X Factor winner Matt Terry has accused Simon Cowell of ‘humiliating people’ after the music mogul claimed contestants ‘only wanted fame’ on the ITV show.
The singer, 32, won the talent competition back in 2016, but in a lengthy video he shared how he ‘felt like a failure’ and ‘didn’t want to wake up’ after the victory didn’t turn him into a ‘global superstar.’
Simon came under fire last month when he was questioned about duty of care protocols on The X Factor, saying a ‘vast majority’ of contestants ‘got what they wanted, which was fame and money.’
But Matt questioned Simon’s claims by saying he needed to ‘take accountability’ and it ‘wasn’t obvious’ to him and many contestants that they were going to face such nationwide exposure.
He went onto say that he has had ‘two years of therapy’ to rebuild his mental health after appearing on the show.
His comments echoed many other X Factor stars who have blasted the lack of duty of care for contestants since the show was shelved in 2021.
X Factor winner Matt Terry has accused Simon Cowell of ‘humiliating people’ after the music mogul claimed contestants ‘only wanted fame’ on the ITV show
Simon came under fire last month when he was questioned about duty of care protocols on The X Factor, saying a ‘vast majority’ of contestants ‘got what they wanted, which was fame’
In his three-minute video, Matt said: ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna post this, but I just feel very angry about [it]…
‘Simon Cowell has basically done The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, and I just saw a clip where he says that people that have been on this show have it in for him because it didn’t quite work out for them and that we got what we wanted which was fame and money.’
‘I went on X Factor because I was a very young person with a dream, and I just wanted to sing and be an artist, and whatever came with that is secondary, and something I would deal with.
‘Never once did I think about being famous, never once did I think that I would make money, and its not that obvious, and I think it’s just really unfair to say, for example, yes it’s obvious to Simon who has been in the industry for years but someone like me who had £4 to my name if we’re gonna talk about money.
‘I feel… I didn’t go on there for that, I went on there for my dream and to hear that hurts. And I’m not having it.’
Matt continued: ‘The thing is there’s two truths, he’s done great things for many people, charities he works with, he has changed people’s lives and made them big stars, that’s amazing, but we also have to acknowledge that he’s humiliated… well the show that he created along with other people has humiliated people.
‘He’s taken people off the street that they know can’t sing for example and said ”you’re brilliant why don’t you come on X Factor?” and fed them to the wolves let’s say, and are putting them on national television, knowing that they are going to be humiliated, and that is something that when you are being viewed by millions of people you can’t escape, you have to go now for the rest of your life knowing that song from that TV show [you sang] really badly.’
‘So when he says ”there’s nothing I can do about that”, there is something you can do about that.
Matt won the talent competition back in 2016, but in a lengthy video he shared how he ‘felt like a failure’ and ‘didn’t want to wake up’ after the victory didn’t turn him into a ‘global superstar’
Matt questioned Simon’s claims by saying he needed to ‘take accountability’ and it ‘wasn’t obvious’ to him and many contestants that they were going to face such nationwide exposure
‘You can take accountability, you can say this show that I produced, at the time we weren’t talking about mental health, we weren’t aware of mental health, we didn’t have duty of care we weren’t psychologically analysing contestants or giving them a heads up or telling them what might happen and what could happen, in something that might be so obvious to you, but isn’t obvious to someone like me when I was in that moment.
‘It’s very obvious now when I’ve been here for 10 years but at the time it wasn’t obvious, so take accountability and say ”that’s why the show’s not here anymore.”
Matt then clarified his comments in a follow-up video, sharing how he was made to feel like a ‘failure’ when his career struggled to take off when he won the show.
However, he noted that after seeking help he’s ‘fallen back in love with himself’ and ‘taken control’ of his life.
After Matt won The X Factor he went on to release a debut album called Trouble.
But after it reached no.29 in the charts, he previousy said he was forwarded an email by his then-manager from record company RCA bosses which stated they would not be proceeding with a second album.
He said: ‘I just want to get used to there being multiple truths, start with that, say ”you can do something really great and it can benefit you” in one way, but then you can also do the same thing, but it might really hurt you, both things are true.
