In recent weeks, the nation has been waking up to the racism inherent in our society, and how black people are treated differently in all walks of life. This is clear when it comes to the police, and how they are more likely to stop and search young, Black males. It spreads to recruitment, to shopping and even to TV talent shows. With X Factor stars like Misha B, Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis coming forward in recent weeks to reveal how they feel they have been mistreated as black women in the reality TV genre, Grazia reached out to Sinitta for her insights.
Sinitta’s presence on the ITV staple stretches back years. She first appeared as an assistant judge of sorts, helping Simon Cowell choose his three final acts in the first ever series in 2004. She returned regularly, and was a key adviser when Simon mentored acts including One Direction, Olly Murs and, in series 3, Leona. When the singer – and eventual winner – was chosen for the live shows, Sinitta - who had a successful pop career in the Eighties and Nineties - was on hand to share her wisdom for her performances and, she claims, was relegated from this supportive role after she encouraged the star-in-the-making to embrace her black roots.
‘I remember when Leona was performing Summertime on the show, and Simon was her mentor and I was working on the interpretation of the performance of the song with her’, Sinitta tells Grazia. ‘They had basically made her look as European as possible, and I undid it. I had to take off her golden high heels, her gold earrings and golden bangles she was styled in, even though she looked stunning. I asked them to get rid of the blow dried hair and get her curls back. I had her barefoot, and wearing her gold dress only, stripped back. She looked even more beautiful, and that night I saw a Leona no one had ever seen before: a proud, mixed-race woman, singing with her soul.’
The performance was a highlight in her journey up to that point, paving the way to her eventual win. But Sinitta’s involvement was halted. ‘She became the front runner that night, but I was taken off her,’ she claims, suggesting that others may have taken issue with her approach. ‘A new team was brought in to take closer care of her. I think they thought I was making her “too black”.’
For Sinitta, the black women on the programme were subject to higher standards. As per claims by Alexandra in June, they had to be ten times better, had to work ten times harder, to be considered in the same league as white male contestants. ‘If you look at Leona and Alexandra, they were world class’, Sinitta says. ‘Literally Britain’s Mariah and Whitney. And of course Fleur East. All stunningly beautiful with extraordinary talent. I am not sure if it’s the public or the castings, but we seem to demand a level of excellence from the females that others don’t have to live up to.’
‘So long as we are not seen in prominent places and celebrated like everyone else, we will continue to be seen as not good enough, pretty enough, clever enough, fun enough, sexy enough, capable enough.’
Sinitta hopes that things will change. She wants more visibility for more black women, but also more support for them behind the scenes, backstage and in the house the contestants share. As X Factor takes a break, with an eventual return almost inevitable, one hopes she will be first on Simon’s call list when it comes to making things better.
Grazia has reached out to a representative of The X Factor for comment.
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SEE: Where Are The Winners Of X Factor Now?
1 of 15Steve Brookstein, series one, 2004
Things went downhill super quickly after the high of winning the first ever series of The X Factor, and Steve's still bitter… even now, 16 years later. He's written a book about it called Getting Over The X. Come on now Steve, perhaps you should give it a read.He did release an album in 2014, and just to show he's moved on he called it Forgotten Man. It didn't chart.
2 of 15Shayne Ward, series two, 2005
It's easy to forget Corrie's Aidan Connor was actually; Shayne Ward from The X Factor in a disguise. Alright, that should be: in a new job. He even won Best Newcomer at the National Television Awards in January 2016, but he left the soap in 2018.
3 of 15Leona Lewis, series three, 2006
You probably won't remember Leona Lewis as she hasn't done much since. Jokes. Leona's a superstar. A superstar that loves animals. A lot.She loves dogs. She released a single with Diane Warren called We Are All (Looking For Home) in support of a dog charity. She loves cats. Well, she starred in Cats on Broadway which is kind of the same thing. But she really loves horses. The star has featured in Horse and Hound in the past, too.
4 of 15Leon Jackson, series four, 2007
Soulful Scotsman Leon Jackson clinched the Christmas Number One in 2007 but faded fast and was dropped by the label shortly after.
