Fleur East "never thought" she would audition for 'The X Factor' for a second time.
The BRIT Awards with Mastercard comes to the end of Season 2 of their official podcast The Red Carpet Treatment with guest Fleur East
The 35-year-old star finished as runner-up behind Ben Haenow in the 2014 edition of the ITV music competition but made it through to the first live final as part of Addictiv Ladies in 2005 and "never imagined" she would ever return to the show as a solo artist because she wanted to make it on her own.
later went on to finish in fourth place on ' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' in 2018 but admitted that she turned the chance down quite a few times before "reluctantly" agreeing to do so.
Speaking on 'The Red Carpet Treatment' podcast, she said: "It was so funny because we auditioned on a bit of a whim. We sang together at school, we didn't know if this could actually be a thing, so we thought, let's go and audition for people in the industry and see what they think of us. So we got to the live show. And we were like, Okay, this is a lot further than we ever predicted. So when we went out in week one, I mean, it was sad because we were starting to get into it.
"But at the same time, I was thinking, Oh well, I get to go back to school and I’ve got other things to do.
"I never thought I'd go back, to be honest. I thought, I've had a taste of it, I'm now going to go and make it in the industry on my own. I don't need X Factor. And then went on tour, signed to different record labels, was in different groups. I tried so many different ways to make it and it just wasn't happening."
The 'Sax' hitmaker - who tied the knot with Marcel Badiane-Robin in 2019 - went on to add that she was an avid viewer of the show in the years that followed her initial stint but only entered for a second time after her husband filled out the application form for her.
She added: " And then I was watching 'X Factor', as I did every year, because I was a huge fan of the show with my husband. And my husband said, 'Why do we watch this every year and you're just not auditioning?'
"And I was like, 'You don't get it.' Before we got together, I did it when I was 16. And it was a whole experience. And you just think it's easy, but it's really intense. And then he just applied for me online. And then I got an audition date. So I did the fake one that no one sees, where you actually stand in front of producers. You have about three rounds before you even see the judges. And did all of that, and then waited for the phone call to tell me that I'd got onto the TV part, and then got through."
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