The U.K. version of “The X Factor” likewise featured its share of singers whose fanciful estimation of their own talent far exceeded their actual ability. Take Debi Stevens, who began her audition by asserting, “I’m amazing!” After hearing her sing, however, the judges felt otherwise. Sharon Osbourne noted that while her voice was just alright, Stevens herself lacked star quality. “You’ve got no charisma,” Osbourne observed, while Simon Cowell agreed. “I felt your confidence was slightly deluded,” he told her. Judge Louis Walsh put it even more bluntly when he told her, “Debra, the reality is, you’re not very good.”
Stevens’ eyes narrowed to slits, telling Walsh that she felt like slapping him — and didn’t care what he thought of her. “You can’t sing, you have no talent — get out!” she told Walsh. Osbourne, sensing Stevens might not be the most stable person, gently escorted her out — only to have Stevens bolt, rush back in, and pick up a glass of water that she intended to hurl at Walsh. Walsh, however, countered by throwing his own water at her first. Stevens then exited in a huff while Cowell laughed uproariously at the bonkers spectacle he’d just witnessed.
Years later, Stevens told Lady Candic that producers had instructed her to act arrogantly. “It took a lot of years of therapy to sort of come to terms with the fact that I was egregiously manipulated,” she said.
