'We got kicked out of X Factor bootcamp and I got so much stick riding out!'

What was the best day of your riding career?
Riding for the Queen and in the Cambridgeshire are up there but it would have to be my first winner on Villarrica for Sir Michael Stoute at Salisbury in 2005. It was my third ride and I made the running but I remember a loose horse ruining the photo of us at the winning line! It was an amazing feeling riding that first winner and an honour for it to be for Sir Michael.

Tell us about your journey from the saddle to music
I struggled with my weight and became a little too heavy to race-ride so went out to Australia to ride out then returned and worked part-time for John Gosden. I rode out some amazing horses, including Nathaniel, but in the afternoons would think about what I wanted to do in the future and I had always loved singing. I eventually sent in a really bad rendition of a song by The Wanted to online platform Star Now and somehow got in! I was then in a band called Rewind and the X Factor asked three of us on the show.

What was the X Factor experience like in 2012?
I was riding out for John Gosden at the time and there was plenty of banter. We got kicked out of bootcamp and I got so much stick riding out but then they asked us back a month later and brought George Shelley into our band Union J. It was the best experience I’ve had and an amazing show. You work from eight in the morning until midnight but it’s amazing to be able to perform in front of 11 million people watching through the tiny camera. There’s only around four to five hundred people in the studio – even though it looks huge on TV – but you get an amazing buzz from knowing so many people are watching at home. We wouldn’t have had the success we have without the X Factor.