After her X Factor exit in Sunday’s semi-final, Lauren Murray has revealed she’s so broke she can’t even afford to buy a pair of clean knickers.
The 26-year-old singer, who was knocked out of the competition on December 6, gave up her job as a dentist’s receptionist to compete in the ITV talent show.
Lauren Murray (Syco/Thames TV)
But she admitted her cash flow problems, saying she has struggled to get by on its expenses allowance.
She told the Daily Mirror: “I couldn’t even buy a pair of knickers right now if I wanted to.
“For two months I haven’t been earning anything. You’re given an allowance, but it’s not much. It’s pocket money, like my grandad would give me. It’s less than £50 a week.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5gyn6kmimE&feature=oembed
And although Lauren’s performance of the Ariana Grande hit One Last Time was in the top 10 in the iTunes chart, the singer insisted: “I don’t get money for the songs I sang on the show going in iTunes, X Factor does.”
An exhausted Lauren added: “People forget the show has been going on for two months now. That’s two months of full-on filming. I just want to sleep. I could sleep for 10 years. I wasn’t prepared for X Factor.”
But she said she wasn’t planning to go back to her old job, with her sights on the X Factor tour and writing a record.
Lauren Murray at a premiere in London, December 2015 (Joel Ryan/Invision)
“I’ve come all this way now. I like the real side of music,” she said.
An X Factor source told the Mirror: “While in the competition, all of the contestants receive a subsistence allowance covering incidental expenses and payments contributing towards regular fixed outgoings which they are contractually committed to pay, such as mortgage or rent costs.
“She actually will get royalties at a rate which is the same for new Sony Music artists. Once everything is calculated, she’ll get a statement.
“She’ll also earn when she takes part in the tour next year.”
X Factor judges Nick Grimshaw, Rita Ora, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Smon Cowell (ITV)
Lauren also criticised judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who voted against her in the semi-final, saying she was worried about her emotional state because the competition was only going to get tougher.
Lauren, who broke down in tears just moments before she was due to perform in the sing-off, said: “I’ve come this far. It’s been two months of filming and that’s never happened. I was in the bottom two last week.
“I had a bad week, I was sick, I was up against Che, I’d just had enough to be honest with you.”
Lauren also told the Press Association why she didn’t appear on The Xtra Factor, what it’s like working with Rita Ora – and who she’ll be supporting in the final.
