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LIFE AFTER THE X FACTOR

Sam Bailey reveals struggle after spending ‘all the money in the world’ self-funding her own album

The show winner was forced to fund her second release after being axed by Syco last year

X FACTOR winner Sam Bailey revealed she has raided her savings to fund her music career after being axed by Simon Cowell's record label.

The former prison worker was forced to dig deep into the piggy bank for "all the money in the world" after Syco brought their working partnership to an end.

 Sam Bailey has been forced to self fund her second album
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Sam Bailey has been forced to self fund her second albumCredit: Rex Features

Sam, who scooped a number one single and album while signed to Simon's company, said: “I haven’t got a record label. I kind of set it all up myself. I funded it all myself. It’s something I wanted to do.

“If nothing ever comes of it and it all turns to pot, I can say I did my own album and wrote my own songs and the majority of people who heard it thought it was bloody awesome so I’m really proud of that fact.

“It might have cost me all the money in the world but when I’m gone that’s an album that my kid will have.”

 The X Factor winner raided the piggy bank to ensure the survival of her career
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The X Factor winner raided the piggy bank to ensure the survival of her careerCredit: Getty Images
 Simon Cowell's record label Syco dropped Sam in 2015
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Simon Cowell's record label Syco dropped Sam in 2015Credit: Getty Images

Sam, 39, was forced to make changes after her career hung in the balance last February.

Fans will soon be treated to her second album release, Sing My Heart Out, with the mum planning to release the first single as the headline track with the same name.

Yet she confessed she would not be buckling to any huge expectations stemming from the talent show.

 The ex prison guard won the show in Sharon Osbourne's category
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The ex prison guard won the show in Sharon Osbourne's categoryCredit: PA:Press Association

She : “There is no pressure for me to do all that again. I would love to be successful with this but I’m no Beyoncé.

"I’m an X Factor winner but I haven’t got the energy to prance around the stage like that. I just have my voice and my personality and I want people to hear that in my voice.

“I want people in their car singing along to my music. That’s all I want. Not everyone’s going to like it but I’d like it to chart, even if it makes the top 100.”

The mum-of-three even maintains she is on good terms with former boss Simon.

He will front the 13th series of the show when it returns to ITV this Saturday with a re-vamped panel of Sharon Osborne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh.

She recently said: She said of Simon: "I’ve said that all along, there’s been no hard feelings, he’s a really nice man, he promised me a year and that’s what I got.

"I’ve come up with a fantastic album with a complete mix of songs.

"It's cost a few thousand pounds, I don’t want a burden on anyone else, the fact I’ve done it all myself, I’ve worked, I’ve grafted for it. "

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