Louisa Johnson talks body hang-ups, finding The One in boyfriend Daniel Elliott and why she WON’T be getting a boob job after all
Whether it's standing her ground in the music industry or retaliating to online trolls, the 19-year-old X Factor winner is determined to do things her own way
BEING thrown into the sink-or-swim world of pop stardom, via the very public platform of a TV talent show, means Louisa Johnson isn’t fazed by much.
And the 19-year-old X Factor winner hasn’t been afraid to make her voice heard – in more ways than one – since triumphing on the show in December 2015.
After seeing previous victors have varying degrees of success (hello, Leon Jackson and Ben Haenow), she made sure she did things her way – choosing a different management team from past X Factor acts.
Thankfully, the risky move paid off. The show’s youngest winner went on to release Tears, one of the most exciting singles ever released by an X Factor contestant.
The collaboration with band of the moment Clean Bandit rocketed to No.5 last summer, plus there were reports that she received a rumoured £125,000 advance from Simon Cowell’s record label Syco.
“I wanted to make people realise from the start that I wanted to do things differently,” she says assertively.
“I love the way The X Factor works, but I thought: ‘Personally, I wouldn’t do it like that.’
“I didn’t bring out my album in November [the year after winning], like other winners.
“You have to stand your ground with these things if you think something is right.”
It’s this polite, but feisty, no-nonsense attitude that dominates both Louisa’s personal and professional life.
She refuses to tolerate Twitter trolls, and shrugs off pressure to behave or look a certain way – which explains why she skips the salads on the set of her second Fabulous cover shoot and tucks into a giant burger and chips instead.
It’s certainly not the usual celeb lunch of choice, just minutes before stepping in front of the camera wearing a pair of skintight Lycra trousers,
but Louisa isn’t remotely bothered.
The size 6-8 star looks sensational and perfectly in proportion, so it comes as a surprise when she admits that she hasn’t always loved her body.
“I always used to look at other people and be like: ‘Oh, I wish I had that.’ It’s only recently that I’ve thought I’m not that bad. I feel like girls need to be more confident with what they have, rather than what everyone else has.”
Her acceptance came with putting on a few extra pounds.
In 2014, Louisa weighed just 7st after losing 1st through stress caused by feeling like she didn’t fit in at her sixth-form college where she was studying business. In the end, she quit – enrolling at a performing arts college instead.
She put weight back on, but the 5ft 5in star lost it again when she was thrust into the spotlight a year later, as she struggled to adjust to her new high-profile status.
“I was very slim. For no reason, I was getting down. At the time I was a bit confused, as there were so many things going on and I’d just entered this new world,” she remembers.
“I think it was just the big change. [Now] I accept what I have. I’ve learned to love myself a little bit more.”
After a period of adjustment – plus a Top 20 hit with debut solo single So Good – Louisa finally started to regain her shape.
“I’m happy! It’s probably the fact that I accept myself now – that’s literally all it is,” she smiles.
And in celebration of her new bod, a confident Louisa took to Instagram last month and posted two near-identical snaps of her wearing a black bikini, that showed her slight weight gain.
Alongside the mirroring images, she wrote: “I just wanted to share this because it makes me happy looking at it. All from being ME and being HAPPY. Only a lil difference but a big difference within [sic].”
“To me, it was a big difference because I was so slim. I was probably underweight,” she says now softly.
“I felt like [the picture] was the right thing to put up. I have come so far in myself.
“You get these s**tty people who say: ‘You look the same,’ or ‘You looked better before.’ But I’m like: ‘I was trying to give you confidence
and tell you that things will get better.’”
Louisa’s weight gain has given her added confidence in a rather unlikely area, too.
“I used to get really down about my boobs, but now l’d rather not have big boobs,” she laughs.
“It’s not that I think big boobs are horrible, it’s just that I have learned to like what I have. I look at models and I’m like: ‘They have small boobs and they can pull this off, so maybe I can, too.’”
Thanks to her new-found self-acceptance, Louisa no longer plans to have plastic surgery in order to boost her bra size.
“I said [I wanted a boob job] from when I was about 12. I wanted to be like everyone else who had massive boobs,” she says.
“I never got bullied for them, but I felt like I should have [bigger breasts]. I was considering a boob job and really wanted one up until June last year.
“I thought: ‘I’m going to start saving now, and maybe if get one by the summer I can look nice in all my holiday pictures.’”
But just over six months later, Louisa changed her mind – a decision she’s now very happy with.
“I thought: ‘What am I doing?! F**k this, I’m just going to embrace it, because why not?’ [Breast implants] look really fake anyway, and don’t move. I like boobs that move!”
So just how has Louisa managed to come to this acceptance?
“I don’t actually know,” she smiles.
