HE was X Factor’s golden boy when he beat thousands of hopefuls to win the ITV series in 2016.
But Matt Terry has claimed there was “no duty of care from anyone”, that he was dropped from his record deal via email and he was belittled so much by his team that he could no longer look at himself in the mirror.
9
9
He has lifted the lid on the turmoil of his short-lived stint at the top as he returns with his first single in five years, You Don’t Know Nothing.
Delivering a damning verdict on his experience of the industry during an exclusive chat, Matt, now an independent artist, said: “I did win, which was incredible and it changed my life, and I truly live by everything happening because it’s supposed to.
“But I feel like it was a dark time afterwards.
“I don’t think I was supported, no one checked on me, no one saw if I was OK.
“I’m just done with sugar coating everything.
“You have to tell the truth and I feel like I was really disappointed in myself for quite a few years, feeling like I f***ed it, that I didn’t do it right.
“But now, looking back, I’m like, no, I didn’t.
“I killed it, considering the knowledge I had.
“I got so caught up in pretending to be somebody that I wasn’t that I didn’t even know who I was.
“I thought, ‘They want me to be like this person, so let me try and act more like them.
“They don’t want me to be like this, so don’t do that again’.
“‘Chop all your hair off?’ I didn’t want to, but ‘OK, I’ll do it’. Things like that.
“I had to rebuild myself from the ground because I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror.
“I was disappointed.
“I was like, ‘What have you done?’ I felt like nothing.”
Matt scored two Top Ten singles following his win after being mentored by Nicole Scherzinger.
But his debut album Trouble peaked at No29, which led to his label RCA axing him.
Matt recalled: “I remember getting an email from my manager saying, ‘Here you go’, and it was a forwarded email from my record label saying, ‘We’re not going to do a second album’.
“That was it.
“No conversation, just a forwarded email.
“There was zero duty of care from anybody.”
In the opening line of his comeback track, he sings: “Finally found some self control, back from hell I sold my soul” which he says is exactly how he feels.
He explained: “I lost control, I didn’t have the steering wheel and I was all over the place.
“And I sold my soul, yeah, I did.
“I kind of felt like my name didn’t belong to me.
“I almost was like, ‘Oh my God, what have I done? Who is Matt Terry, because I don’t know?’
“I felt like my name didn’t belong to me and I had no idea who I was.”
Now he is bouncing back after forging a successful career in theatre and becoming a hit songwriter for K-pop acts, despite few putting any faith in him.
He said: “I was actually told by a previous manager that I wouldn’t ever get a publishing deal because I wasn’t a good enough songwriter. And I believed him.
“I had that in my mind for ever, like, ‘Cool, I’m not supposed to be a singer, I’m not supposed to be a recording artist, I’m not a good songwriter, so I’ll go into acting and be someone else’.”
He will follow up You Don’t Know Nothing with more music next year and is determined not to compromise himself this time around.
Matt added: “I just want to do it authentically, as myself.
“I feel like I know who I am now, whereas back then I didn’t.
“I think I was pretending to be somebody that I thought everybody around me wanted me to be and I got caught up.”
Liam’s definitely on a megatour
THERE has been plenty of talk about an Oasis tour.
Now Liam Gallagher is making it happen . . . but without his brother Noel.
9
I can reveal he is embarking on a massive arena tour of the UK and Ireland next year to celebrate 30 years of the band’s iconic debut album Definitely Maybe.
However, the only one of his old bandmates joining him will be guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs.
Released in August 1994 and featuring the hits Supersonic, Live Forever and Cigarettes & Alcohol, the record turned Liam and Noel into superstars.
Liam’s tour will see him play venues including London’s O2 Arena, Manchester’s Co-Op Live and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro.
Given their continuing war of words, I can see why Liam is going ahead with this one without his bro.
They are my favourite band of all time, but I just can’t imagine a reunion happening in the foreseeable.
Liam has said it was Noel stopping a comeback happening.
