‘X Factor’ Star Clears the Air About Her Ongoing Feud With Simon Cowell

Before exploring a solo career in music, Jade Thirlwall gained fame for her time with the group Little Mix, which featured the star alongside Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. The group started when appearing on The X Factor back in 2011. While enjoying the time together, the band disbanded back in 2022 after Nelson decided to leave in 2020. Now, with Thirlwall releasing her debut solo “Angel of My Dreams”, fans wondered if some of the lyrics took shots at Simon Cowell

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According to reports, the music video for the song featured a young girl trying to make it in the music industry as a man smoking a cigar stands in her way. Some of the lyrics include the singer announcing she “sold my soul to a psycho.” It just happens that Cowell’s former record label coined the name SYCO. 

With fans making the connection, Thirlwall discussed her inspiration behind the song, telling Beat magazine, “It’s not specifically about that. But I wanted the song to be my journey, from entering the music business to now, and what that felt like. That’s why the song feels so chaotic. The opening is like the music to that montage bit on The X Factor after you’ve won and you’re just catapulted into the industry.”

[RELATED: Simon Cowell Talks His Search for the Next One Direction, Dismissing Social Media Stars, and “Sorry State of Affairs” in the Industry]

Jade Thirwall Recalls Turbulent Time With SYCO

Wanting her new song to embrace her turbulent time in the music industry, Thirlwall loved what she produced. “I don’t want to sit here and bash the last 13 years of my life. I’m very happy and content. But like with any job, there are highs and lows. That’s just life, and it’s my reality, but it’s about writing it in a way that’s not woe is me.”

Explaining her hard time with SYCO, Thirwall insisted on how they were “F**ked” by the label.  “We did a little bit but we had a switch of labels during the LM5 process and that really f***ed us over. It was harder to put all our creativity out there in the way we would have liked. The LM5 album was very heavily on women’s rights and our experiences in the industry. We’re sort of cruising at the moment. That period in our careers was quite troublesome.”

Releasing their own statement, a representative of SYCO noted, “The entire team who worked incredibly hard behind the scenes with Little Mix to help make the group a success would, I’m sure, always continue to wish them solo success.”

(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Gay Times)

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