Rebecca Ferguson talks to Daniel White about her emotional rollercoaster since leaving the X Factor
“It’s freedom, sweet freedom. I was so dumb. They held me to the ground but now I’m free.”
X Factor runner-up Rebecca Ferguson offers up a glimpse into her suffering since her time on the ITV talent show with these lyrics from her song ‘My Freedom’.
The Liverpudlian finished second to Matt Cardle in the competition’s 2010 final, however, it was Ferguson who went on to stun critics with her number three album ‘Heaven’ going double platinum.
“It was crazy, it was fun but it was such a surreal experience,” Ferguson said of her time on the show. “I enjoyed it and it was a brilliant thing for me, it made me who I am but I wouldn’t do it again.”
Following the release of the hit album, the 27-year-old went on tour and has barely stopped since.
“To be honest it has been really up and down,” the mother of two explained. “I went on a promotional tour pretty much all around the world, then the UK Tour and then I started writing ‘Freedom’ so I haven’t stopped. It looks like I’ve been away but I actually have been really busy.”
Ferguson was to her limits by her former management company Modest! and reached breaking point when she collapsed through exhaustion during her tour of Australia.
The singer-songwriter claimed she was not allowed enough time off to see her children and branded the management company “vile” and “greedy” before being sued by Modest!
Ferguson stated on her Twitter account: “Was so exhausted I couldn’t physically walk on my own but was still told I had to work!!”
The artist, who is also currently part of a police inquiry into the people who scammed her out of £100,000 over two years, finally felt her body give in due to exhaustion.
“I tried to get back on my feet,” she said. “It was like I was trying to push through it saying ‘no, come on Becky you’re strong, you can do this’ but then, I don’t know, people can call it fate, people can call it God but just as I was about to carry on my leg broke so that forced me then to have some rest.”
Despite the case recently being settled between the two parties, when the subject of her former management company is brought up, Rebecca responds with a clearly rehearsed spiel to avoid any more issues.
“I’m not legally allowed to talk about them to be honest,” she states. “I wish them well, everything’s settled now and I wish they continue to have success. I see that as all in the past now.”
Despite the chaotic period in her life, she feels it has helped her grow as a person and as a parent.
“I take a lot of ownership in my life now and I think I take a lot of initiative,” she clarified. “If I don’t like something I say I don’t like something now and that’s called being an adult and that’s called being a mother so I think I’ve changed as a person now and I take a lot more responsibility for my own life.”
Following the emotional turmoil she experienced with Modest!, Ferguson signed with a new management company, however, when the time came to write her second studio album, she found herself in a dark place.
Battling heavily with depression, she struggled to get out of bed in the morning and almost decided not to continue her career in the music industry.
“When I wrote ‘Freedom’ I was going through the mill,” she explains. “I felt like I was going through it all because I was trying to create a positive album. I wanted it to be an album that you pressed play when you were feeling down.”
Ferguson, who will perform at the Brighton Dome on March 19th, released her new album ‘Freedom’ in December after battling through her depression and she admits she is now in a much better place.
She said: “I feel like now I’ve settled, I’ve got my head around the industry, I’ve got my head around what I do so it’s not much of a shock to me or a lifestyle change now. I feel really happy so lets see how long it lasts, touch wood nothing happens but I’m really happy.”
The mother of Lillie May, 9, and Karl, 7, spent parts of her childhood in foster care and with family friends due to her mother’s illness, however, she praised her mum for giving her the strength to battle on and become a strong parent herself.
“I can’t deny on paper it really looks bad and it was bad but I try and stay positive,” she smiled. “My mum has a big role in how she brought me up in the sense of kindness and treating people equally so I just try and instil that in my children and teach them to be nice and respectful to people and so far so good.”