EX FACTOR
X Factor’s Misha B says she felt suicidal after show judges called her ‘a bully’ live on TV
MISHA B says she had suicidal thoughts after Louis Walsh and Tulisa Contostavlos called her a 'bully' on X Factor.
The singer, 28, appeared on the show in 2011, but made the claims on Instagram last night.
Misha - whose full name is Misha Bryan - accused show producers of giving her the stage name, Misha B to deliberately play into the bully storyline they'd created.
"Before I went on to the live show, they proposed to change my name to Misha B," she said.
"Little did I know, this was to play into their corrupted agenda for the 'Misha Bully' they had already orchestrated for this."
The Manchester singer also accused producers of feeding lines to judges Louis Walsh and Tulisa, which leant into stereotypes about black women.
Misha was called 'over-confident and feisty' by Louis and Tulisa, and said: "These judges spent about 1% time with me and their contestants, apart from Gary [Barlow] and Kelly [Rowland].
"My understanding is you've created this whole narrative of me being over confident, because you are Black and Black girls are not supposed to be confident," she said.
"'You look like a younger Tina Turner, you look like a younger Chaka Khan', why can't I just look like me? Why is it always a comparison for Black women?"
Misha then added: "Moving on to Tulisa – if you go back and watch the clip carefully, and I’ve gone back and watched the clip carefully, this woman had every line scripted before she even opened up her mouth.
"I wasn’t fooled. I’m not fooled. I know what it is here. I know exactly what it is here. And, you see, back in 2011 they got away with it. They got away with so much s***."
The drama also continued backstage with producers creating beef between contestants by telling them Misha was talking about them behind her back.
This included eventual winners Little Mix, whose member Leigh-Anne Pinnock has spoken openly about the racism she's faced in her career.
But Misha denied ever talking behind people's backs and especially not Leigh-Anne's, so she went to speak to Little Mix about it.
She explained: “One of the girls, I think it might have been Jesy [Nelson], said, ‘You’ve been saying Leigh-Anne [Pinnock] has ‘evil eyes’ and you don’t think we’re gonna win and that you think we’re s*** singers’,
“And I was like, 'wow, first of all, let’s get this clear, I have no energy to be focusing on anybody else when I have so much at stake here'. It is not in my character to want to tear another sista down.”
The bully label would go on to have serious consequences for Misha who said she felt suicidal after the incident.
"I remember thinking of ways to end my own life, ways I could end the pain," she said in the emotional video.
Fellow singers praised Misha for her honesty, including Beyoncé songwriter, MNEK.
He wrote on Instagram: "I remember us talking about all of this in our Home Run sessions. 8 years is a long time to process, but the real ones, we all saw it.
"I’m so so so happy that you’re healing we love u Misha! You’ve always been that gurl x"
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Singer Jermaine Riley criticised the flak Misha got for being "over-confident".
He took to Twitter to show his anger: "What does "over confident" even look like in a PERFORMER?!!! You simply cannot 'over do' that when on stage in front of millions every week."
Another Instagram user wrote: "Oh Misha!! Your talent and beauty transcends what these vultures did to you. Move forward always safe in the knowledge that you are powerful, strong and deserving.
"Thank you for sharing... may we all continue to learn & grow."
The Sun Online has reached out X Factor, Louis Walsh and Tulisa's representatives for comment.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or suicide, please reach out to organisations who can help: Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk).
X Factor 2011 - The Girls
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