Voice of London

The story of how I ended up partying alongside X Factor ‘joke’ duo Bradley and Ottavio, Nicole Scherzinger and Sam Smith.

Reporter – Chrys Salter

Interestingly enough, when I pictured my Saturday night out in London’s Soho district, I was with people a lot less exciting than a couple of X Factor finalists who had divided the nation earlier on this year with their ‘joke’ act, branded talentless and fame hungry by journalists and viewers alike. The truth of the matter is however; this pair of popstar wannabes are much more intelligent than you might think.

After stumbling in to the wrong queue outside the notorious Heaven night club near Embankment, I would not have even noticed there was a red carpet if I hadn’t been scrambling on the floor looking for my credit card which I had dropped a good ten minutes before.  I had been spending time with a couple of friends at another bar across town, but getting this drunk was not part of my plan. I was though, at this point, enjoying myself. As I tried to compose myself in front of the security guards, I was pushed aside by a group of senior looking gentleman who politely asked me “Are you here for Bratavio?”. I answered yes, as I figured this was the only response I could give as I didn’t want to admit I completely missed every word they just said.

Then it happened.

Bradley and Ottavio, known as ‘Bratavio’ walked past me and smiled, and asked me ‘which way to the bar?”. I knew I had recognised them, from their viral audition video known as chickengate on ITV’s the X Factor.

These two guys who were walking me in to the VIP area of Heaven seemed a lot more reserved and composed than the jokers I had seen on TV just a few weeks before. It wasn’t until I saw Nicole Scherzinger and Sam Smith walk briskly past me that I realised I needed to sober up, and quick. Was I really part of the X Factor entourage despite being uninvited until seconds ago? I decided then to take myself to the gents and return a little more together.

When I returned, it was just Bradley, Ottavio and myself dancing alone in the VIP section, which I thankfully realsied was a wonderful opportunity for a casual but substantial little interview.

“I know we got hate but we both loved it, and we got a TV show in the works too, so it for sure wasn’t a waste. I really like that people know our names but the constant photos and attention can get boring, although Ottavio seems to love it all of the time. People forget that X Factor is so huge”. Bradley then stepped in to stop Ottavio from spilling too many secrets…

“We just have to wait and see what happens, Ottavio. Can we request a song you think? I mean we are the most famous guys here apart from Scherzy”.

I smiled as I recognised that was my que to stop asking too many quesitons about what their future plans were, and how they felt the experience has effected them. Luckily for the boys, the songs they requested came on and we partied until all of three of us blacked out. What was clear however, is that this pair of young ‘singers’ have a clear sense of ambition, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that at all.