Former X Factor star Frankie Cocozza has said he is working as a labourer after the perks of instant stardom led him to spend thousands of pounds on a party lifestyle.
The Brighton singer made headlines on the ITV show’s 2011 series, where, aged 18, he revealed both his singing talents and his buttocks illustrated with the tattooed names of his sexual conquests.
He was eventually booted off the programme after a crew member reportedly overheard him bragging about drug-fuelled sex sessions.
Cocozza, now 24, told the Mirror newspaper that he has since blown £200,000 on clothes, travel and booze, but has no regrets.
After the release of his own music and reality TV appearances, he now mixes mortar for £7.50 per hour.
He said: “I have no regrets … I performed on live TV in front of 14 million and that’s such a great thing to tell people.
“I didn’t have to have a real job for a long time after the show, and me and my mates had the best time.
“I went back to work because I needed more dough, but I think I was just bored.
“I sat in my room for the last three or four years playing guitar every day.”
Admitting that he “wasn’t any good at singing,” he attributed his turning to drink to the deaths of both his aunt and his best friend and told how his upbringing led to his careless attitude with money.
“It was too young too fast,” he continued.
“I always wanted to get out of where I lived and get away, so then I had the opportunity and the money and I went mental.
“Me being careless with money comes from when I didn’t have much growing up.
“I would get a tenner at the weekends if my room was tidy, but compared to others it was nothing.”