X Factor 2018 Statement:
I want to put this to bed and move on now, so although I am still awaiting a decent reply, I have decided to put a short statement together so everyone that has supported me can read about what happened!
For legal reasons, there are some things I have had to leave out!
Firstly and most importantly I would like to thank anyone who has taken the time to send me a kind message. It is genuinely unbelievable to receive so much love.
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(Strap in, it's quite a read!)
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A few months ago I received a phone call from a member of the X Factor team asking…
“Would you like to sing at Wembley Arena for the Xfactor in-front of thousands of people?”
Forgetting the show for just one minute, to perform at Wembley Arena is quite a good thing to do as a performer and definitely one to tick off my bucket list. I also realised that there had been a lot of talk of Robbie Williams being a new member of the Xfactor panel.
I had a few concerns and questions but agreed that not only would it make for some incredible publicity if Blobbie and Robbie were to be seen on TV together but I was very keen to be a part of making some good TV. I wanted to make a moment that people talked about and remembered for a long time.
Here’s a little tiny piece of behind the scenes Blobbie history… I have been clawing away at the proverbial showbiz game for the past 26yrs. I fell into debt trying to stay on the road and even lost a house when I got myself into financial difficulty! I didn’t tell anyone at the time but even ended up with a fight in court and somehow managed to win! Ever since i’ve have worked my backside off managing to get myself out of debt and now have an incredible wife, house, mortgage, dog and even a microwave oven so I would never want to do anything that could potentially risk my career but I would always say yes to something that was going to be good for my career as I move forward!)
I made this very clear to the Xfactor team and they assured me that it would only be a positive experience and in no way did they want to tarnish my career.
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Eventually I threw my dad into the car at 4am and off we went to Wembley Arena!
As a Robbie Williams fan (Obviously), although I have spoken to him in the past on instagram live, today was the day I was going to get to say hello in person. After 26yrs performing around Europe, today was the day I was going to stand on the stage of Wembley Arena in-front of thousands of people. Today was the day I needed to put all my experience together and bring the performance of my lifetime.
I won’t go into all the detail but I spent the day from the early till late filming. I did interviews, I walked a lot and I even danced in-front of a big mirror while they filmed.
I also listened to a lot of people moaning about how tired, hungry and thirsty they were and asking how much longer it was going to be!?
All I could think was what an incredible opportunity everyone had with a huge chance to change their life forever! Why are they moaning and YES filming takes a long time so deal with it.
Eventually it got to about 9:30pm on one of the hottest days of the year (for the record, I was wearing a three piece black suit and cooking from the inside out) when they told me they were ready for me.
I had a little chat with Dermot O’leary who was one of the nicest men you ever wanna meet and then did a few more walking shots and pensive looks to help build the tension.
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While this was happening a producer suddenly screamed “QUICK, HIDE!!!” What’s going on I thought!?
I was told that Robbie was heading for a quick toilet break and they didn’t want him to see me as I was a surprise, so I crouched down to hide behind an all male choir who looked at me like I’d gone mad while I pretended to tie the shoelaces of my slip on shoes!
Eventually, Robbie was back in place and I went through the curtain to be side stage. This was the moment, I looked up and saw thousands of people in the arena and when I looked across I could see Robbie Williams sat there, Ayda Field (Williams), Louis Thomlinson and Simon Cowell. “Are you ready?” Said one of the main men by the steps leading to the stage, while I was being filmed by about 3 cameras. “I think so!” I replied, and with that I took the few steps up and turned Blobbie Williams up to 11.
THE AUDITION YOU DIDN'T SEE:
I was walking with the Robbie strut and nodding before throwing a cheeky wink to Robbie who was smiling and nodding along with me. Ayda looked in complete shock while Louis and Simon were smiling from ear to ear with the crowd cheering louder than I could have ever expected!
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- RW - “I spoke to you just a few weeks ago on instagram!”
- BW - “That’s right, We talked about bad backs, going grey and set lists!” (The Crowd roared with laughter)
- RW - “you’re the reason I haven’t eaten a carb in the last three weeks! Do you want to tell everyone who you are?”
- BW - “I’m Blobbie Williams!”
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The whole arena erupted with cheers and laughter, while inside I couldn’t help but feel a nice warm glow and thought to myself, I was off to a pretty good start!
There were other things said in that moment but with my head running at over 100% it really isn’t the easiest moment to remember everything…
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- RW - “So what are you going to sing for us?”
- BW - “I want to see the whole arena bouncing and enjoying themselves and you may recognise this one…
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The intro to ‘Rock DJ thumped out and again the place was off the chart. I was away and the judges were all smiling and dancing. I'd even managed the impossible as I looked to see Simon Cowell clapping along.
