The X Factor winner Matt Terry recently posted a candid video on social media calling out Simon Cowell for his comments about the show’s former contestants. Terry also got honest about what life was like for him after his win.
X Factor Winner Matt Terry Calls Out Simon Cowell
Last month, Simon Cowell appeared on the podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, where he responded to criticism he has received from past X Factor contestants regarding the show’s duty of care toward the competitors.
“The vast majority of people, they’ve made a lot of money and got what they wanted – which was fame,” Cowell said, according to The Sun. “So certain people, they’ve just got it in for me. There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Matt Terry, who won The X Factor in 2016, took to social media to respond to Cowell’s comments. As he said, “I went on The X Factor because I was a very young person with a dream, and I just wanted to sing and be an artist, and whatever came with that is secondary.”
Terry went on to say that hearing what Cowell said “hurts” him, arguing that The X Factor has “humiliated people.” He told Cowell, “There is something you can do about that. You can take accountability.”
SEE ALSO: WHAT HAPPENED TO ‘THE X FACTOR’ WINNER MATT TERRY?
Terry Got Honest About His Life After the Show
Terry later posted a follow-up video in which he sought to clear up his previous comments about Cowell and The X Factor. He acknowledged that winning the show “changed my life,” adding, “I don’t regret it at all.”
However, he shared that one negative side effect of winning was how it “changed the way that I viewed myself.” As Terry explained, “When I didn’t become, let’s say, a big global superstar, then all of a sudden everyone called me a failure.”
Terry said that this was “the way that I viewed myself for years,” revealing, “I would go to bed at night wishing that I wouldn’t wake up. That’s how dark it got.” The singer added that he has since “taken control of my life” and is “so happy” now.
He emphasized that “the time was different” when he won 10 years ago, and there wasn’t the same focus on mental health. Terry thanked his supporters, promising them that he has new music coming.
