I TURNED DOWN £250K CBB OFFER
James Arthur TV snub
X FACTOR wannabe Sam Lavery has hit back at her ex-boyfriend for branding her ‘fame hungry’ and ‘heartless’.
Barman Acea Brabrook, 24, did a kiss–and–tell story claiming to be heartbroken and distraught after Sam dumped him by text.
But in our exclusive interview, Sam laughed off his claims and dismissed rumours she was caught romping in a cupboard with fellow contestant Nathan Lewis as “hilarious”. Sam, 17, said: “I was more shocked by Acea’s story rather than hurt or angry.
“It’s just a shame he felt he had to do that because we were only together for three weeks and that was months ago.
“It wasn’t a serious relationship. The story made it sound like I dumped him by text now because I had made the live shows, but the texts were weeks ago – before Judge’s Houses. “We agreed over text messages it was the best for both of us.”
Blasting his claims she is fame hungry, Sam said: “I have been dedicated to music my whole life. It’s never been about the fame, it’s about singing and performing.”
Despite last week’s negative press, Sam has refused to let it spoil her X Factor experience and credited her family and mentor Simon Cowell, 57, for helping her remain positive. Chatting just X FACTOR champ James Arthur turned down a whopping £250,000 to appear on Celebrity Big Brother.
The singer snubbed the life-changing fortune despite not knowing where his next pay cheque would come from.
Disgraced James, 28, was shunned by record labels after committing career suicide in 2014 with a series of offensive public outbursts.
He was then offered huge amounts to appear on CBB and I’m A Celebrity.
But his decision to reject the big bucks offers has paid off after he released the biggest-selling single by a UK artist this year.
James said: “I got offered loads of reality shows including I’m A Celebrity and Celebrity Big Brother.
“They were life-changing amounts of money. The most I got offered was £250,000 for CBB, which I really needed at the time, not knowing if I had a career.
“I think they thought I was a crazy Twitter troll and didn’t realise I am a shy, selfdeprecating guy.
“I feel like I made a brave decision not taking the cash. It was a great option for me and my family but I wanted to stay true to my music and I am proud of that decision.
“I’m a huge fan of those shows but I don’t think there’s any chance I would be back at No. 1 now if I’d gone down that route.
“I wasn’t sure how seriously people would take me after doing reality TV.”
James’ comeback story could have been written by an over-inventive scriptwriter. before last night’s performance of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, Sam said: “I read the story once, spoke to my family and decided to move on. “Simon was great. He just said that some people will betray you but ignore them and don’t dwell on it.”
Sam also hit the headlines last week when it was claimed she had “romped” with 5 After Midnight star Nathan.
But she giggled: “Honestly we both just laughed so hard at that story.
“I can say 100% we didn’t romp in a cupboard, we’ve not kissed, we are just friends. Nathan is like a big brother to me.” JAMES INGHAM Dumped by Simon Cowell’s record label Syco after a breakdown, he was deemed unstable and untouchable.
He has since bounced back to score a huge No. 1 single and become the only artist to be re-signed by Syco. Superstardom in America now beckons.
His second album Back From The Edge is now battling Elvis Presley for this week’s top chart position.
James said: “I splashed the cash after I won X Factor.
“I took me and eight of my friends to Miami on a two-week holiday and spent £50,000 or something crazy.
“I gave money to family and then all of a sudden I got to a point where my income wasn’t guaranteed.”
It was gigs in remote Eastern European countries that stopped him from going bankrupt.
He said: “It was gigs in Moldova of all places that kept me out of the red.
“I did a lot of gigs in the Ukraine, Portugal and Poland. I was lucky that Europe was still onboard with me.”
James now plans to be more careful with his cash.
He added: “Syco have released me some money for Christmas so I’m going to treat myself to a big sofa.
“I’m renting at the moment so I’m hoping to be able to buy a house next year if the album does well.”
Back From The Edge is out now.