I looked down and saw the steps leading off the stage and thought 'if there was ever a time, that time was now.' So down I went straight over to the judges.
While still singing Rock DJ I shook Simon and Loui’s by the hand who both gave me a smile of confidence! At this point I decided to straddle the Xfactor desk and start singing to Ayda who was giving it top spin right back to me from her chair.
I looked up to see the man himself Robbie Williams standing behind his wife. I looked at him, he looked at me, we smiled and nodded. I went around to his side of the desk and we started to do the Rock DJ dance together. Pointing our hands in the air it was that point he stood behind me, put his arm around my chest and we continued to dance and sing to a bouncing Wembley Arena. It was an incredible moment.
I headed back to the stage to finish the song, making a joke of the steps and being out of breath, then decided to chase the camera jib (for those that aren’t sure, thats the camera that flies over the crowd) in a Robbie Williams style and BoOm! I was done.
I had done everything I think I needed to do. I had got the moment I’m pretty sure they were after... Wait?…Were my eyes deceiving me? Simon started to clap and slowly rose to his feet followed by Robbie, Ayda, Louis and the rest of Wembley Arena. I could here the music playing in my head, like it does on TV when someone does well and there was a definite lump in my throat! I looked down and saw my dad on his feet clapping...
A couple of years ago we almost lost him so for him to witness this moment was quite something for me to see.
Was this really happening? Robbie looked at me with a smile and a nod and that was enough for me.
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- RW - “That should have been way more uncomfortable for me but maybe I’m as narcissistic as people say!
I love that you make a living impersonating me. I’m a big fan of yours, you’re a beautiful man.
Now we need Blobbie Sheeran, Blobbie Drake and maybe Blobbie Gaga!”
- Ayda - “That was the best I’ve ever heard someone sing that song!” (Followed by more laughter from the crowd).
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I can’t remember everything that was said, although I do remember getting a ‘Yes’ from Robbie, Ayda saying that she said yes to the man on her right a few years ago so she had to say ‘Yes’ to me. Louis said he couldn’t help but like me and it was another ‘Yes’ from him. Then Simon told me that the song Rock DJ always puts him in a good mood and I was a very brave man for doing what I just did in-front of Robbie. He also said that I was a very good looking man to which Robbie obviously agreed and so did I (they did have an international sex symbol auditioning for them after all!). Simon also said that I could be anyone I wanted to be, then gave me my fourth ‘Yes!
The crowd gave me one more cheer. I thanked the judges and said to the arena “Thank you Wembley, you just helped to make a dream come true!” And wobbled off the stage.
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They always talk about having a ‘Moment’ well that was definitely one of them!
The cameras were back on me as I went through to see Dermot once again for a chat. I told him that I could now retire happy. As I was about to discuss everything that had just happened I turned to see Mr Robbie Williams stood smiling at me.
He came over and said “Do the face!” Of course I obliged and luckily he laughed. He then said “Do the angry face, and the happy face!” I said ”What about the walk into a room with loads of confidence face like you did earlier?” I then did a strut and pulled my best Robbie face I could, they all laughed again and Robbie said “I do nod! It’s like I know something but I’m not sure what it is I know!” We embraced once again and back to work he went while I got taken around the corner where there was another camera crew and my dad waiting.
We hugged it out for the cameras and off to the Xfactor pod I went to express how overwhelmed and happy I was before singing the words ‘Let Me Entertain You!’
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It was gone 11pm when I was able to finally call Gemma (my wife) who has her own business so couldn’t get the time off to be there. Ok I admit it, this is when I finally broke down. Sobbing on the phone and trying to tell her in disbelief what had just happened. She knew what it would have meant to me and may have had a little tear herself but I never told you that!
Eventually we left the arena and headed home. It was a very quiet drive back apart from when I said... “Well….. that was another normal day!!!”
I kept to the agreement of not talking about the moment for a few days but started to get message after message. I was appearing in magazines and newspapers. I was even in the Radio Times and OK! Magazine. I had phone calls for radio interview requests and I was being talked about by so many different outlets but managed to keep the secret as they requested.
I was then told by the ITV press office that Ayda had talked about me in her official Xfactor interview and so I got put into her Press Pack that they send out. This is why I kept appearing everywhere and being talked about. I think it was the radio times that said ‘Blobbie was an audition to look out for!’
Ayda said that I looked eerily like her husband and if Robbie was to eat pies for a year this is now her husband…Blobbie.
I’m well aware that they leak certain things about the show to gain an interest before it launches, so I was very happy that it was out there and my audition was being used as one to look out for!
