Vinnie Jones has landed a spot on the X Factor: Celebrity live shows, having missed the initial audition stages of the competition following the death of his wife.
The former footballer and actor was heavily rumoured to have been a contestant on the celebrity version of the ITV singing competition, even appearing in one of its earliest trailers.
However, when the full line-up was confirmed, Vinnie was noticeably absent, prompting some to assume he had dropped out of the competition, after the death of his wife Tanya this summer.
At the end of Saturday night’s episode, it was revealed that Simon Cowell had reached out to Vinnie and offered him a place in the live shows on the spot.
“When we heard the news, we were all thinking about you, it was tragic, I just wanted to check you were OK,” Simon was seen telling Vinnie over the phone at the end of the episode.
Vinnie responded: “We are just getting through it, you just learn to carry the grief really Simon.”
When Simon then asked whether Vinnie would have been “up for” doing the show, he explained: “Tan’s pushed me, really, Simon. We knew it was all going on, and I put [being on X Factor: Celebrity] to the family and Tan was very excited about it.”
Simon then automatically offered the Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels actor a place in the show’s live shows, where he’ll be mentored by Nicole Scherzinger.
“Oh good,” Vinnie said. “I didn’t want the little Irish man. [Tanya] wanted me to do it, so that’d be awesome.”
The first X Factor: Celebrity live show will air on Saturday night on ITV.
