The world is her oyster as tour hits huge arenas: Scarlett Lee talks ahead of X Factor Live Tour show in Birmingham
She’d be forgiven for letting things go to her head. After all 21-year-old Scarlett Lee has become a bona fide star after sweeping (almost) all before her on TV’s X Factor.
The Surrey singer made it through to the final of the 15th series of the show, finishing second. Her triumph came a year after she’d reached the six chair challenge, but been knocked out.
The world is her oyster after enlisting Simon Cowell and Leona Lewis as part of her support team. And she’ll be touring the UK’s biggest arenas this month, including a headline show at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena on Sunday, where she’ll feature in X Factor Live with 2018 winner Dalton Harris, Anthony Russell and five other acts – as well as host Becca Dudley.
And yet performers don’t come more grounded than Scarlett.
Rather than getting carried away and wanting more, more, more, she’s keen to remain mates with her X Factor touring party and build for the future, rather than go up in a puff of smoke.
“I was never in competition with the other guys in the show. I don’t think I’m better than any of them, to be honest, I think a lot of them are better than me. I like to keep it humble. That’s my key.
“I wasn’t really feeling like I was in a competition. I just wanted other people to succeed. It’s fine to be competitive, but you have to be in competition with yourself to be the best version of yourself that you can be. That’s what my parents taught me.”
Lee first auditioned for The X Factor in 2017 when aged 19, where she reached the six-chair challenge. She was briefly given a seat by her mentor Sharon Osbourne after her performance of Without You by David Guetta featuring Usher, but was later sent home after a dramatic sing-off between her and eventual finalists Rai-Elle Williams and Alisah Bonaobra, during which she sang The Power of Love by Jennifer Rush.
She returned in 2018 and it’s that durability that defines her. In her first, she performed her own original song Survival, but was stopped by Simon Cowell, who was unimpressed with the song. As Cowell urged her to use her performance to convince the audience to root for her, she performed a cover of Loren Allred’s Never Enough, which earned her four yes votes from the judges.
In week five’s results, after the elimination of Bella Penfold and Shan Ako, she became the last act in the Girls’ category. She finished the competition as the runner-up and her winners’ song would’ve been One More Sleep, performed with Leona Lewis.
Looking back, it feels like a dream.
“This time last year, I wasn’t even in the game. From February to June it was sending in the application and doing the auditions. All the time I was worrying that I wasn’t good enough so now that it’s all over I still have to pinch myself so that I remember it happened.”
As well as the X Factor Live shows, Scarlett is working on her debut album and also has a clothing line for curvy girls. “I’m working on a clothing line for girls who want to wear stuff that makes them feel better. Then there’ll hopefully be an album this year. There’ll be personal stuff on it, Simon’s heard some of it so it should be okay.”
