Ben Haenow has joked he's been locked in Simon Cowell's basement since he won 'The X Factor' last year.

Ben Haenow

Ben Haenow

The 'Something I Need' singer recently released his debut album almost a year after he won the 2014 series of the singing competition and he's claimed it's taken so long because he's been under the watchful eye of his boss and former mentor.

He said: "Essentially, you're locked inside Simon Cowell's basement writing the new song! No ... I was lucky to go to LA [Los Angeles] to write with people out there and I guess it's just being locked away [doing that] - but being at this point now, and getting to perform live is what I've been looking forward to. I got to have as much input as I could."

The release of his self titled album and promotional tour have meant spending a lot of time away from his girlfriend of six years, Jessica Jones.

And despite admitting it's been "difficult", Ben, 30, thinks the couple can handle the pressure.

He told ITV's This Morning: "It's a difficult one, particularly for her, it's kind of a learning curve really. We just have to keep in touch as much as we can, and I was lucky enough to bring her out to LA for a week - although I didn't get to see her that much, but she wasn't bothered, she was just sat around the pool and probably quite liked it!"

Meanwhile, Ben will be visiting Amazon's Peterborough Fulfilment Centre during Black Friday Deals Week to celebrate the recent release of his self-titled studio album.

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