Janet Devlin: 'I wasn't right for X Factor'

Janet Devlin: 'I wasn't right for X Factor'
Janet Devlin: 'I wasn't right for X Factor' (Image credit: Ken McKay / Rex Features)

X Factor reject Janet Devlin has declared she was never right for the contest - and insisted she didn't mind losing out on a place in the semi-final. The flame-haired 17-year-old was booted out on Sunday night after a tense sing-off with fellow hopeful Misha B. Judge Kelly Rowland's decision to abstain from voting for either of her acts meant Janet was automatically sent home. But the teenager insisted she was "fine" with her mentor opting out on Sunday's result show, which drew an average 12.2 million audience. "I'm glad Misha's there because she is so deserving of being there, she works so hard, she wants it so badly, it's so true that she deserved it more than I did," Janet said. "I'm not X Factor material, and I've said this from the audition, I'm just who I am. I don't think it's what The X Factor wanted. I'm just glad they still gave me the opportunity to be on the live shows." The singer explained: "What I sing and what music I like is not the X Factor. (The X Factor) is material with someone that can top the charts, it's popular music. "What I bring to my own music is the music that I like, which is quite underground." Janet, from Omagh, Co Tyrone, forgot some of the words to 90s' Hanson hit Mmm Bop on Saturday night's show, later blaming the mistake on feeling like she was "going to throw up". The student refused to elaborate on what had made her feel ill, but admitted: "The child in me just wanted to run and go get a hug. That's the thing, it is scary, but the person in me just stood up and said, 'I'm going to get on with the song and just finish it'."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.