5 of 15Alexandra Burke, series five, 2008
Alexandra Burke's winning single was a cover of Leonard Cohen's classic Hallelujah, which broke records on it's way to Number One. And Alex has had quite the career since; she's released three albums and had an incredibly successful time on the West End, starring in musicals The Bodyguard and Sister Act. We also can't forget when said she brought the phrase 'elephant in the room' over to the UK from America,
6 of 15Joe McElderry, series six, 2009
In 2009 it was Joe McElderry who won The X Factor but it wasn't him who won the Christmas Number One. It was the anti-X-Factor campaign who scored the top slot with Rage Against The Machine's Killing In The Name Of. Chin up Joe, you've done alright. You've even sung for the Queen. He has sung in a touring version of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat and did charity cycle rides.
7 of 15Matt Cardle, series seven, 2010
Matt Cardle might be most famous for Harry Styles whispering into his ear, 'think how much pussy you're going to get', but he did release four albums after the show. It was also claimed that, before she met Prince Harry, Meghan Markle even slid into his DMs. There was also a massive lawsuit filed against none other than Ed Sheeran in 2016, claiming Sheeran's huge hit Photographs was a carbon copy of Cardle's Amazing. It turns out it was the songwriters who filed it, and Cardle's distanced himself… it looked murky and in 2017 Ed settled the £16million lawsuit.
8 of 15Little Mix, series eight, 2011
Well, where to start with these ladies. As one of the most famous groups this country has ever produced, they hardly need any explanation. They are now working on their own reality show to find the next big music group, called The Search.
9 of 15James Arthur, series nine, 2012
James Arthur has had a rocky road since winning the show - like so many of the winners – but he did seem to bring it on himself. After dropping a very dodgy tune with homophobic tones, iTunes offered refunds on his debut album and Syco dropped him.Then he released Say You Won't Let Go, Syco took him back and EVERYTHING changed.
10 of 15Sam Bailey, series 10, 2013
Bexley's Sam Bailey hit the Christmas number one slot with her winning single Skyscraper and toured with Queen Bey in the UK leg of her The Mrs Carter Show World Tour. Then, in what seems like a natural next step for The X Factor winners, she took a role in a popular West End musical. In this case it was Chicago.
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11 of 15Ben Haenow, series 11, 2014
We can almost do this as a tickbox list now. Christmas number one: tick. Record breaking sales figures: no tick. Duet with big name real celeb: tick (it was Kelly Clarkson). Album released: tick. Didn't make top twenty: tick. Dropped by Syco: tick.
12 of 15Louisa Johnson, series 12, 2015
2015's winner Louisa has had mixed success…her single charted the lowest of all the winners' singles of all of the time, only managing number 12 in the Christmas singles chart. Cripes.Her follow up Tears, with Clean Bandit, did much better by reaching number five. She left Syco in 2018, but she still has 872,000 Instagram followers. Nice.
13 of 15Matt Terry, series 13, 2016
Matt Terry went on to win the 2016 series with Ed Sheeran-penned winner's single When Christmas Comes Around. He then teamed up with Enrique Iglesias and actual Sean Paul on the Spanglish remix of Subeme La Radio before releasing his proper debut single Sucker for You.Oh, and he made an appearance on Celebrity First Dates in support of Stand Up To Cancer. In June 2018, Terry was dropped by RCA Records. So he did what X Factor stars do best, and moved into musicals. The next month, he made his acting debut in the UK production of Madagascar – The Musical. In 2019, he returned to the Madagascar musical as Alex the Lion.
14 of 15Rak-Su, series 14, 2017
Rak-Su beat Grace Davies in an epic final showdown on 2017's X Factor. They were even the first group to write their own winner's single with Dimelo, which featured Naughty Boy and Wyclef Jean. Since Myles jetted to Australia for I'm A Celeb in 2019. But the lads are still together, and plan to release their next single Palm Tree later this week as independent artists.
15 of 15Dalton Harris, series 15, 2018
Louis Tomlinson's lad Dalton Harris beat Scarlett Lee to the 2018 crown and released a duet with James Arthur; a cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love. He went quiet for a while, as the Jamaican singer revealed he received disgusting death threats after rumours spread he was dating fellow contestant Brendan Murray. However, the singer released new single, Cry, in January this year.