I was on The X Factor with One Direction – but I made a stupid mistake that I lived to regret

A SINGER has opened up about the mistake he made that kept him from fame after making his debut on The X Factor.

Aiden Grimshaw wowed judges when he took to the stage in 2010, covering Kanye West's Gold Digger without the help of a backing track.

His voice had the audience in fits of applause, and Louis Walsh branded him "absolutely brilliant".

The young man came in ninth place that year after being pitted against sensational acts such as One Direction, Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson.

But unlike his co-stars, he never shot to fame.

Aiden has now admitted that he feels remorse over not making the most of the platform The X Factor gave him.

He told the Metro: "My only regrets about the show are that maybe didn’t shoot as hard as I could have in some of the aspects afterwards because of trying to be cool.

"Now, I would just go for everything because why would you not do that? That’s so stupid. But I enjoyed it."

After his appearance on the show, Aiden got signed by record label RCA and went on to release an album, Misty Eye.

He was also mentored by Dannii Minogue, who he praised for being "absolutely lovely".

Despite his album reaching number 19 on UK charts, the singer hasn't released one since.

He sighed: "There was a lot of pressure to find what to do and my not wanting to be uncool stopped me from exploring all paths and being out there."

At the age of 32, Aiden is now trying to get back on the wagon.

He shared: "I’m at a new stage where I, at the end of last year, decided that I was happy with where I was as a producer and as a writer and as a person, and not found myself, but I’ve been on a journey.

"I’ve decided to get some of the music that I’ve had over these past 10 years out there, instead of just writing new stuff.

"I’m not really doing it for any other reason than you get really miserable if you don’t do the things that you like to do.

"I’ve got loads of music and lots of new things on the way. I’m just happy to be back in a happy place."