Ben Haenow has spoken out on how contestants are at the ‘mercy’ of show bosses and criticised their editing techniques while appearing on the X Factor.
The X Factor winner, 35, slammed the ITV talent show for trying to portray participants as ‘characters’ during an interview on FUBAR radio on Thursday.
Ben’s comments come following claims from former contestant Misha B, who said that the show tried to present her as a ‘bully’.
Candid: Ben Haenow has spoken out on how contestants are at the ‘mercy’ of show bosses and criticised their editing techniques while appearing on the X Factor
During an appearance on Access All Areas with Joanna Chimonides and Stephen Leng, he said: ‘It’s all in the edit man, the way that they can make you look.
‘I think they want to kind of try to create characters and I think that’s the unfortunate thing about it. As much as they kind of portray it as these normal people, they’re definitely looking for characters.’
The London-born singer rose to fame in 2014 after winning the show, pipping fellow contestant Fleur East to the prize.
Since taking part, he has noticed many similarities between the contestants each series: ‘You kind of see the same thing year in year out. There’s always kind of like an emotional one. You know what I mean?’
Hitting the top spot! The London-born singer rose to fame in 2014 after winning the show, pipping fellow contestant Fleur East to the prize
Speaking out: The X Factor winner, 35, slammed the ITV talent show for trying to portray participants as ‘characters’ during an interview on FUBAR radio on Thursday
The Something I Need hitmaker continues to slam the show’s editing, explaining: ‘You can do and say what you want but when it’s edited into a sort of half an hour, hour programme, you’re at their mercy really.
‘It’s definitely something that I saw looking back, having gone through the year with some of those people and then seeing how they were almost portrayed on the TV was completely different to the person they were, so you’ve got to be careful with it. But it’s out of your control when you’re on the show.’
The X Factor have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
‘Puppeteering’: Ben’s comments come following claims from former contestant Misha B, who said that the show tried to present her as a ‘bully’
Since taking part, he has noticed many similarities between the contestants each series: ‘You kind of see the same thing year in year out’
It comes after Tulisa apologised to X Factor contestant Misha B for accusing her of bullying behaviour while she was a judge on the show.
The singer, 31, took to Instagram last week to issue a statement, in which she vehemently denied her criticism was racially motivated but understands the ‘pain I caused’.
Misha, who was just 19 when she starred on the X Factor in 2011, shared a tense clip with Tulisa, before accusing the show of scripting a ‘bullying storyline’ which left her feeling suicidal.
Truly sorry: Tulisa apologised to X Factor contestant Misha B for accusing her of bullying behaviour while she was a judge on the show (pictured last month)
During the third live show, judges Tulisa and Louis Walsh accused Misha of being a bully, calling her ‘feisty’, ‘over-confident’ and ‘mean’.
Tulisa, who had previously hit back at Misha’s ‘ludicrous’ racism claims, wrote a lengthy apology on Tuesday: ‘It’s been hard to find the words of know whether to speak at all, but I don’t want to leave things on the note of my last post,’ she said.
‘I can see clearly that a black female was and is still hurt by my actions on The X Factor. That became overshadowed in my mind last week.’
The N Dubz hitmaker said she ‘jumped to defence mode’ after she faced death threats from trolls following Misha’s accusations.
Hurtful: Misha accused the show of scripting a ‘bullying storyline’ which left her feeling suicidal
Racism row: During the third live show, judges Tulisa and Louis Walsh accused Misha of being a bully, calling her ‘feisty’ ‘over-confident’ and ‘mean’ (pictured in 2011)
Apology: The singer, 31, took to Instagram on Tuesday to issue a statement, in which she vehemently denied her criticism was racially motivated but understands the ‘pain I caused’
Acceptance: Tulisa said: ‘I can see clearly that a black female was and is still hurt by my actions on The X Factor. That became overshadowed in my mind last week’
Her story: Tulisa continued: ‘I fully acknowledge the pain I caused and fully accept people should be angry about it. I can state again there was nothing racial in my thought process’
Wiser: The singer explained what she would do differently now she was more mature
The future: Tulisa said she thought of reaching out Misha ‘many times over the years’ and it was a mistake she didn’t. The singer ended the post by wishing Misha all the success for the future
Tulisa continued: ‘I fully acknowledge the pain I caused and fully accept people should be angry about it. I can state again there was nothing racial in my thought process.