“You can’t force it into someone – it’s just one of those things that comes naturally. You have to pretend you’re happy with your body, because then it happens.”
This emerging body confidence has helped her deal with the online trolls who have blighted her life since becoming famous.
“The more I get criticised, instead of it getting me down, it makes me go the other way. Maybe it’s not the right thing to do,” she shrugs.
“But that’s why if someone says they don’t like what I’m wearing, I’m like: ‘OK, I’m just going to wear it more then.’
“I get lots of comments on my pictures, especially when I wore that bikini. Stuff like ‘small boobs’ or ‘you have pancake boobs.’ I don’t know
what [people are trying to achieve]. I was like: ‘You’re pointing out the obvious.’ It’s like telling me that I’ve got blonde hair.”
When she returned to perform So Good on The X Factor last October, what should have been a momentous occasion was overshadowed by criticism of the short metallic coat and thigh-high boots she wore.
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Trolls slammed the outfit for being “too revealing”, with one particularly unfair comment branding her a “singing prostitute”.
Today, Louisa is unrepentant.
“I go swimming in a bikini, so why can’t I wear something that looks similar to a bra on stage? It’s not harming anyone, and it’s hot up there! At that moment, that’s what I wanted to wear, so I did. I don’t need to explain myself. If I like it, I like it. I don’t try to get headlines – I’m trying to be comfortable and look good. I like experimenting, that’s all it is. I would literally try anything.”
A mischievous grin spreads across Louisa’s face as she admits that it makes her want to experiment more.
Does that mean wearing even less?
“Yeah!” she replies before bursting out into laughter.
Just how daring is she willing to be, then? “Oh very!” she giggles.
“I really want to walk the runway in my underwear one day, like Victoria’s Secret. I would definitely go that far.”
And she’s willing to go even further if her next admission is anything to go by.
In the surest sign yet that she’s happy with what nature gave her, Louisa admits she would follow in Rita Ora’s footsteps, after her former mentor posed topless last year.
“Yeah, probably. I don’t know how Simon would feel about that. Maybe in a few years. I’ll pitch it to him on album five not album one!”
It’s clear that Simon still plays a big part in shaping her career.
“He has loads of involvement! If he really cares about something and feels like something isn’t perfect… For example, for the video for my next single we’ve been back and forth so many times. It’s trying to make it perfect. I don’t want to rush things because it could go so wrong.”
It seems Simon’s famous put-downs are rubbing off on his protégé, too.
Louisa stood up for her boyfriend, recruitment worker Daniel Elliott, after a troll commented on one of her snaps, saying: “Your boyfriend
ain’t even coming close TBH,” Louisa retaliated with: “My boyfriend is my boyfriend cuz he aint shallow like u boy bye [sic].”
Louisa bursts out laughing again.
“When someone says something bad, I just want to do it more and it’s quite bad! I have that kind of personality. I know what I want and I’m so strong-minded.
“I’ve always been very opinionated, even when I was little. I can’t really change that. Even if I wanted to keep my mouth shut, I couldn’t.
“Sometimes people need to be told. If somebody was saying it to my face, I would say something back.”
But not everyone has seen the funny side of her retorts.
“I got told off [by my team] the other day…” she grimaces.
“I’m going to try to stop, but it’s funny.”
Louisa certainly hasn’t let fame get to her head.
She grew up with her driving instructor mum Lisa, and brother Fynn, in a terrace house in Essex.
Her parents split when she was three, but she remained close to her builder father Dave.
She discovered her ability to sing at eight years old when she entered a Haven caravan park talent contest, and went on to sing at old people’s homes and weddings to build up her experience.
At 16, she won the Elite Talent Finals – previous contestants have included former X Factor finalist Lauren Platt – before auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent, but failed to get past the first stage.
Now she’s moved into a rented flat in Essex with her boyfriend Daniel, and the couple have clocked up the air miles on romantic getaways, including the Bahamas.
They started dating while she was competing on The X Factor, after she met Daniel in a restaurant.
“We caught each other’s eyes and it went from there. I kept staring at him. I’m not discreet!” she laughs.
And it’s clear Louisa is convinced he is The One.
“I would like to say so, definitely. We’ve got so much in common and let each other do whatever. He’s great, I love him.”
And her professional life is looking just as promising with her new single out next month and potential plans for her debut album to be released this year.
The ink is also drying on a prestigious contract with beauty giant L’Oréal – to promote three different campaigns, including being the new face of L’Oréal Paris Colorista hair colour.
“I think sometimes people underestimate me, but I’ve got it all figured out,” she smiles.
“I’m not playing it safe at all – it’s fun that way!”
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Louisa’s single Best Behaviour is out on Friday.