Sat in the make-up chair, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. It was 8am and I really didn’t want to be here. I should still be at the hotel getting ready for rehearsals – not getting ready for an interview on This Morning for being voted off the show. It still hadn’t sunk in that I was no longer in the X Factor. As Jamie styled my hair, I sat in silence. “What’s up, Sammy?” he asked me. “You’re never this quiet.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I smiled, watching him curl my hair around the curling tongs.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be back,” he smiled reassuringly.
I sat in silence for the duration of my make-up too. I didn’t even know what to talk to myself about, never mind what to talk to other people about. I couldn’t even think of things to small talk about. God knows how I was going to manage a full blown interview and conversation in front of a camera, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby as well as all the production team.
“Sammy, you’re on next,” one of the show’s runners said to me before running off down the corridor.
I took a deep breath as I looked at myself in the mirror. After a few moments on preparing myself, I walked down the corridor towards the studio.
The producer sat me down on the sofa as Holly and Phillip introduced me.
“So Sammy, it was a huge surprise to the viewers last night for you to be voted off the show. How are you feeling?” Phillip asked me.
“I’m devastated,” I smiled. “I was having the time of my life on the show and didn’t want it to end.”
“Lots of people were convinced that you were going to be in the final. What do you think went wrong?”
“I’m not sure. I just reckon it was my time to go. The acts left all have huge fan bases and all deserve to go far in the competition,” I replied, trying not to blame anything.
“You were very close with all the contestants, weren’t you?” Holly asked me.
“I was so close with all of them. We were all like a huge family. It was heartbreaking every Monday when we had to say goodbye to one of the acts. It’s gonna be even worse for me today as I’ve known Rylan, Christopher, Union J, James and Jahmene for nearly three months now so it’s gonna be hard to say bye. But I suppose we’ll be reunited for the tour.”
“You and Union J were all extremely close,” Phillip remarked.
I knew exactly where this was leading to. “They are all my best friends. I’ve known George since our first audition and then I met JJ, Josh and Jaymi at boot camp so we’ve been supporting each other for the whole duration of the competition.”
“According to rumours though, you’ve been getting a little too friendly with one of Union J boys,” Holly grinned to me.
I looked at the floor and then back at Holly and Phillip, who were sat on the sofa opposite me, waiting for my reply in anticipation. We hadn’t really discussed whether we were going public with our relationship or not. Our families knew we were together and there were rumours speculating in the media, but neither me nor George had confirmed or denied them. “I’m close with all the boys,” I smiled, unsure of how to answer it.
For the rest of the interview, they avoided the subject of me and George luckily. As soon as it was over, I grabbed my stuff from the dressing room and got back into the car to go back to the hotel.
*
As the taxi driver put my bags in the back of the cab, I turned back to face the hotel. Rylan came rushing down the steps in tears. “Sammy, I feel so guilty,” he sobbed. “It should be me going, not you.”
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The Heartbreak Factor - Part One
FanficSammy Jones enters the X Factor to try and fulfil her late father's dream, but little does she know her journey won't be as smooth running as it is made out to be as she falls in love with a fellow contestant.