Zoe Alexander - X-Factor, The Truth

Beb

Beb

Mike said:
Plus, she would never have got to the live shows anyway let alone won the competition.
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Regardless of her chances of winning all participants should be treated with a level of respect. Now I'm sure the reality of what happened on the day is somewhere in the middle but over the past few years it has become clear that reality shows need to do more to offer mental health support to participants. Zoe mentions she tried to take her own life. We've seen that happen with contestants on Love Island.

If the show isn't going to provide them with that support I can understand why she feels having an environment where people can share their experiences would be helpful. I don't think they'll be able to do anything out of it (I'm sure the X Factor contracts are water tight and frankly I'm surprised she's as open as she is with her claims), but at least they'll be able to support one another.
 
R

r1ver

Nope. She was gaslit and abused and she describes specifically how they played on her insecurities. I can definitely imagine how she must have felt her life was over for a while afterwards - at the time it was a really high profile audition. How far she was likely to get or the fact that XF had done this kind of thing before doesn't excuse it at all. She's more than entitled to tell her story.

I had a similar experience with BGT - they offered me a judges audition with two days notice without meeting producers on the condition I sang 'You Can't Stop the Beat' from Hairspray. I'd submitted a classical aria for the online audition. I knew I was being set up to fail and said thanks but no thanks.
 
M

Mike

My post was focused only on the narrative being presented - by Zoe and others - that she was somehow robbed of a career she would never have had anyway. Nothing else. Of course she was entitled to respect, fair treatment and mental health support.

Any of us who watched this show for years share a piece of the responsibility here; we all saw many, many examples of what was fairly obvious exploitation of vulnerable people for entertainment, and we didn't switch channels.
 
R

r1ver

Yeah but even if she was never going to win XF, I can imagine that her work locally either dried up or she wasn't able to go through with it anymore. I don't know - I'm just speculating. And I completely agree with you about the shared responsibility. I couldn't watch it again now.
 
beautyneverlies

beautyneverlies

The worst thing about it for me is that Zoe wasn't given a 'redemptive arc' - she was just made a fool of and thrown out.

I only found XF interesting from the Judges' Houses onwards - but it's amazing how they got away with the cruelty of the first set of auditions.
 
mi|kshake

mi|kshake

^I was thinking watching Part 2 that when she got a call to come back the next year that would have been her redemption arc! Ugh
 
Matgo

Matgo

Mushroom said:
The show had taken advantage of contestants before and after her and whilst that doesn't make it right, calling for people to come forward to help fan the flames isn't really a fight worth having in 2020 when the show hasn't really held any gravitas now for what? 5/6 years?
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All these allegations about The X Factor manipulating people and ruining lives in the name of entertainment, and you don't think it should be called out because it took place a few years ago?

The relationship between Syco and the media really deserves further scrutiny even if they don't have as much power today.
 
Nillness

Nillness

Mushroom said:
It's not my place to diminish what I'm sure was a pretty traumatic experience for her
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Mushroom said:
I just find this extended "exposé" a little unnecessary, self serving and coming from a place of complete naivety.
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NuhdeensPassport

NuhdeensPassport

mi|kshake said:
^I was thinking watching Part 2 that when she got a call to come back the next year that would have been her redemption arc! Ugh
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As if! Look what they did to Emma , Ashwin and that woman from Wales with no teeth, It's terrible how they took advantage of people especially those with clear mental health issues. I was watching a Big Brother 7 reunion last night where they spoke about one of the housemates actually having a carer on the outside because of his mental health issues but was allowed to enter the house and allegedly get his privates out and rub them against an 18 year old guy, Threaten to kill all the housemates or himself none of this was shown of course. It's a scary industry is TV!
 
Matgo

Matgo

Mike said:
The whole "Big Brother does a full psych screening of every contestant" thing is total bullshit people pretended to buy into so they could feel better about watching it.
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Exactly. The fact that Kerry Katona failed it one year and then somehow managed to pass with flying colours less than a year later says it all.
 
M

Mike

Matgo said:
Exactly. The fact that Kerry Katona failed it one year and then somehow managed to pass with flying colours less than a year later says it all.
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They showed their asses well before that. In series 7 of the 'civilian' version, they put a guy in the house who was banned from every gym in Glasgow for sexually harassing straight (usually married) men and then accusing them of homophobia when they told him to leave them alone.
 
Neon Green

Neon Green

A disgrace what happened to her. The people manipulated by shows like this should be given compensation for the years it takes them to recover from the mental abuse they endured and the trauma they feel. Fucking dreadful.
 
kermit_the_frog

kermit_the_frog

NuhdeensPassport said:
She's not a great singer and they definitely stitched her up but she also had the choice to just laugh it off and go home, She chose to kick off so of course they're going to edit it in their favour. I'd have just said get that stage left door, I'm off!
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I sort of agree and disagree at the same time - if she was self-aware enough to know that the whole show is a rigged (in favour of SyCo) game of roulette, she'd have been prepared to take what exposure she got and use it to generate income (be that hero/villain/clown).

Ironically, having that attitude (which I'd class as "star quality") is why Gemma Collins (or Rylan Clark-Neal for that matter) is where she is today...

Unfortunately, the show presented itself as a subjective ranking of singing talent (when obviously no such thing exists) - it's a shame that so many contestants take the same position of the audience and accept that ridiculous claim at face value... talk about being set-up for disappointment, even if you win the whole thing...
 
beautyneverlies

beautyneverlies

NuhdeensPassport said:
She's not a great singer and they definitely stitched her up but she also had the choice to just laugh it off and go home, She chose to kick off so of course they're going to edit it in their favour. I'd have just said get that stage left door, I'm off!
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I imagine she was tired, hungry and thirsty by the time she was on stage. I'm not good when I am tired, hungry and thirsty. I'm sure I'm not the only one, and I'm sure the producers knew that too...
 
Nillness

Nillness

beautyneverlies said:
I imagine she was tired, hungry and thirsty by the time she was on stage. I'm not good when I am tired, hungry and thirsty. I'm sure I'm not the only one, and I'm sure the producers knew that too...
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Exactly this. It's not like she decided to kick off, it was just an outpouring of emotion, and no one's great at controlling their emotions under such circumstances. I mean, imagine trying to get to sleep when you know you're auditioning for the X-Factor tomorrow? Then imagine having to get up at 4am? Then imagine not eating or drinking for hours, too. Any one of y'all would snap.
 
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