Regarding his passing, Joe said: “[He was] such a talent and such a lovely guy. It’s so sad. At such a young age as well. It’s tragic.”
He went on to say: “It’s such a loss, you know, and I was just looking actually, so many friends that obviously knew him a lot more than I did in the industry have had so many wonderful things to say about him and how much of a lovely person he was. So, yeah, just thoughts go to his family. It’s awful.”
Later in the interview, McElderry, who won X Factor back in 2009, gave his thoughts on the show potentially returning to our screens and the changes he’d hope to see: “I hope if it does come back, they do make some more changes to make it a bit more of a safe space for artists in terms of the way the contracts are formed and the aftercare of the artists and things like that.”
He continued: “We’re hearing more and more stories about how people suffered on those shows, and not just X Factor, lots of other reality shows as well. It’s not just that one. I do think changes are being made but I still think there’s a long way to go. So, I hope if it does come back, it’s made in a safe place in the artists’ interests that are going onto the show.”
Listen to the full episode of Access All Areas, also featuring Amber Gill and Dan Rhodes here.
