Entertainment
Jedward award themselves ‘Bafta for best drama’ after calling out The X Factor
Jedward were in a jovial mood on Sunday evening as they made up a best drama Bafta for themselves while the ceremony was broadcast on the BBC.
The Irish twins, real names John and Edward Grimes, both 29, caused a stir earlier this week after kicking up a fuss about The X Factor, saying their ‘biggest regret in life’ was not telling the judges to ‘f**k off’.
The pair made it to the live finals of the ITV talent contest in 2009 and proved they’ve still got what it takes to entertain their fans as they tweeted a picture of themselves holding a pair of Bafta awards in front of their faces this weekend.
They captioned the image: ‘The #BAFTAs for Best Drama goes to Jedward!’
The photograph was actually taken in the press room for the Bafta Children’s Awards in 2012 at the London Hilton Hotel.
Jedward caused a furore this week when they hit out at the show that made them famous, calling head judge Simon Cowell ‘nothing but a bad facelift’.
They claimed they were paid ‘zero’ while other programme stars ‘made millions’.
The brothers made the comments on social media, stating: ‘Simon Cowell thinks he’s the Mafia leader of the music industry when in reality he’s nothing but a bad facelift.’
Jedward are not the only former contestants to have spoken negatively about the show.
Chico Slimani, Lloyd Daniels, Rebecca Ferguson, Jahmene Douglas and Cher Lloyd have also voiced their concerns.
Singer Chico, 50, recently hit out at the show that made him famous, claiming bosses are only interested in making ‘money’ from its stars.
The entertainer competed in the second series of the show and said bosses ‘don’t care about you’.
Speaking on Late Night with Cristo on talkRADIO. Chico said: ‘It gave me the chance to earn a good living, I’ve been around the country entertaining the masses, so much has come from that.
‘I can’t complain because I again, I knew what it was, they use you, or abuse you, and you use that platform to go on.’
He added: ‘They don’t care about you. You’re a commodity; you are as good as the money you’re going to make them. That is it.
‘You are completely replaceable and as I said it’s a conveyor belt. if you’re not going to do it, someone else will take your place to do it.’
A spokesperson for The X Factor told Metro.co.uk: ‘Duty of care to our contestants is of the utmost importance to us. We take welfare very seriously and have measures in place to ensure that they are supported.’
Chico’s comments come after Lloyd Daniels confessed he felt pressured to hide his same-sex relationship while a contestant on the show in 2009.
The Welshman, 28, opened up about his feelings during an Instagram Live in 2020 which has now resurfaced, saying he didn’t feel he could be open about dating a man.
He said: ‘I met someone on the show and we really clicked. I’d never had that emotion towards guys. I knew it was more than a friendship and it slowly unfolded. I ended up being with them for over a year.
‘It was odd to accept it because I was going through a huge change in my life joining the music industry, I thought, “Am I going mad?” I felt off colour.
‘The hardest part about it was not being able to talk about it.
‘I won’t say I was under oath, but to some extent I couldn’t talk about it because of my status.
‘I had to aim my marketing towards teenage girls, that was what was going to sell the whole “Lloyd Daniels, X Factor self.”
‘I felt really suppressed, like I wasn’t being my true self. It was really, really hard. I totally get that’s how the music industry works. It’s different now to how it was 10 years ago.’
Fellow former contestant Jahmene Douglas, 30, who finished in second place in 2012, claimed music bosses ‘closed doors’ to make room for others in spite of talent.
Rebecca Ferguson has called for a parliamentary enquiry into the music industry and greater regulation to protect artists from ‘bullying’ agents and managers.
Backing Rebecca up on Twitter, Jahmene wrote: ‘This hits home for me. People assume you’ve just given up or couldn’t make it, when really certain people in the industry are actively and intentionally holding you back, closing doors and basically telling you NO at every turn; Regardless of talent or success.
‘It’s soul destroying.’
Cher, who finished fourth in the 2010 series of The X Factor, claimed she was ‘sold a dream’ before being exploited.
The former solo star made the claims in a TikTok video during a virtual duet, singing: ‘How could I be so naïve? They sold me the dream to exploit me.
‘Said darling, darling you’ll go so far if you shake that a**e and date a star. And if the record’s taking off we’ll take the money.’
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