So what's been happening with you since you were cruelly booted off 'X Factor'?
It's been quite a whirlwind actually, so much has happened since then. Straight after I got kicked out I was offered four record deals and so I was trying to decide who to go with. Sony was my last meeting and I met with Phonogenic, a sub-label of Sony, and musically we were on the same page. They were happy for me to do a lot of writing for the album, to make it personal and from the heart, so I decided to go with them.
After that I went on the 'X Factor' tour with all the guys and had a brilliant time. What was so cool about it was that we weren't in competition any more, it was literally just going out every night and singing to all the people that supported us on the show – so that was amazing.
I flew over to LA the day after that finished to record the album, which was pretty manic. I had to run home, wash my clothes, pack them again and straight off to the airport. I stayed out there for a month and my album's now finished and I'm so excited about it.
So did you ever manage to go on your honeymoon? Didn't you forgo it so you could take part in 'X Factor'?
I managed to fit my honeymoon in a couple of weeks after I finished the show. We went to the Maldives for nine days which was nice. We laid on a beach and drank piña coladas, it was very nice, very hot... lovely.
How did it feel when you came out of 'X Factor' to find that four labels were clamouring for you to sign on the dotted line?
Oh my God! I was completely blown away. I suppose when you are on 'The X Factor' you are in a bubble and you don't realise what's going on outside. You don't know whether people are enjoying your performances or not, so when I got kicked out that night I thought, 'Oh well, that's it, I'll go back to my receptionist's job', which is cool, but I had such a good time on the show and I was so grateful to have got so far as well… For all of us to have got down to the top 12 out of 75,000 people – we all felt like winners. So it was just exciting and nerve-wracking, all these emotions built into one.
What did you think of the final outcome of the show?
I think Shayne is a deserved winner. He's absolutely brilliant, a really, really nice young man and he's worked incredibly hard to be where he is now. He's come from humble beginnings and he's always wanted to make a change in his life and he's doing that so, yeah, I think Shayne's fantastic.
Who do you think got the better record deal: you or him?
Ha-ha-ha! Shayne's a superstar and he's gone on to sell so many albums. He's so popular and I suppose sometimes I feel like, God I wonder if people still remember me and stuff, but one thing I always wanted to do was to be able to come out with an album that's fundamentally me - that's original, with songs that I've written, so in that sense I think I've come out on the better side.
Are you still in touch with your mentor, Mrs Osbourne?
I am, yeah! Sometimes she phones me and I still get freaked out by it! She phones my manager a lot to check that the album's going smoothly, that everything's moving along and that it's all happening. I saw her at 'Celebrity X Factor' as well – that was the last time I saw her. Actually, no, I saw her at the 'Glamour' Awards too – I keep on bumping into her now that I'm going to all these celeb events! So yeah, she's lovely. She's been so encouraging and very positive and she always told me from the beginning that she really believed in me and knew that I could do this. When someone like that tells you 'I think you're good enough to do this' then you're like, OK, Sharon's said I'm good enough, so I can.
What about your fellow contestants - are you still in touch with any of them?
Yeah, well Shayne and myself were doing Party In The Park on Saturday which was wonderful. Chico was there as well and he was saying how great it was to be a dad! He was saying, 'It's better than all this music – you've gotta have a baby!' and I'm like – 'Not yet! Let me get my career out the way first and then I'll think about that'. And I saw Andy on Saturday, we had a gig in Stoke-on-Trent, and I went see Brenda in 'Chicago' – she's absolutely brilliant in that.
Did you learn anything about yourself while you were on the show?
God, so many things! It's hard to say really. I certainly learned that sometimes you've just got to feel the fear and do it anyway and really go for everything that you want to go for. That way you don't look back in years to come and say what if and I wish…
Do you have any regrets?
No regrets. I'm glad that I went for it.
What were your main objectives when it came to making your first album?
That it would represent everything about me in a way that is biographical and that it's honest and personal and hopefully people will be able to empathise and feel or have been through some of the things that I've been through as well.
How would you describe your sound?
I'd say classic soul because I grew up listening to a lot of Motown and Dionne Warwick and Al Green and Marvin Gaye, but it's also got that pop-contemporary edge to it because I'm from a pop show and I didn't want to lose that either.
What do you think your fans from 'X Factor' will make of this album – is it similar to the stuff you were doing on the show or is it very different?
It's kinda similar because I did a few pop-rock songs on the show like 'Brown Sugar' and 'The Way You Make Me Feel' and it's got that kind of influence on it as well. There's a song called 'Woman's Intuition' on it that's kind of rock-soul and another big rock ballad called 'It's Love' so there's a nice mixture.
This isn't the first time you've done songwriting, is it?
Yeah I was a published songwriter for about three years. I was signed to Peer Music and I wrote for a lot of girl groups and other artists, so I was working a lot in the background, writing and demo-ing the songs and vocally arranging it with the girl groups and stuff. I suppose in the back of my mind I was always wishing I could keep some of the songs for myself – there were some really good ones. I had a little bit of success throughout Europe which went well but I suppose I always had that desire to be a singer myself. Then I joined Gabrielle's band and I was working with her for about five years. I sang on 'Out of Reach' and a few of the big singles and I learnt so much from her - just being in the background and working with someone that's done so incredibly well and come from humble beginnings - it was really educational and inspirational.
