Olly Murs was "devastated" when his friend and former bandmate didn’t get through ‘The X Factor’ auditions.
Since coming second in the sixth series of the ITV talent show in 2009, Olly has gone from strength to strength in his career, resulting in him replacing Dermot O’Leary to host this year’s competition alongside Caroline Flack.
However, things didn’t go as well for his pal Jon Goodey – who he was in a band called the Small Town Blaggers with when he was a teenager – after he persuaded him to audition.
Asked how he felt when the judges said no to Jon, Olly admitted: "I was devastated. Jon is a really good friend of mine, I’ve known him obviously for years. So, yeah, it was horrible."
Luckily, Olly didn’t hold his disappointment against this year’s judges – Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora.
The 31-year-old heartthrob said: "The judges have got to do what they’ve got to do. They’ve got to put my friendship with him aside and obviously judge the audition."
The ‘Up’ hitmaker added: "I think John knew when he walked off that he didn’t do the best audition, but obviously from a personal point of view I was devastated for him because he is a very close friend of mine. It wasn’t very nice."
Olly Murs ‘devastated’ by friends’ failure
