JLS: We're glad we didn't win X Factor

JLS: We're glad we didn't win X Factor
JLS: We're glad we didn't win X Factor (Image credit: Chicago/EMPICS Entertainment)

X Factor stars JLS have revealed that they're happy they lost the show's final last year. The group had a number one with their debut single Beat Again and won two Mobos this September despite losing out on the X Factor crown to Alexandra Burke. Band member Marvin told The Sun: "With hindsight now, we're glad we didn't win the X Factor because we wouldn't be in this position. "We've had an amazing start, Alex is a deserved winner, she's a fantastic artist and we've now won two Mobos. "It's not always about winning, it's not always about beating someone, it's about us establishing ourselves in the market place and having a career in music." The singer also defended the way that the show often focuses on the contestant’s lives rather than their music. Marvin explained: "You get very attached to people. I almost don't believe in the term 'sob story', because for me, it's one of the biggest reasons why the show is so relatable to the general public. "Nobody wants to see fully auditioned artists going onto that show being well groomed and well prepared." It has been confirmed that JLS and Bon Jovi will both be performing new material on X Factor on November 1.

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.