Contestant Danny Tetley believes he lucked out with The X Factor’s Overs category mentor Ayda Field after years of nearly giving up on his dream to become a professional singer.
The 37-year-old has already suffered on the ITV show so far after coming down with a throat illness during training, and is still doing his best to recover from the painful infection.
Appearing on This Morning to talk to presenters Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes about the criticism he received following Saturday night’s performance, Danny stood by his opinions.
The contestant was vocal about his annoyance over his fellow hopefuls’ song choices, claiming many hadn’t fulfilled the theme of “Guilty Pleasures”.
“I have got a bonafide throat infection,” Danny declared, before insisting “to sing like that, I hit the right notes, I made all the points.”
Despite not impressing some of the judges, host Eamonn, 57, joked: “Anyway you’ve got the creepy voice for it now haven’t you?”
Ruth then turned the topic to Danny’s mentor Ayda, 39, who has come under fire for not having the “knowledge” and singing expertise required for the job of judging a singing competition.
“I think there’s been a few questionable judges over the years,” Danny suddenly said, clearly taking a swipe. “And Ayda might know a bit more than them.
“She’s also had the fantastic Robbie Williams giving her advice, and he’s a superstar with years of experience.”
Moving swiftly on from the guest’s awkward comments, Ruth showed her support for her fellow Loose Women star.
“She’s very funny isn’t she, Ayda?” the presenter asked, as Danny enthusiastically shared how much the American personality “cracks him up”.
What’s more, the latest panel judge has been keen to have a close friendship with her menses, even phoning Danny and buying him some “wonderfully expensive” honey during his illness last week.
The singer went on to say he was convinced he knew who was going to win the entire competition.
“I know who’s gonna win it, I have a gut feeling,” Danny grinned.
Thrown by his declaration, Ruth queried the final three, as Danny listed off Dalton Williams, Shan Smile and Scarlett Lee as the potential winners.
What’s more, Danny is not bitter about believing he doesn’t have a chance to win the competition, insisting that’s not what he came back on the show for.
Danny first applied for The X Factor 17 years ago on ITV, but was turned down by music mogul and boss Simon Cowell, 59.
He explained: “I wanted to come back and prove not just to myself, but to just carry on singing.”
“And I’m going to continue to help other children, that means more to me than winning,” the star added.
