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X Factor winner Sam Bailey was initially turned down by talent show boss Simon Cowell when she auditioned for him in 1996, as part of a ska duo.
The former prison warden auditioned for the X Factor boss in 1996 as part of a ska duo named Girls Next Door. Bailey was part of the group with friend Julie Nunney, who has revealed who Cowell turned down the duo after their audition.
"We met aged 15. Sam was an amazing singer and we used to go to the local karaoke bars in South London," says Nunney in an interview with The Mirror newspaper. "Cowell listened to the record we made and liked it.
"But he turned it down, saying he couldn't do anything with it because we weren't on the TV."
See Bailey perform 'Skyscraper' below
Nunney, 35, now runs a pizza restaurant and her ska days are long behind her, revealing that despite having not seen Sam Bailey since she was 18, supported the singer during her time on The X Factor.
"I saw her on the TV and screamed, ‘Oh my god, it’s Sam’," adds the pizza-maker, "She has done so well. She has shown them all you can go out there and grab your dreams, no matter how old you are."
Bailey this week beat big-name competition from the likes of Pharrell Williams and Leona Lewis to land the coveted Christmas No.1 single, which has long been the goal of X Factor winners - and indeed, Simon Cowell.
