X Factor’s first ever winner Steve Brookstein is making a music comeback – exactly 20 years after his triumph.
The singer played to a full house at in Chiswick, West London, on Wednesday night where he couldn’t resist having a pop at the now defunct ITV talent show.
Steve, now 56 and unrecognisable from his time on the now defunct ITV talent show, told the audience at his gig: ‘It’s 20 years since I won that show, I call it that show.’
But his venue for Wednesday night’s gig was a stark contrast to the Fountain studios in Wembley, North West London where he was crowned the first X Factor king on December 11 2004 after being mentored by Simon Cowell.
Rather than a glitzy theatre watched by 10 million viewers, Steve played to 30 people at coffee shop Rhythm and Brews in the leafy London suburb of Chiswick.
Steve was invited by the owners after they read an article on MailOnline about a gig he did in Scotland in October.
X Factor ‘s first ever winner Steve Brookstein is making a music comeback – exactly 20 years after his triumph
The singer played to a full house at in Chiswick, West London, on Wednesday night where he couldn’t resist having a pop at the now defunct ITV talent show
‘I’m only here because of the Daily Mail,’ he said.
Steve sang cover hits such as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On? Mamas and Papas’ California Dreamin’ and Nightshift by the Commodores.
The anniversary wasn’t lost on Steve, who had travelled down from Scotland where he now lives with his wife Eileen.
And he is now to mark it by preparing to release a new record.
While he may not have been on the X Factor where he won the hearts of Britain’s housewives, he didn’t stop smiling all night.
Because speaking for the first time about his role on the show last weekend, Steve told how the programme brought him deep torment.
He said: ‘The X Factor gave me everything I didn’t want: humiliation. It’s been like an albatross around my neck.’
And revealing the depth of insults levelled at him by judges he told how Sharon Osbourne called him the c-word during rehearsals, while Louis Walsh even said he looked like serial killer Fred West on live television.
Steve, now 56 and unrecognisable from his time on the now defunct ITV talent show, told the audience at his gig: ‘It’s 20 years since I won that show, I call it that show’
His venue for Wednesday night’s gig was a stark contrast to the Fountain studios in Wembley where he was crowned the first X Factor king in 2004 after being mentored by Simon Cowell
‘It was quite shocking. There was so much hate towards me.
‘The hardest bit was when I got bullied online. People would send me emails and links to websites and there were all these pictures of me and Fred West. It was all in the [online] chatrooms. And you’re not ready for that in real life. The worst you ever got was back in school, and this was a national thing.
‘‘I’ve never wanted to take my own life – but I have felt that if I didn’t have Eileen and the kids I could have.’ Brookstein is unequivocal: the treatment he received on the programme showed a callous disregard for him as a person.’
‘There was no duty of care [from the bosses]. What they learnt from series one wasn’t how to look after the artists, it was to protect the company,’ he said.
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