X Factor - Austin Drage - Old Kid on the Block?

Another familiar face in this series of X factor is that of 22-year-old Austin Drage who has recently been busy updating his facebook account with photographs of his muscles and tattoos in stark contrast to the tearful earnest face seen recently in the bootcamp shows! Very different too from those seen in last year's bootcamp or with Black Mountain, the Record Label, Music Publishing, and Management he appears to be currently signed with.

His considerable acting experience since the age of seven has apparently seen him appear in "Snatch" with Brad Pitt and Vinnie Jones, and appearances in both Casualty and The Bill are just some of the shows he has appeared in.

His appearance on X Factor has been controversial and recently X Factor producers were forced to release a statement as a rebuttal to claims in the Daily Mirror that

‘He has worked with Cheryl in the past and they are friends, so it seems obvious she was going to put him through.’ Certainly the boyband 5boyz he was in supported Girls Aloud on their live tour recently, so the connection was always going to raise some questions.

X Factor production team released the following statement:-

"Austin was in boyband 5Boyz, which we have always been aware of (and has been widely reported), but despite Girls Aloud once appearing on the same billing at a show one night, Cheryl has never met nor had a friendship with Austin, nor has she ever had a relationship with former 5Boyz member Brett.

Austin has entered the competition and had to face and receive three yes’s from the Judges just like any other contestant. He has at no point had an advantage over other contestants in the show".

No stranger to reality shows Austin has apparently taken part in Channel 4 production "Boys will be Girls" which attempted to create a girl band from a group of males. The theme of the show was that by dressing and performing as women, they could attempt to fool the public.

Fool the public? That couldnt happen, could it?

The X Factor forum.