Matt Cardle has spoken out about the perils of instant fame and how he struggled with his mental health in the years that followed his 2010 X Factor win.
Appearing on Thursday’s Fubar Radio, the singer, 37, said he believed sometimes reality show contestants’ ‘dreams and hopes’ are messed with in order to make great TV.
Talking to Access All Areas hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng, Matt said it was ‘about time’ that after care is taken more seriously so people aren’t ‘used’.
His story: Matt Cardle has spoken out about the perils of instant fame and how he struggled with his mental health in the years that followed his 2010 X Factor win
He said: ‘It’s such massive exposure and you’re so unprepared for it. And no-one wants to hear anything negative said about themselves.
‘And when you get onto a level or a stage at that level, the hate and the vitriol that comes out of people’s mouths can be brutal. And it’s like, no-one prepared me or anyone for that.’
Talking about his series of X Factor in 2010, which saw him beat One Direction in front of 18 million viewers, he explained: ‘Some of the people on there were so young at the time.
Tough: The singer, 37, said he believed sometimes reality show contestants’ ‘dreams and hopes’ are messed with in order to make great TV (pictured in 2010)
Fame: He said: ‘It’s such massive exposure and you’re so unprepared for it. And no-one wants to hear anything negative said about themselves’
‘I was luckily 27, but we had kids on there and it’s like, mate, you’ve got all these people online going, ‘Oh, you’re s**t, oh you’re ugly’.’
Although the singer is happy that change is happening, he still blames shows for not making care their priority as he said: ‘I think people are now starting to go, ‘Look, there’s a duty of care there’.
‘We all know what’s happened with some of the people from Love Island and things like that.
His say: Talking to Access All Areas hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng on Thursday’s Fubar Radio, Matt said it was ‘about time’ after care is taken more seriously so people aren’t ‘used’
‘There really is a duty of care to protect because those shows use people. It’s as simple as that, you know. Like everyone else on that show was, was being used, as was I even post the show.’
He continued: ‘It’s a tricky one for them to navigate because they are just trying to make good telly. But along the way, people’s hopes and dreams are going to get, you know, messed with.’
An X Factor spokesperson said: ‘The duty of care to our contestants is of the utmost importance to us. We take welfare very seriously.’
Aftercare: ‘I think people are starting to go, ‘Look, there’s a duty of care there’. ‘We all know what’s happened with some of the people from Love Island and things like that’, Matt said
Matt’s life changed almost overnight 10 years ago when he won the show, and he discussed with Bobby and Stephen the struggles he faced with becoming so well-known so quickly: ‘The fame side of things was, it’s not easy. It’s very invasive and you become public property.
‘That was a bit of a struggle to start with. And there was no kind of gentle incline between being, you know, Matt from back in Halstead to off the other end of the show.
Matt has always spoken openly about his mental health in the past, having battled an addiction with prescription pills and alcohol after his win.
Discussing his struggles, he explained: ‘Talking is the only thing that helps with mental health and all that kind of stuff. Any problem that you have, a problem shared is a problem halved, it’s what they say. And, you know, I found through just talking about it openly, it does really help.
He continued: ‘I’ve never had any shame in talking freely and openly about it, but yeah. I think that comes from a place of, Look, if one person can hear something of what I’ve said and it makes a difference to their journey with it, you know, even if it’s realising they’ve got a problem, you know, then that’s worth doing.’
Struggle: Matt has always spoken openly about his mental health in the past, having battled an addiction with prescription pills and alcohol after his win (pictured in 2010)