‘I won The X Factor and yes it did change my life, I all of a sudden was touring the world, I was in the studio, I was writing my debut album I absolutely loved it and I don’t regret it, at all. It was excellent.
‘Another side of that is that it changed the way I view myself, because the expectation was so high, of what an X Factor winner should achieve, when I didn’t become, let’s say, a big global superstar, then all of a sudden, everyone called me a failure.
He went onto say that he has had ‘two years of therapy’ to rebuild his mental health after appearing on the show, and has since ‘taken control’ of his life
Simon was grilled about the treatment of contestants while promoting his Netflix docuseries Simon Cowell: The Next Act on The Rest In Entertainment podcast
‘And I believed them, and that is the way I viewed myself for years, that I was a big fail, I would go to bed at night, wishing that I wouldn’t wake up, that’s how dark it got.
‘But I completely have taken control of my life, I am so happy and I really feel like I am doing great things.
‘I’m an artist, I still release music, I write for artists all around the world, I act, I do musicals, I am a creative and I get to do that every single day, that to me is success, that’s what makes me happy. That’s all I care about.
‘And I’ve put the work in, I’ve done two years of therapy, also, for my mind, to make myself feel better to fall back in love with myself and I’m just really pleased that I got back here and I made it through.
‘In 2016, when I won, also the time was different, we weren’t talking about mental health, so it’s going to be different, it’s been 10 years.
‘Thanks to the people that continue to support me, to listen to my music, there is more coming… I’m just going to focus on being me and being happy.’
Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Simon Cowell for comment.
Simon was grilled about the treatment of contestants while promoting his Netflix docuseries Simon Cowell: The Next Act on The Rest In Entertainment podcast.
Host Marina Hyde asked if Simon regretted airing footage of the ‘less talented’ auditions ‘in that slight X Factor theatre of cruelty way where we just get to laugh at them because they’re useless and you get to be quite rude to them?’
‘That is the the reality with auditions,’ insisted Simon. ‘I’ve always gone with about half a percent, if you’re lucky, the people you see are going to be good.’
The podcast, which took questions from listeners, also asked about his commitment to duty of care protocals for the various pop acts who have been under his wing over the past three decades.
‘I did everything I possibly could, but not everything worked out the way we wanted to,’ Simon conceded. ‘The vast majority of people who came on the show, they made a lot of money and got what they wanted, which was fame.’
‘Certain people they’ve just got it in for me, and there’s nothing I can do about that. We put someone on the show, they signed up to what they knew the show was about.’
‘Over time, whether it’s discussions about mental health and duty of care, that has become much more something we think about, talk about and acknowledge,’ he explained.
Created by Simon in 2004, The X Factor helped to launch the careers of some of the UK’s biggest stars, including Little Mix, Olly Murs and Alexandra Burke.
But behind closed doors, the ITV show was far from a rosy experience for many of its contestants, with some claiming that bosses convinced them to fake certain moments in a bid to boost ratings.
While the series pulled in a record 18 million viewers at its peak, in later years it came under fire for manufacturing results and storylines, and was quietly placed on hiatus in 2018.
Since its end many former stars have blasted the show, with Cher Lloyd, who finished fourth in the 2010 edition, claiming she was ‘sold a dream’ when appearing on the show at 17, before being exploited.
Rebecca Ferguson has claimed the music industry is hiding ‘awful human rights abuses’ and that she has endured ‘systematic misogyny and bullying’ throughout her career.
At the time, a spokesperson for The X Factor told Daily Mail: ‘We take the welfare of everyone involved in our shows extremely seriously and during Matt’s time on the show in 2016, there were robust measures in place to ensure everyone involved in the making of the programme was supported throughout their experience and beyond.
Daily Mail understands that a psychologist was present at all judge auditions, bootcamp and key stages in the competition and a doctor was on hand to supervise the screening of participants for welfare concerns and provide support across the series.
A dedicated welfare producer was present at the participant house and in the studios acting as the day-to-day contact for the participants and medical or psychological support provided was on a confidential basis.
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