But in May, Noel said: “He should call me, because he’s for ever going on about it.
“You’d have thought by now, he’d have some kind of plan.
Read Related Also: Here’s what Morgan Riddle always packs when she’s traveling with boyfriend Taylor Fritz
“He won’t speak to me, he’s a coward.
“So he should get some of his people, his agent, to call my people and say, ‘Look, this is what we’re thinking’.
“Then we’ll have a conversation about it.
“Until then, he’s being a little bit disingenuous.”
It’s a shame the brother’s won’t put down their weapons for the sake of their fans.
But I have no doubt Liam will make sure the upcoming shows are Biblical regardless.
Casso, Raye and D-Block Europe are on track to go to No1 with viral TikTok hit Prada this Friday.
In midweek data from Official Charts, the song has usurped last week’s chart-topper, Strangers by Kenya Grace.
9
However, they are ahead by only 400 sales, so it’s still all to play for.
Just behind them is Tate McRae with Greedy, while South Africa singer Tyla’s sexy song Water is set to surge to its highest position yet, No4.
On what it would mean to top the charts, Casso said: “It would be surreal.
“It would be a very emotional thing as well.
“Fingers crossed I can get that top spot.”
Loved up
TAYLOR SWIFT and her new boyfriend Travis Kelce looked loved up as they held hands in New York.
The Bad Blood singer was spotted leaving the TV studios of Saturday Night Live with the American football player on Saturday, after they both popped up on the US show.
9
9
She introduced her pal and collaborator Ice Spice on stage, while he took part in a skit which joked about how the world of American football has become obsessed with Taylor being at the games.
It’s no wonder she’s got people in a tizz, as she has once again become a record breaker.
Over the weekend it was revealed she has smashed the all-time record for the biggest streaming year for an artist in Spotify history, with her songs being played more than 21billion times.
That is despite there are still ten weeks left of the year, when she is bound to rack up millions more.
There’s unlikely to be any arguing about who pays the bill at the end of a date night for this pair of multi-millionaires.
Wedding bliss for Chris
HOLLYWOOD star Chris Evans has confirmed he has married Portuguese actress Alba Baista.
The Captain America star was rumoured to have tied the knot last month and has now revealed they had two ceremonies, one on either side of the Atlantic.
9
In a rare glimpse into his personal life while speaking at ComicCon in New York City, he said: “Last year was busy.
“It was just job, job, job. Three films in a row, it was just a little exhausting.
“This year has been a little less work, a little more personal stuff.
“I got married.
“It was really, really great.
“We had two ceremonies.
“We had one on the East Coast, we did one in Portugal.
“My wife’s Portuguese.
“They were wonderful and beautiful.
“It’s a lot, planning a wedding, it takes a lot out of you.
“But now that we’re through that, we’ve just been enjoying life, gearing up for autumn, my favourite season.
“It’s the best time of year right now.
“Now we’re just relaxing, enjoying life and reflecting.”
Aaron & Jas take London
SIZZLING dance act Aaron & Jasmine wowed the judges on Britain’s Got Talent in 2020 and now they are doing the same to fans in London.
The pair made a surprise appearance at Proud Embankment in central London on Tuesday, when they got up and performed during the venue’s latest show Cabaret All Stars: Disco.
9
But the dynamic duo certainly had competition to impress the crowds, as there were also fire breathers, burlesque dancers and a gymnast who was suspended from the ceiling by just her hair.
The show will continue to run for various dates through October and November before returning in January and February.
Eggstra special treat
PALOMA FAITH has only just dropped her new single How You Leave A Man but she has another eggstra special treat for fans.
She posed in this red and black dress at the London gala premiere of Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget on Saturday and revealed she has recorded a song for the soundtrack, believed to be called My Sweet Baby, which will feature during a cute montage of the hens.
9
The film is a sequel to the 2000 original and is getting positive reviews, but there’s a while to wait to see it, as it is due to arrive on Netflix on December 15.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘752905198150451’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
