2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I was a telly star on X Factor & toured with Westlife performing to thousands but packed it all in to become a teacher
THIS former X Factor star has traded his pop star dreams in to become a teacher at a secondary school.
In 2015, the Athlone native auditioned for
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Joe McCaul appeared on the X Factor in 2015
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Joe and his sister Donna represented Ireland in the 2005 Eurovision
Joe McCaul first found fame back in 2005 when himself and his sister, Donna, represented
The sibling made it all the way to the semis with their catchy tune, You're A Star.
However, after the duo failed to make it through the final round, Joe admitted: "I felt shame and embarrassment and rejection."
The Irish singer added: "I thought we were the bees knees, but that didn't last for long, I thought we were going to be millionaires.
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"I thought I was going to be able to buy my mother out of the council estate.
"We were being chauffered around in limousines and we were being given a fee by
He continued: "But, I had to go back to playing in pubs and stuff and I used to drink a lot before the gigs."
Fast forward to 2015 and Joe was approached with an opportunity to audition for The X Factor.
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The
He said: "They did lots of filming with me when I was over in
Top 10 Funniest X-Factor moments
"I was then invited to sing for the real judges at the time, it was
Joe sang his own rendition of A Change Is Going To Come by Sam Cooke.
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He recalled how Simon Cowell stopped his audition half way through and told him he was a "horrible performer".
The musician confessed: "I just wanted that moment to be over there and then, but they asked me to sing another song and I went off stage."
SWEET MOMENT
Joe remembered how late TV host
He gushed: "God love her, she was so, so kind and nice and helped me to pick a song and she was even singing it with me, which they never aired.
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"But oh my God, Caroline had a gorgeous voice, she could really sing."
Joe got through to boot camp after his second audition and said: "It was all very pressurised, very scripted, very staged.
"The things that went on during the likes of X Factor were disgusting. Thankfully I didn't experience a lot of it."
One particular moment stood out to Joe as his most "humiliating" experience on the show.
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'WORST TIME OF MY LIFE'
He said: "I remember I did the Six Chair Challenge and I got a seat and I thought I was going to be taken off.
"But the producer stood at the front of the stage telling the audience which chair to vote for and he said three, and I was three and I thought, 'Just f***ing kill me now'.
"The shame I felt then was probably one of the worst times of my life."
When asked if he regretted ever going on The X Factor, Joe immediately replied: "Yes."
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After his stint on singing competitions over the past 20 years, Joe has now taken "a complete 360 turn" and become a teacher.
The star now teaches music and is a special needs education teacher in a secondary school in