‘When I referred to Misha as being feisty and competitive that was a reflection of myself because I saw myself in Misha.
‘We are both very strong women and when I communicate with people I always jump to what I have in common to find a basis to connect.
‘However, I totally understand that it made Misha feel a certain way, as a young black girl hearing it from a young white girl on a huge platform, living in the oppressed society we do, full of racial slurs and undertones, not knowing my thought process.
Responding: Tulisa previously hit back at accusations from the X Factor star that she was part of scripted bullying and sabotage ‘storyline’ in 2011
Scripted? Misha accused Tulisa of having ‘every line scripted before she even opened up her mouth’
‘This I can only acknowledge, apologise for, hold my hands up and say I’m truly sorry. It was something I did not understand at the time. I made a mistake and completely take on board how that mistake has been viewed.’
The songstress explained she called Misha out on air because her ‘instant reaction was to fight back’ and that it wasn’t racially motivated, it was because one of Tulisa’s contestants had cried before the show over an accusation Misha had made.
‘I let my emotions get in the way of my work and I didn’t stop to think of the consequences for you, Misha, at the age of 18, immediate or long term,’ Tulisa said.
‘I was 22, I didn’t have guidance and I’d been given the most powerful platform in the industry at the time. I had a huge responsibility that I clearly wasn’t ready for in those circumstances.
Traumatic experience: The singer came fourth in the competition but was accused by Louis Walsh of being ‘too overconfident’
‘If I could go back in time, I would have pulled you aside, spoken about the issues, then probably opened up about my own issues and we would have had an open and honest dialogue and maybe found some common ground in our upbringings.
‘That’s what I would do now and that’s the person I am today. I don’t have many regrets, but I regret what happened with us. All my other mistakes only affected me, I can live with that. But that mistake affected you.
Tulisa said she thought of reaching out Misha ‘many times over the years’ and it was a mistake she didn’t. The singer ended the post by wishing Misha all the success and love for the future.
Not impressed: Tulisa previously said: ‘To this day I didn’t find her excuse feasible. I called a lot of people out on that show – white, black, short, tall. It’s nothing to do with skin colour’
Last week, Misha claimed X Factor producers told the judges to accuse her of bullying other contestants, leading to Tulisa and Louis calling her ‘feisty’ ‘over-confident’ and ‘mean,’ live on air.
‘I could feel Louis was on verbal violence. Louis has then said something about me being confident, but then he says maybe I’m too over confident. Let me just make this very clear, these judges spent a maximum of 1 per cent time with me and their contestants, apart from Gary [Barlow] and Kelly [Rowland],’ Misha said during an Instagram live.
Misha continued: ‘My understanding is you created this whole narrative of me being over confident because I’m black and in your eyes black girls should not be confident, black girls are just one off.’
Misha accused Tulisa of having ‘every line scripted before she even opened up her mouth’.
”Feisty’ she threw, followed by ‘mean,’ common words used to describe black women. This woman spent zero time with me,’ Misha claimed, adding that the next day both Tulisa and Louis apologised.
‘The only conversation this woman [Tulisa] had with me was after this happened when she gave me a halfhearted apology.’
Misha said she felt like ‘my whole world stopped,’ after the incident live on air, before she went backstage and cried. Later, the singer said she had suicidal thoughts, telling her fans:
‘When all those allegations happened … I remember of thinking up ways to end my own life. I remember of thinking up ways that I could end the pain. That was the first the in my whole life I ever felt suicidal.’
As spokesperson for X Factor told MailOnline: ‘We are very concerned to hear Misha’s comments regarding her experience on The X Factor in 2011…
‘We are currently looking into this matter and are reaching out to Misha to discuss the important issues she has raised. The welfare of contestants is our priority and we are committed to diversity and equality.’
Shocking: Misha said she felt like ‘my whole world stopped,’ after the incident live on air, before she went backstage and cried. Later, the singer said she had suicidal thoughts