Quotes from James Arthur

I want to help people to get to know my story and really tell them in detail what I've been through.

I'd say to all kids, don't have a tattoo until you're 21.

I'm a positive guy, even if I don't smile a lot.

My music is about love, and I don't discriminate against any type of person.

I don't have anything against SyCo or 'X Factor' or any of that. I'm just a guy who got really afraid of not being in control.

'The X Factor' saved me.

The thing is, I knew from the very first audition that I did not fit the classic 'X Factor' criteria.

I want to say sorry for abusing my position as an 'X Factor' winner because I owe everything to this thing.

Not only was I an 'X Factor' winner that got dropped by Syco - and when that happens, you're never heard of again - but everyone thought I was a clown.

Having watched 'X Factor' over the years, they just haven't got it right. The male winners haven't been believable. They look like puppets; they sound like puppets.

People were telling me it was refreshing I was real because previous 'X Factor' winners were too afraid to say anything. I decided to go against the grain. But I took it too far.

I was asked, 'Why do you think the male 'X Factor' winners haven't been successful in the past?' And I said, 'Because obviously the body of work that they've brought out wasn't good enough,' and that was it.

When I've got a girlfriend, I like to be with them as much as possible, and I'm very affectionate.

If you haven't got help, all you can do is make good music.

I just think you have got to bring out good music.

I don't know if speaking to a therapist is right for everyone.

All my confidence has disappeared because the whole nation thinks I'm a homophobe who looks like a monster.

I didn't realise how devastating my behavior could be - looking back, I'm very embarrassed. I just buckled under the anxiety.

I'd like to think that maybe the average person is rational, and they realise that I'm not this crazy monster that, at times, I've been perceived to be.

Being in bands and plugging away with not many opportunities and no money for many years really shaped me and taught me about work ethic.

I want to put out music I really believe in, and when I felt that was threatened, I lashed out at everybody.

I wasn't a happy kid. I felt like my mum ruined our chance of a better life, because when she remarried, we went to live in Bahrain, on a compound with a swimming pool, and she ruined it all.

I had a bit of a strange childhood, to be honest.

My first instinct is always to fight back because ever since I was a kid, that's what I've always had to do to survive.