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“Don’t say anything and when your audition airs we will have more to talk about…” They said…
Because of this I can confidently say that I was pretty much talked about more than any other contestant leading up to this years show but, I still wasn’t aloud to say myself that I had taken part so played the game and just stayed quiet. It was going to have more of an impact this way… They Said…
I was invited back as ‘A Familiar face on the show’ (they Said) to do some extra filming while Dermot did a few outside intro’s. I danced on the stage and they taped a mic to me for some extra shots of me talking and singing in the crowd.
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I was then called back yet again to film for the 6 chair challenge where you find out if you get to sing for one of the judges chairs and take a trip to the judges houses. Although not everyone who received yes’s were actually invited to film for this moment so again I was more than happy to be chosen and not cutout like so many others had been.
It was another long day filming with a few more interviews and shots of us looking thoughtful but again all I could think was what a great opportunity. I got to chat and hang out with as many people as possible before we were all split into several groups, this happened several times before being taken to a separate rooms and told if we were through to the 6 chair challenge or not…
The judges eventually came into the room and Simon Cowell made the announcement...
“It’s not good news! You aren’t going any further.” The other judges said some lovely things apart from Robbie who looked genuinely upset and didn’t speak.
Ok I was a little gutted BUT I got to perform at Wembley Arena and had a real moment with Robbie Williams, a standing ovation and four yes’s. This had actually happened and wasn’t only going to be seen in the UK but the world would be seeing it! My career was about to take a giant leap forward!
As far as the career goes, all I could think about was how good it would look on TV. All the other little things that it could lead too and all the other ideas I had coming off the back of the show. No matter what people think or say, this platform is a big one.
I continued to get mentioned in the press and once the show finally aired on TV I started to get seen more. The inboxes started to flood in “Did I just see you on the Xfactor?” Etc… So I emailed the producers of the show once again and asked if I was allowed to say that I’d auditioned for the Xfactor because people could actually see me. They agreed along as I didn’t give anything away and so I made the announcement but wasn’t sure when I’d get shown and obviously I didn’t give anything away!
Week after week there was no sign of me on TV apart from the odd bit including the line “Do you get wolf whistled?” to another contestant.
They must be keeping me for a special moment I thought…. And then Dermot O’Leary appeared on screen…
“That’s it. That’s the end of the auditions!!!!”….
I just starred blankly at the television… Really? It then showed them deciding who was through to the 6 chair challenge from everyone who had got a yes and just like that … I was gone.
I have had so many messages from people saying… “So you didn’t make it then?” “Did they Say No?” “Did you get a yes?...Etc
Remember them promising not to tarnish my career! It was only ever going to be a positive experience… This really doesn’t make me shine and makes no sense unless I do what I’m doing now and explain it here.
I have to agree, the experience was incredible. The people I met from the producers, to camera men and women, to the sound crews and runners, along with other people mad and not so mad that were also auditioning. The whole process was great fun and I am still in touch with a few of the people that you might still be watching on the TV. I have even stayed in touch with members of the crew who are just as baffled as me as to why the audition didn't air (I won’t mention them as I wouldn’t want them to get into trouble!).
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This whole thing wasn’t bout me winning the Xfactor. I would never actually audition for the show but being Blobbie Williams and Robbie Williams being a judge, plus the bonus of singing at Wembley, How could I not say yes! What an opportunity and what a great career move…. Or so I thought!
I have written an email to several people within the Xfactor and ITV and am currently in talks to discuss why!?
There must be even the simplest of reasons that they can give me as to WHY I wasn’t shown!? to me and quite a few others it doesn’t make sense.
Yes people will say, "Well that’s TV for ya!" and I genuinely know how TV works, I get how fickle it can be. Big movie stars are cut from big movies just because that’s how the business is!
I don’t want to sound bitter because that is the last thing I am but this was a real moment and in my opinion some of the things that have been shown in comparison to the moment I had with Robbie just don’t compare!
(My opinion...along with a bouncing Wembley Arena, Four Yes's and a standing ovation!)
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I hope this goes some way to explaining the situation to everyone who has sent me a message and once again, thank you for the ongoing support!
Robbie Williams, I want to say a huge thank you for playing along on the day. For me, it was a magical moment that I will cherish forever! Ayda, thank you for mentioning me in your press pack and being so lovely to me, Louis, you said some great things and didn’t stop smiling, now that’s what it’s all about, plus you’re also smashing it on the panel. Finally Mr Cowell, I have always wondered what it would be like to perform in front of you and what you might say. Well those 3.5 minutes meant the world to me and I got to shake your hand. You said “I will never forget you!” I will never forget those words and I will never forget the moment.
Thank you all.
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BW x
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