Jay James has revealed a "drunken bet" was what made him develop an interest in the music industry.
The X Factor contestant bought his first guitar during a drinking session with his Navy friends, and was stunned at the attention he started getting from girls.
Jay James / Credit: ITVSpeaking to The Sun he explained: "I said to one of the guys that if he came to the gym with me I'd do something in return - and at that moment we walked past a music shop so I said I'd learn the guitar.
"So I bought it for £35 and christened it 'Lemar the guitar'.
"We took it out with us for the rest of the day on the lash and it was amazing, the girls were flocking over.
"Unfortunately, they kept asking me to play it so I had to break a string as an excuse not to give a demonstration.
"Then I woke up hungover the next morning and Lemar was on the floor and that's where it stayed because I really had no intention of learning guitar, it was just a drunken laugh."
After falling into depression after suffering a knee injury and seeing his best friend drafted to Iraq, Jay turned to the instrument once more.
"I wasn't able to do my job while I was injured and with no focus, I found it hard.
"In the military, you're trained to suppress your emotions, so it was hard, especially with my mate being away in a dangerous situation.
"I knew I needed a new focus so I got my guitar restrung, bought a computer so I could go online and taught myself to play chords. I never even did karaoke before so I wasn't a singer but I began humming along to keep time and eventually singing and thought, 'Oh actually, I'm alright at this.' And that motivated me."
Tagged in The X Factor