemy number one when she brought Rylan Clark through to the live shows. But if she hadn't we wouldn't have had this piece of TV gold in our lives. So thank you, Nic.
Bonkers-o-metre rating: 1/5 - Rylan totally eclipsed her.
'X Factor' finalist James Arthur has opened up about his battle with depression and admitted that being on the show stopped him from ending his own life.
James - who will battle it out with Jahmene...
'X Factor' finalist James Arthur has opened up about his battle with depression and admitted that being on the show stopped him from ending his own life.
James - who will battle it out with Jahmene...
An 'X Factor' win for Christopher Maloney could damage the show's reputation, axed boyband Union J have warned. The Liverpudlian crooner, who honed his singing...
'X Factor' judge Nicole Scherzinger was left in tears after Jahmene Douglas's performance on Saturday's show. Her act chose to sing Whitney Houston's 'I Look...
Excluding the criticism he has received from the judges, press, Twitter users, internet forums, Facebook groups, bloggers, Simon Cowell, production crew, studio audience, past winners and his fellow contestants, Christopher has been this year's most universally popular X Factor hopeful
Maloney has never graced the bottom two, as each week Liverpool pick up the phone. It's nuts. Christopher Maloney has just over 100,000 followers on Twitter and Union J had over six times that amount - perhaps this goes to show that the youngsters don't pick up the phone and vote.
My job involves a lot of waiting for the busy finalists to spare a few minutes to chat each week - their schedules are insane. Each week they are groomed, pampered, spray-tanned, their nails, hair, even eyebrows have to be 'done'. Is this the life of a musician/celebrity?! Yikes.
If he suffers depression should he even be in a competition like this ? What if he doesn't win ? What if he had been voted out in the early stages ? A programme like this cannot save you from depression .
Makalha: If he suffers depression should he even be in a
We do find real talent in this country. Just not on shows like this.
If you want to hear artists at work you need to drag yourself away from the tv screen and get out into the real world to listen to live acts playing the pubs / clubs / live venue circuit.
There is talent out there, you just need to make the effort to go and find it. Yes, you will find a lot of dross acts, but on the occassions you find yourself listening to someone with a real talent it makes the effort worthwhile.
NeverWrong5050: We do find real talent in this country. Just not
It may be that he suffers from depression. It is an illness that isn't taken seriously by many. BUT, when people announce this type of thing while the contest is running, I do wonder if they are possibly looking for a few extra votes. It should be about the singing and not about who has the saddest story. If someone suffers depression, being pushed into the limelight isn't the best way to mend. It creates pressure and stress for anyone, let alone someone with mental health issues, look at Susan Boyle. And I do not mean that as an insult to Susan, Having depression or mental health issues is not something to be ashamed or embarrased about.
RobertDazzler: It may be that he suffers from depression. It is
If he lived on the streets from the age of 15 and stole food to eat......why does he have tattoos.....because they cost a lot of money.........he is trying to win with a sob story.....
steffi_2: If he lived on the streets from the age of
He probably read the comment I posted a few days ago saying:
"He comes over as a very angry big-head." Now he has admitted the "angry" part, the rest will soon follow.
He does not sing; he quarrels out of tune and out of timing; he plays incorrect chords and holds down incorrect notes to the chords on his guitar; he strums his guitar out of harmony with the drums and base guitar.
He is exactly what that programme promotes.
I hope he wins to ensure that yet again another FIX-Factor winner disappears into obscurity like most of the previous winners. Those who come second, third or fourth seem to be doing better than most of the winners.
severus193to211: He probably read the comment I posted a few days
How I yearn for the day that an X-Factor contestant says,
"My parents were (and still are) great; I love my siblings - none of whom have a drug problem, my uncle was not a paedophile, my dolphin doesn't bite, my cat has no thumbs and my school never abolished the free milk and threw in cookies as a free extra. Also I passed every exam I ever took with the minimum of studying, have inherited a fortune, coincidentally on the same day that I won a rollover lottery and can eat what I want without gaining an ounce. "
artisannes: How I yearn for the day that an X-Factor contestant
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Posted: 05/12/2012 09:10 GMT Updated: 05/12/2012 09:21 GMT