Fleur East On Life After Leaving Simon Cowell’s Label: ‘Why Live For What Other People Think?’

Fleur lets out a cackle when Simon Cowell’s dig at her expense during the recent ‘X Factor’ final comes up in conversation, insisting: “Do you know what? I know Simon really well. And I… I didn’t think it came from a malicious place. Knowing him, I think he was just having a laugh.

“If anything, it just did everyone a favour. Like, it was amazing for him, and everyone just rushed to my side, which was amazing. It was actually really funny, because while I was in the jungle, Sax went back into the top 40, and I thought, ‘do you know what, Simon? We’ve all made a bit of money here…’ do you know what I mean? Let’s just keep it real! He was probably laughing because it was back in the chart again.”

She says she hasn’t seen the music mogul since leaving his label but says she “wouldn’t be scared to talk to him” if their paths crossed in the future.

Would he be scared to speak to her, though?

“Oh, I dunno,” she says with another laugh. “Maybe! I think what he liked about me, though, was that I was always quite bold. So I would definitely go up to him and say, ‘you alright, Simon? What you digging me out for in the jungle?’. I could honestly say that to him – we had a very open relationship, and I was never fazed that he was ‘the Simon Cowell’, we just had a real, level relationship.

“I’d love to see him again, actually. I would just tell him, I hope that he loves the music I’m coming out with, and that he gets up with Eric on the dance floor and boogies to it. I want him to be proud of it, because at the end of the day, he gave me the push that I needed into the industry. I want him to look at me and say ‘do you know what? Fair play, she’s done alright’.”

“I don’t look back with any bitterness or any anger,” she adds. “The industry is the way it is, it’s so tough and I knew that when I came into it. So although I am human, and I have emotions, and it was hard, I can’t begrudge anyone.”

Indeed, the road to where she is today hasn’t always been an easy one, but Fleur insists she has no regrets about any of the decisions she’s made so far.

“In the film ‘The Butterfly Effect’, when [Ashton Kutcher’s character] started meddling in the past, things started messing up in the future,” she says. “And I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. It’s such a cliché but I genuinely believe it. I wouldn’t be in this position now if I hadn’t gone through all of that back then.

“The tough times build you as a character. You learn so much, I always think, there’s no regrets, there’s always lessons. No regrets.”

Summing up what she’s learned from the last three years, she remembers: “There was a time my auntie came to visit me at my house, my first house that I got last year. She walked around, she was looking at my plaques and stuff on the wall, and she said, ‘Fleur, if nothing else happens from today, this was all worth it’. And I was like, ‘do you know what? Yes’.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned… close the door at night, have your loved ones around you, have a roof over your head. If you have food on the table and love in your life, that’s all that matters. Everything else is a bonus.”

‘Favourite Thing’ is out now to download and stream.